Bet She’arim is on the western side of the Jezreel Valley in the Lower Galilee. It was the unofficial Jewish capital around 200 c.e. and home of the famous rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nassi (compiler of the Mishna) and the Sanhedrin (supreme rabbinical council) in the 2nd and 3rd centuries c.e. The necropolis of Bet She’arim consists of catacombs with burial caves. The catacombs were built into the slopes of a limestone hill at the top of which was the city. In the burial caves are sarcophagi covered with art, e.g., lions’ heads, menorahs - art typically created by Jews during the Roman era. The burial caves were looted over the centuries. Jews from all over Israel and beyond (from the Diaspora) were buried here (2nd-4th centuries c.e.) as an alternative to Jerusalem because Jews were forbidden by the Romans from entering Jerusalem and being buried there. The largest cave in the necropolis consists of two long corridors and many rooms branching off of them. One hundred and thirty five sarcophagi were found in this cave, many with decorations carved into them.