The theater was built in the 1st century AD. The structure seen today is from the end of the 2nd C, which was used until the 8th C. The theater contained 7,000 seats, arranged in a 110M diameter structure which was cut into the hillside. Only the lower of the three of levels of seats have survived, with 13 rows of limestone seats
Tel Beit Shean (Beth She'an) was a major Biblical city, located in the center of crossroads between the Jordan valley and the Jezreel (Yizreel) valley. It later was expanded into a large Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine city of Scythopolis. The large city was leveled by a massive earthquake in the 8th century AD, and was in ruins until recent archaeological excavations which are unearthing and reconstructing this amazing city.
The colonnaded Palladius street extends from the theater to the foothills of the ancient Tel, 150M from south (near the theater) to north (foothills of the hill). The street was built in the Roman period, starting from the 1st century AD, and restored during the Byzantine period. On both sides of the 24M paved street was a raised roofed sidewalk with shops and public houses.
