Since 1983 parts of the city from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods were exposed in archaeological excavations conducted at Bet Sheʽan. Finds from approximately twenty different strata were discovered on nearby Tel Bet Sheʽan.
The conservation project at Bet Sheʽan began simultaneously with the archaeological excavations that were carried out in the 1990’s, and continued for about a decade. The center of the Roman city of Scythopolis was revealed in the excavations. The finds include public buildings such as the theater, the eastern and western bathhouses, agora, city streets, the nymphaeum and other monuments.
In the wake of the amazing discoveries of the ancient city there was a significant increase in the number of visitors to the site, which was not prepared for this.The site managers and those engaged in developing tourism reached an understanding that it was necessary to regulate the visitors’ movement and preserve the multitude of finds that were uncovered.In addition to the conservation measures and development of the site, we needed to carry out routine maintenance on the exposed archaeological finds – monuments, mosaic floors, architectural elements, etc. – as well as on the modern infrastructures at the site – electricity, water, drainage, footpaths, etc.
Maintenance is an initiated form of treatment done over a long period of time that is meant to slow down the rate of deterioration of the archaeological remains. This is to supplement the measures that were previously implemented so as to preserve the cultural heritage.
There are two important aspects of maintenance at a tourism site. One – protecting the cultural heritage and the archaeological finds for future generations and two – making heritage accessible to visitors to the site and ensuring their safety.
Upon completion of the conservation and development of the site in 2002,a comprehensive maintenance program was drawn up for the various complexes located within precincts of the national park.
The maintenance plan sets forth guidelines and rules for implementing maintenance in each of the sub-projects that underwent conservation treatment. The guidelines define the process, the measures that should be taken and the necessary order of implementation. The process includes identifying and documenting the weathering and destructive processes, identifying physical damage to the finds and documenting the conservation measures that are carried out.
In 2012 conservation maintenance was conducted in the following places: the northwestern street, eastern bathhouse, the hostel mosaics (which is how the excavators refer to them; Figures 1–3) and in the Egyptian governor’s residency on Tel Bet Sheʽan (Figures 4–7).
The Egyptian Governor’s Residency In the early 1930’s archaeologists of the University of Pennsylvania working on Tel Bet Sheʽan exposed and studied the remains of the Egyptian governor’s residency. This work was continued in the late 1980’s by an expedition headed by Professor Amihai Mazar. The governor’s residency, a monumental building measuring 22 × 23 meters, was constructed in the twelfth century BCE using mud brick technology. The structure’s walls were set on a foundation made of dry fieldstone construction. The archaeological and architectural research of the structure has shown that this is a typical Egyptian public building of the Twentieth Dynasty which was used by the Egyptian governor there as a residency and for ceremonies and accommodation.The building was used for several decades and was destroyed together with the Egyptian settlement on the tell at the end of the twelfth century BCE.
Since they were first discovered almost eighty years ago and until the year 1999, the building’s remains have been exposed to natural weathering and destructive processes, environmental conditions, the weather and vegetation that has taken root in them. The building remains did not benefit from conservation treatment, maintenance or protection of any sort, such as covering the structure. Full conservation was first conducted in 1999 when some of the structure’s walls were restored.
The conservation measures included preparation of a detailed maintenance plan for the governor’s residency, which defined the measures that should be taken upon concluding the building’s conservation project. The plan sets forth that maintenance activities be carried out annually in the months of April–May. Pursuant to this plan, this year we treated the building with an herbicide, renewed the mud plaster on the entire structure and saw to the drainage in the area of the building.
In conclusion, after ten years of conservation maintenance at the site, we can state that the condition of the sub-sites that benefited from routine maintenance after having been conserved and stabilized is better than that of those sub-sites that were not treated in this manner. Accelerated deterioration, vegetation repeatedly taking root and sometimes even vandalism have been noted in the latter.
