PELLA. - An ancient city east of the Jordan (cf. in the letters of «Amärnah, p’-ljir’ in the list of Thutmosis III and in the star-list of Seti I found at Bejsän), known in the Talmud, faithful to the Semitic transcription, as Fahl, a name preserved in the Arabic Hirbet el-Fahil, 12 km southeast of Bejsän.
Macedonian colonists around 310 BC gave it the name of Pella. Conquered by Antiochus III in 218 BC, it resisted the proselytism of Alexander Jannaeus and, liberated by Pompey, was incorporated into the Decapolis (q.v.). The city remained loyal to the Romans, and when the siege of Jerusalem drew near, the Christians, recalling the Master’s precept (Lk. 21:20), took refuge in Pella, according to Eusebius (Hist. eccl., III, 5: PG 20, 221) and St. Epiphanius (Haeres., 20a, cap. 7: PG 41, 401).
Archaeological surveys at Hirbet Fahil, Tabaqat Fahil, and on Tell el-Hosn, where the fortress stands, have brought to light large buildings with secret passages, tombs adorned with sculptures, remains of a temple and an ancient tower, churches and monasteries, and a quantity of pottery from the Arab, Byzantine, Roman, Bronze Age III, and Iron Age periods.