Hi George
You asked
> *****GK: Scythopolis doesn't enter history under its
> Greek name until the Hellenistic period. The current
> archaeological and historical consensus sees it as a
> Ptolemaic foundation. What's your source for an
> Assyrian connection in the 670's?******
Beth-Shan guards the road from Gilead in Trans-Jordan and also from
Galilee along the valley of the Jordan; consequently it is an
important strategic point at a crossroads, protecting the eastern
gate of the Esdraelon Valley against encroachment from the north and
east.
In the days of Assurbanipal's father, Esarhaddon, the Scythians came
down from the steppes of Russia and, crossing the Caucasus, arrived
at the lake of Urmia. Their king Kashtiari went to the help of Assur-
banipal when the Medes and the Babylonians marched against Assyria.
Herodotus narrates that the Scythians descended from the slopes of
the Caucasus, battled the Medes who were pressing on Nineveh, and,
moving southward, reached Palestine. Assyrian records confirm that
Scythai were used in Ashurbanipal's attack on Egypt, and the sacking
of Thebes.
Chapters 4-6 of the young Jeremiah are generally regarded as
expressing the fear of the people of Palestine at the approach of the
Scythian hordes. The prophet spoke of the evil that would come down
from the north and a great destruction (4:6), of whole cities that
would "flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen" (4:29), of "a
mighty nation . . . whose language thou knowest not" (5:15). "Behold,
a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be
raised from the sides of the earth" (6:22).
The Egyptian king, Psametik however, succeeded by persuasion in
halting their advance toward Egypt. He, like the Scythians, was an
ally of Assurbanipal. According to Herodotus, Psametik was besieging
Beth Shean when the Scythians under king Madys reached that country,
relieving the seige and settling around Beth Shean. The Jewish
Septuagint, Josephus and Eusebius all call the town Scythopolis from
this period. Byzantine Georgius Syncellus explained the name was due
to the Scythians, who remained there from among the invading hordes
in the days of Seti-meri-en-Ptah Men-maat-Re (Psametik).
Hope this helps
Regards
John