The excavation results have shown that Nysa-Scythopolis was first founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, circa 260 BCE, as a military outpost on top of Tel Bet Shean (1.2) along with other outposts such as Philoteria, Pella and Philadelphia, which together reflect the Ptolemaic strategic deployment in the region and the connection of Transjordan to the coastal cities of the Land of Israel. The pottery vessels, Rhodian jar handles and numerous coins dating to the time of Antiochus III, and especially the reign of Antiochus IV, indicate that the settlement was enlarged at this time and was re-established north of Tel Bet Shean and Nahal Harod, atop Tel Iztabba (1.5), as a well-planned Hellenistic city, a Greek polis founded by the Seleucid kingdom in Coele-Syria. It was probably then that its other name, Nysa, was given it in honor of the niece of Antiochus IV. Yet at the same time the city did not mint its own coins and it seems that even then it was not granted full autonomy.