Sepphoris

This article is about the former Palestinian village and modern archaeological site. For the modern Israeli moshav, see Tzippori.
"Diocaesarea" redirects here. For other uses, see Diocaesarea (disambiguation).

Sepphoris / Tzipori / Saffuriya
צִפּוֹרִי‎ / صفورية‎
Sepphoris / Tzipori / Saffuriya is located in Jezreel Valley region of Israel
Sepphoris / Tzipori / Saffuriya
Sepphoris / Tzipori / Saffuriya
Coordinates: 32°44′44″N 35°16′43″E / 32.74556°N 35.27861°E / 32.74556; 35.27861
CountryIsrael
DistrictNorthern
CouncilJezreel Valley
Founded5000 BCE (First settlement)
104 BCE (Hasmonean city)
634 (Saffuriya)
1948 (depopulated)
Aerial view of Sepphoris, 2013
Remains of Crusader/Ottoman tower in Sepphoris, 1875. Note doorway rebuilt under Zahir al-Umar.
The same Crusader/Ottoman tower after rebuilding. The upper part was used as a school from the early 1900s until 1948.[1]

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 remains from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods.

Sepphoris was a significant town in ancient Galilee. Originally named for the Hebrew word for bird, the city was also known as Eirenopolis and Diocaesarea during different periods of its history. In the first century CE, it was a Jewish city,[6] and following the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–135, Sepphoris was one of the Galilean centers where rabbinical families from neighboring Judea relocated.[7] In late antiquity, Sepphoris appears to have been a predominantly Jewish,[8] serving as a spiritual and cultural center, though it also housed a Christian bishopric and maintained a multi-ethnic population.[9] Remains of a synagogue dated to the first half of the fifth century were discovered on the northern side of town.[10]

Since late antiquity, Sepphoris 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.[11] The town was later conquered by Arab Rashidun forces during the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant and remained under successive Muslim rule until the Crusades. Before the 1948 Arab–Israeli War,[12][13] Saffuriya was a Palestinian Arab village with a population of approximately 5000 people at the time of its depopulation. 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.

"Mona Lisa of the Galilee", 4th-century Roman mosaic in Sepphoris

The area where the remains of the ancient city have been excavated, occupied until 1948 by the Arab village,[14] was designated an archaeological reserve named Tzipori National Park in 1992.[15] 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.[16][17]

  1. ^ Petersen (2001), p. 270
  2. ^ "Tzipori National Park – Israel Nature and Parks Authority". en.parks.org.il. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b Palmer (1881), p. 115
  4. ^ Shapira, Ran (12 December 2014). "Ancient Jewish tombstone found repurposed in 19th century Muslim mausoleum". Haaretz. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
  5. ^ Leroy Waterman (1931). "Sepphoris, Israel". The Kelsey Online. Archived from the original on 27 June 2006.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Casey2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Miller (1984), p. 132
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ The Mosaic Pavements of Roman and Byzantine Zippori
  11. ^ Eric Meyers, ed. (1999). Galilee, Confluence of Cultures. Winona Lake, Indiana pp. 396–7: Eisenbrauns.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  12. ^ Research Fellow Truman Institute Benny Morris; Benny Morris; Morris Benny (2004). Charles Tripp (ed.). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. pp. 516–7. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6. OCLC 1025810122.
  13. ^ Research Fellow Truman Institute Benny Morris; Benny Morris; Morris Benny (2004). Charles Tripp (ed.). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. pp. 417–. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6. OCLC 1025810122.
  14. ^ Nur Masalha (2014). The Zionist Bible: Biblical Precedent, Colonialism and the Erasure of Memory. Routledge. ISBN 9781317544647. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  15. ^ Zippori and the Mona Lisa of the Galilee
  16. ^ Weiss, Zeev (2009). "The Mosaics of the Nile Festival Building at Sepphoris and the legacy of the Antiochene Tradition". Katrin Kogman-Appel, Mati Meyer (eds.). Between Judaism and Christianity: Art Historical Essays in Honor of Elisheva (Elizabeth) Revel-Neher, BRILL, pp. 9–24, p. 10.
  17. ^ Mariam Shahin (2005). Palestine: A Guide. Interlink Books: Northampton, Massachusetts.


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