According to Hans Wolfgang Helck in Der Kleine Pauly, it was an Egyptian stronghold from Thutmose III to Ramses III, conquered by the Sea Peoples in the reign of Rameses III, then occupied by the Philistines. From the 10th century it was Israelite (I Kings 4.12). In the Hellenistic period it belonged first to the Ptolemies, conquered by Antiochus III for the Seleucid Empire in 218, then in 107 B.C. conquered by John Hyrcanus for the Hasmonean Jewish kingdom. The origin of the name is unclear. Excavations have found a Canaanite temple, houses from the period of Egyptian rule, and Israelite fortifications.
It looks like they need to find some ancient DNA from the Hellenistic period to find out if there were any Scythians there.
In I Kings 4, it is in the district assigned to Baana in the reign of King Solomon.
The place where King Saul was killed is believed to be nearby, and also the site of Gideon's victory.
178. Beth-Shan-Scythopolis was the city where Seti met the vanguard of the Scythians. He occupied the city, as he reported on his stela found there.
- Theses for the Reconstruction of Ancient History
Immanuel Velikovsky | 1945
(Section X, theses 178-181, 193)
179. Seti built a fortress on the Oronteg, at Tell Nebi Mend; it is Riblah of the Scriptures.
180. Seti participated in the war in the valley of the Euphrates on the side of Assurbanipal and against Nabopolassar. The Egyptian army referred to by Nabopolassar in his annals was that of Seti.
181. Greek soldiers sent by Gyges of Sardis to Egypt in the days of Seti became the first Greek settlers there.
193. The presence of the Scythians (Umman-Manda) in Asia Minor, who in the days of Essarhaddon arrived from behind the Caucasus, is also reflected in the Boghazkoi texts dealing with the Umman-Manda.
This city in the valley of the Jordan played a notable part in all the periods of Palestinian history. During the time of the Judges it was an unsubdued Canaanite city defended by chariots of iron. When Saul fell in the war with the Philistines his body was carried to Beth-Shan and hung on the city wall. The city was an administrative center in the days of Solomon. Scythians occupied it in the days of Manasseh (Menashe) or Josiah...
The real meaning of the strata archaeology of Beth-Shan is as follows: Strata IX to V (Thutmose III to Ramses II) cover the period of the kings from Solomon to Zedekiah and the exile. Stratum IV covers only the end of the Neo-Babylonian period (Nabonidus) and the old Persian, which is contemporaneous with the Later Ramessides. Strata III, II, and I are correctly presented as Hellenistic-Roman, Byzantine, and Arabian.