History Repeats Itself

Thirteen years ago, when I visited Israel for the first time with my family in celebration of my Bat Mitzvah, we did an archeological dig in the town of Bet Shean. It's a city located at the junction of the Jordan River and the Jezreel Valley, and when my family was there they were in the midst of excavating the best preserved Roman-Byzantine city in all of Israel. 

Last week I was fortunate enough to return to what is now the Bet Shean Archaeological Park, which officially opened in 1997 -- two years after my family and I "helped" with the excavations (or rather, hindered. I vaguely remember my mom shattering a piece of shell -- sorry mom!) Here's what it looks like now:

These are authentic Roman golden arches that can be seen from the top of the Tel...

This is where the movie version of "Jesus Christ Superstar" was filmed, and the very tree from which he was hung! (in the movie, that is...)