the city was renamed, possible candidates being the wife of Ptolemy I, a daughter of Ptolemy II, and the wife of Ptolemy III. Cohen presumes that under Seleucid rule, the city reverted right away to being called Pella. Philippeia is another name of the city from the Roman period, seen by Cohen as an attempt of claiming Marcius Philippus as its founder as a reaction to other cities in the region claiming an illustrious, but fictitious pedigree. The Arab geographer of Greek origin, Yaqut (1179–1229), could find no Arabic meaning for the modern name Fahl and believed it to be of foreign origin. History and archaeology Pella has been almost continuously occupied since Neolithic times. During the Hellenistic period, the town formed with other like-minded towns in the region a political and cultural league known as the "Decapolis", an alliance that grew in stature and economic importance to become regionally influential under Roman jurisdiction. However, Pella expanded to its largest size during the Byzantine period, when it was a bishopric in the province of Palaestina Secunda. In Islamic times, after 635 CE, the town became part of the Jund al-Urdunn (Province of Jordan), but in time was negatively impacted by natural calamities and eclipsed by the geo-political successes of the nearby towns of Amman, Beisan and especially Tabariyah (Tiberias). Prehistory The University of Sydney's Pella Excavation Project discovered at Tabaqat Fahl the remains of Neolithic housing dated to ca. 6000 BCE. The Australian teams also found storage complexes from the Chalcolithic period (ca. 4200 BCE). Since being headed by Stephen Bourke in the 1990s, the excavation has been focusing on the site's Bronze Age and Iron Age temples and administrative buildings. In May 2010 Bourke announced to the press the discovery of a city wall and other structures dating back to 3400 BCE and some even to 3600 BCE, indicating that the city standing at the top of Pella's Tell Husn at the time was a "formidable" city-state around 3400-3200 BCE, at the same time the cities of Sumer were taking shape. The official University of Sydney excavation page only mentions Early Bronze Age stone defensive platforms from ca. 3200 BCE. The Middle Bronze Age city of ca. 1800 BCE boasted massive mud-brick city walls. Australian archaeologists also discovered Middle and Late Bronze Age temples and palatial residences (ca. 1800-1200 BCE), as well as a Late Bronze Egyptian governors's residence