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SEPPHORIS

(Heb. Zippori)

Colonnaded street at Roman Sepphoris, paved with rectangular limestone blocks. The parallel sidewalk
was roofed and paved with mosaics (Phoenix Data Systems, Neal and Joel Bierling)

A city strategically located in the center of the Galilee, on a hill overlooking the Beth-netofa Valley, which connects the Sea of Galilee with the Mediterranean.

According to Josephus the Romans made Sepphoris the seat of the Galilean council in 57-55 b.c.e. and then burned it to the ground after a revolt in the wake of Herod the Great’s death in 4 b.c.e. (Ant. 14.91; 17.289). Herod Antipas re-founded it as his capital of the Galilee shortly thereafter, and it remained a leading regional city for centuries, even after Herod Antipas relocated his capital to Tiberias between 18 and 20 c.e. Josephus presents a picture of Sepphoris as the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the Galilee, describing it as “the ornament of all Galilee” (Ant. 18.27). During the First Jewish War, Sepphoris remained pro-Roman, and coins minted there even contain the epigraph Eirenopolis, “City of Peace.” Sepphoris is also known as an important center of Jewish learning in rabbinic literature, and it was there that Rabbi Judah the Prince codified the Mishnah.

Archaeological excavations have added significantly to our knowledge of the city during the Roman-Byzantine periods. The domestic quarters contain many stone vessels (related to a concern for ritual purity) and Jewish ritual baths; these, coupled with a general absence of swine bones in the early centuries, confirm the literary record’s identification of the city as primarily Jewish. The building materials, however, such as plaster, mosaic, fresco, and the basic grid pattern of the city show an acceptance of Roman architectural materials as early as the 1st century. Coins from the late 1st century even depict a pagan temple, and a theater seating ca. 4500 also dates to some time in that century. Nevertheless, most of the architectural structures which are Roman in orientation date to after the First Jewish War, including the aqueduct, the porticoed agora or market, and the many mosaics with pagan themes that begin to appear in the 3rd century. Ironically, the surge in pagan imagery, Greco-Roman architecture, and the city’s designation as Diocaesarea (“City of Zeus and the Emperor”) beginning in the 2nd century coincides precisely with the time when Sepphoris became known as one of the most important centers of rabbinic learning.

Archaeological excavations have also uncovered remains of an Iron Age village at Ein Zippori, the springs of Sepphoris, just S of the Roman-Byzantine city.

Since Jesus’ hometown Nazareth is only 6.5 km. (4 mi.) to the south, it is curious that Sepphoris is never mentioned in the NT. Perhaps the city’s cosmopolitan character, gentile presence, or wealth in comparison to the Galilean villages led to Jesus’ aversion. Jesus’ awareness that Herod Antipas had executed John the Baptist most likely led him to avoid Sepphoris as a seat of political power. However, given the relative infrequence with which any place names occur in the Gospels, perhaps Jesus’ contacts with Sepphoris went unrecorded.

Bibliography. E. M. Meyers, E. Netzer, and C. L. Meyers, Sepphoris (Winona Lake, 1992); S. S. Miller, Studies in the History and Traditions of Sepphoris. SJLA 37 (Leiden, 1984); R. M. Nagy et al., Sepphoris in Galilee (Winona Lake, 1996).

Jonathan L. Reed

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SEPPHORIS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)