Pella (Tabaqat Fahl, Jordan) is situated near sea level 4 km east of the Jordan River and 32 km south of the Sea of Galilee. Jerusalem is approximately 100 km to the southwest. After Alexander the Great marched through the region in 331 BCE, the Greek settlement was apparently founded by his veterans who named it after Alexander’s Macedonian birthplace. In 83/82 BCE Alexander Jannaeus destroyed Pella because its inhabitants failed to adopt Jewish customs (Jos. Ant. 13.15.4). Archaeological excavations have discovered a thick stra…