Sepphoris
Sepphoris (/sɪˈfɔːrɪs/ sif-OR-iss; Ancient Greek: Σέπφωρις, romanized: Sépphōris), known in Hebrew as Tzipori (צִפּוֹרִי Ṣīppōrī)[2][3] and in Arabic as Saffuriya[4] (صفورية Ṣaffūriya)[a] is an archaeological site located in the central Galilee region of Israel, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north-northwest of Nazareth.[5] It lies 286 meters (938 ft) above sea level and overlooks the Beit Netofa Valley. The site holds a rich and diverse historical and architectural legacy that includes Hellenistic, ancient Jewish, Roman, Byzantine, early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman remains. In the Roman period, it was also called Diocaesaraea. In Mandatory Palestine, Saffuriya was a Palestinian Arab town with a population of approximately 5000 people at the time of its depopulation in 1948.
This article is about the former Palestinian village and modern archaeological site. For the modern Israeli moshav, see Tzippori.
Sepphoris / Tzipori / Saffuriya
צִפּוֹרִי / صفورية
Israel
5000 BCE (First settlement)
104 BCE (Hasmonean city)
634 (Saffuriya)
1948 (depopulated)
Since Late Antiquity, it was believed to be the birthplace of Mary, mother of Jesus, and the village where Saints Anna and Joachim are often said to have resided, where today a fifth-century basilica is excavated at the site honouring the birth of Mary.[6] Notable structures at the site include a Roman theatre, two early Christian churches, a Crusader fort partly rebuilt by Zahir al-Umar in the 18th century, and over sixty different mosaics dating from the third to the sixth century CE.[7][8]
Following the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–135, Sepphoris was one of the Galilean centers where rabbinical families from neighboring Judea relocated.[9] Remains of a synagogue dated to the first half of the fifth century were discovered on the northern side of town.[10] In the 7th century, the town was conquered by the Arab Rashidun armies during the Muslim conquest of the Levant. Successive Muslim dynasties ruled the area until the Crusades.
Until its depopulation during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War,[11][12] Saffuriya was a Palestinian Arab village. Moshav Tzippori was established adjacent to the site in 1949. It falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council, and in 2022 had a population of 1,030.
The area where the remains of the ancient city have been excavated, occupied until 1948 by the Arab village,[13] was designated an archaeological reserve named Tzipori National Park in 1992.[14]
Etymology[edit]
Eirenopolis and Neronias[edit]
Sepphoris issued its first coins at the time of the First Jewish War, in c. 68 CE, while Vespasian's army was reconquering the region from the rebels.[17] The inscriptions on the coins are honouring both the emperor in Rome, Nero (r. 54–68), and his general, Vespasian, as they read 'Under Vespasian, 'Eirenopolis-Neronias-Sepphoris'.[17] The name 'Neronias' honours Nero, while the name 'Eirenopolis' declares Sepphoris to be a 'city of peace'[17] (Koinē Greek: Εἰρήνη, romanized: Eirēnē means tranquillity and peace,[18] and polis is a city). Pancracio Celdrán interprets this name choice as the result of the city's cultural synthesis between three elements – Jewish faith, moderated by the exposure to Greek philosophy and made more tolerant than other, more fanatic contemporary orthodox Jewish places, and a pragmatism which suited the Roman ideology.[19] Celdrán notes that the name Sepphoris was reinstated before the end of Antoninus Pius's rule.[19]
Diocaesarea[edit]
Peter Schäfer (1990), also citing G. F. Hill's conclusions based on his numismatic work done a century earlier, considers that the city's name was changed to Diocaesarea in 129/30, just prior to the Bar Kokhba revolt, in Hadrian's time.[20] This gesture was done in honour of the visiting Roman emperor and his identification with Zeus Olympias, reflected in Hadrian's efforts in building temples dedicated to the supreme Olympian god.[20] Celdrán (1995) places this name change a few decades later, during the time of Emperor Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161), when the city minted coins using this name, and interprets it as proof of the city's high degree of Hellenisation.[19] Celdrán notes that the name Sepphoris was reinstated before the end of Antoninus Pius's rule.[19]
This name was not used by Jewish writers, who continued to refer to it as Zippori.[21]
Excavation history[edit]
Zippori was first excavated by Leory Waterman of University of Michigan in 1931. https://lsa.umich.edu/kelsey/publications/all-publications/leroy-waterman-and-the-university-of-michigan-excavations-at-sep.html
In 1983, James F. Strange of the University of South Florida conducted a probe of the Crusader Fortress at the top and continued excavating until 2010 on the top in Waterman's Villa, uncovering Roman Baths, and finally excavating the large administrative building at the corner of the Decumanus and Cardo. https://www.amazon.com/Excavations-Sepphoris-Reference-Library-Judaism/dp/9004126260 http://www.centuryone.org/sepphoris-site.html
Since 1990 large areas of Zippori have been excavated by an archaeological team working on behalf of the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology.[100]
In 2012, a survey of the site was conducted by Zidan Omar on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).[101] In June 2018, archaeologists discovered two subterranean Byzantine-period wine presses at Tzippori National Park.[96]
