For many years the ancient site of Beit Shearim remained obscure and nearly slipped into oblivion.
Throughout the centuries, the village's Hebrew name was changed to Sheikh Abreik (Sheikh Bureik).
Some historical geographers thought that Sheikh Abreiḳ was to be identified with Gaba Hippeum (Geba), the site mentioned by Josephus as being in the confines of Mount Carmel.
It was not until Alexander Zaïd in 1936 discovered a "new" catacomb among the known burial caves in the hill directly below Sheikh Abreiḳ and brought it to the attention of British Mandate archaeologist Benjamin Mazar and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi that priority was given to the site, which discovery prompted seven seasons of systematic excavations at Sheikh Abreiḳ and its necropolis between the years 1936–1940, and 1956, under the direction of Prof. Benjamin Mazar on  behalf of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society, and again in the years 1953–1958 under Nahman Avigad.
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, looking at the evidence presented to him by Mazar, reached the conclusion that this was no ordinary find, but that it most certainly was the burial grounds of the Jewish Patriarchal family of the 2nd-century CE.

Although historical geographer Samuel Klein had argued as early as 1913 that Beth-Shearim and Besara were to be recognised as one and the same place, an opinion followed by C.R. Conder, he was unable to pin-point its exact location.
Only after the revelations of 1936 came to light, and Ben-Zvi's recognition that the necropolis at Sheikh Abreik belonged to a Patriarchal family, did Klein reach the conclusion that Sheikh Abreik was the ancient site of Beit Shearim.
Klein's identification was later corroborated by the discovery of a broken marble slab, from a mausoleum above Catacomb no.
11, containing a Greek inscription, in which the funerary epigram (written during the deceased person's lifetime) bears the words: "I, Justus, the son of [S]appho, of the family Leontius, have died and have been laid to rest...alas, [here] in [B]esar[a]" (Besara being the Aramaic dialect spoken in Galilee for Beit Shearim).
    
Additional excavations were conducted at the site in 2006–2007 by archaeologist Yotam Tepper on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, during which season coins from the Roman and Byzantine periods were retrieved.
For many years the ancient site of Beit Shearim remained obscure and nearly slipped into oblivion. Throughout the centuries, the village's Hebrew name was changed to Sheikh Abreik (Sheikh Bureik). Some historical geographers thought that Sheikh Abreiḳ was to be identified with Gaba Hippeum (Geba), the site mentioned by Josephus as being in the confines of Mount Carmel. It was not until Alexander Zaïd in 1936 discovered a "new" catacomb among the known burial caves in the hill directly below Sheikh Abreiḳ and brought it to the attention of British Mandate archaeologist Benjamin Mazar and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi that priority was given to the site, which discovery prompted seven seasons of systematic excavations at Sheikh Abreiḳ and its necropolis between the years 1936–1940, and 1956, under the direction of Prof. Benjamin Mazar on  behalf of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society, and again in the years 1953–1958 under Nahman Avigad. Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, looking at the evidence presented to him by Mazar, reached the conclusion that this was no ordinary find, but that it most certainly was the burial grounds of the Jewish Patriarchal family of the 2nd-century CE.
Although historical geographer Samuel Klein had argued as early as 1913 that Beth-Shearim and Besara were to be recognised as one and the same place, an opinion followed by C.R. Conder, he was unable to pin-point its exact location. Only after the revelations of 1936 came to light, and Ben-Zvi's recognition that the necropolis at Sheikh Abreik belonged to a Patriarchal family, did Klein reach the conclusion that Sheikh Abreik was the ancient site of Beit Shearim. Klein's identification was later corroborated by the discovery of a broken marble slab, from a mausoleum above Catacomb no. 11, containing a Greek inscription, in which the funerary epigram (written during the deceased person's lifetime) bears the words: "I, Justus, the son of [S]appho, of the family Leontius, have died and have been laid to rest...alas, [here] in [B]esar[a]" (Besara being the Aramaic dialect spoken in Galilee for Beit Shearim).     
Additional excavations were conducted at the site in 2006–2007 by archaeologist Yotam Tepper on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, during which season coins from the Roman and Byzantine periods were retrieved.
Beit Shearim