Antiquities Exhibits

Originally an Umbrian city, Cortona was conquered then enlarged by the Etruscans, who called it Curtun. During the 7th century BCE, it joined the Etruscan League. Cortona eventually became a Roman colony under the name Corito. It was sacked and destroyed in the final stages of the Gothic War (535-554 CE). The Cortona Archaeological Park includes three excavated Etruscan burial mounds. Tumulo I contains five burial chambers.  It was initially constructed in the 6th century BCE but was later reused in the 4th century BCE for a man named Arnt Mefanates and his wife Velia Hapisnei. Tumulo II contains two tombs fronted by a platform-altar with a staircase of ten steps and a sculpted balustrade depicting palm trees and a fight between a lioness and a warrior. The original sculptures are displayed in the local archaeological museum. Of the two tombs found within this tumulus, tomb 1, built between 580-560 BCE, is characterized by a long access corridor leading to two rectangular vestibule...

Historically known as Scythopolis, Beth Shean (Beit She'an) is located at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley.   The city was founded in the Late Neolithic or Early Chalcolitic Period (sixth to fifth millennia BCE).  In the Biblical account of the battle of the Israelites against the Philistines on Mount Gilboa, the bodies of King Saul and three of his sons were hung on the walls of Beit She'an.  In Roman times, after Pompey annexed Judea to the Roman Empire,  Beit She'an was refounded and rebuilt by Gabinius. The town center shifted from the summit of the mound, or tell, to its slopes. Thereafter, it became the leading city of the Decapolis, a league of Judean cities, and was the only Decapolis city west of the Jordan River.   The city flourished under the "Pax Romana", as evidenced by high-level urban planning and extensive construction, including the best preserved Roman theatre of ancient Samaria, as well as a hippodrome,...