Fisher, Clarence Stanley, 1876-1941

In 1921, the Palestine Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania Museum began excavations at Bet Sh'ean, a site located 12 miles south of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The expedition was intended as the beginning of an extensive research effort in Syria-Palestine. Although the fieldwork lasted twelve years, this goal was never fully achieved due to financial stringencies imposed during the Depression of the 1930's.

Clarence S. Fisher, Curator of the Egyptian Section of the University Museum, directed the first three seasons of work at Bet Sh'ean. Alan Rowe and Gerald M. FitzGerald directed the subsequent seven field seasons ending in 1933. Nine major occupation levels were uncovered, dating from the Arab/Crusader and Byzantine periods through the Late Bronze Age and Late Neolithic. Bet Sh'ean was situated on the main trade route between Egypt and Mesopotamia and the site has yielded abundant evidence of the many peoples which influenced this early Palestinian settlement. Finds show the influence of Egyptian, Canaanite, Greek and Roman cultures.

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