BETSÁN
Ancient city 7 km west of the Jordan. Assigned to Manasseh, it seems to have remained in the power of the Canaanites (Judg. 1:27; Jos. 17:11-16). The Philistines hung Saul’s body and weapons there (1 Sam. 31:10; 1 Chron. 10:10).
In the time of Jeremiah the Scythians seized it and called it Scithopolis, and later it formed part of the Decapolis (“the ten cities”).
Recent explorations have discovered ruins dating back to the time of Ramses II (1300 BC) and prove that it was a strategic base of the Egyptians before the conquest of Canaan by the Hebrews.