A number of tombs belonging to the Roman necropolis were discovered in 1883.
The tombs of their inhabitants are of two classes - the so-called tombe dei giganti, or giants' tombs, and the domus de gianas, or houses of the spirits.
A little to the south of a village called Deir Diwan, and one hour's journey south-east from Bethel, is the site of an ancient place called Khirbet Haiydn, indicated by reservoirs hewn in the rock, excavated tombs and foundations of hewn stone.
The influence of Hellenism over them is shown by finds in the tombs and the fact that they spoke the Greek language as well as their own (bilingues in Ennius).
But the contents of early tombs and dwellings and indications supplied by such objects as stone vases and seal-stones show that the Cretans had already attained to a considerable degree of culture, and had opened out communication with the Nile valley in the time of the earliest Egyptian dynasties.