PELLA. - An ancient city east of the Jordan (Bihil in the el-'Amārnah letters, p'-hjr' in the list of Thutmosis III and in the stele of Seti I found at Bejsān), called in the Talmud, in accordance with the Semitic transcription, Fahl, a name preserved in the Arabic Hirbet el-Fahil, 12 km southeast of Bejsān.
Macedonian colonists, about 310, gave it the name of P. Conquered by Antioco III in 218 B.C., it resisted the proselytism of Alessandro Ianneo and, freed by Pompeo, Decapolis (v.). The city remained faithful to the Romans, and the Christians, as the siege of Jerusalem approached, recalling the precept of the Master (Lc. 21, 20), took refuge in P., according to Eusebio (Hist. eccl., III, 5: PG 20, 221) and s. Epifanio (Haeres., 29ª, cap. 7: PG 41, 401).
Archaeological soundings at Hirbet Fahil, Tabaqāt Fahil, and on Tell el-Hosn, dominated by the fortress, have brought to light large structures with secret passages, tombs decorated with sculptures, remains of a temple and an amphitheatre, churches and monasteries, and a quantity of Arabic, Byzantine, Roman, Bronze III, and Iron Age pottery.