[8] The city served as an Israelite administrative centre, and archaeologist have discovered a large complex and Hebrew inscriptions at the site.
[9][10] A bronze bull has been found in an Israelite sanctuary east of Tell Dothan, in the mountains of Samaria, dated to around the 11th century, which may be related to the episode of the golden calf.
[citation needed] Castellum Beleismum (Latin) or Chastiau St Job (medieval French)[11] was the Frankish name of a tower built by the Crusaders on the ancient tell in 1156 and given to the Hospitallers in 1187.
[12] He described the discovery in his 1854 book:[6] ...I saw a huge tell at the distance of only a few hundred yards from our way, covered over with ruins, and the fragment of an ancient aqueduct, that had been supported on arches.
My object in reiterating the question was to get him to repeat the name; for the discovery of Dothan was a very special circumstance, with respect to which I was anxious to assure myself, by having the name properly pronounced.Van de Velde's visit had taken place a few days before Edward Robinson's;[4] Robinson credited van ve Velde with the discovery.