![Cipori154](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Cipori154.jpg)
Sepphoris (; grc, Σέπφωρις, Séphōris), called Tzipori in Hebrew ( he, צִפּוֹרִי, Tzipori),
[Palmer (1881), p]
115
/ref> and known in Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
as Saffuriya ( ar, صفورية, Ṣaffūriya) since the 7th century, is an archaeological site located in the central Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
region of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, north-northwest of Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
. It lies above sea level and overlooks the Beit Netofa Valley
The Beit Netofa Valley ( he, בקעת בית נטופה) is a valley in the Lower Galilee region of Israel, midway between Tiberias and Haifa. Covering 46 km2, it is the largest valley in the mountainous part of the Galilee and one of the lar ...
. The site holds a rich and diverse historical and architectural legacy that includes Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
, ancient Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
, Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, Early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
and Ottoman remains. In the Roman period, it was also called ''Diocaesaraea''. In Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
, Saffuriya was a Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
town with a population of approximately 5,000 people at the time of its depopulation in 1948.
Since Late Antiquity
Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...
, it was believed to be the birthplace of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
, and the village where Saints Anna and Joachim
Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...
are often said to have resided, where today a 5th—century basilica is excavated at the site honouring the birth of Mary. Notable structures at the site include a Roman theatre
Roman theatres derive from and are part of the overall evolution of earlier Greek theatres. Indeed, much of the architectural influence the Romans came from the Greeks, and theatre structural design was no different from other buildings. However ...
, two early Christian churches, a Crusader fort partly rebuilt by Zahir al-Umar
Zahir al-Umar al-Zaydani, alternatively spelled Daher al-Omar or Dahir al-Umar ( ar, ظاهر العمر الزيداني, translit=Ẓāhir al-ʿUmar az-Zaydānī, 1689/90 – 21 or 22 August 1775) was the autonomous Arab ruler of northern Ottom ...
in the 18th century, and over sixty different mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s dating from the third to the sixth century CE.
Following the Bar Kokhba revolt
The Bar Kokhba revolt ( he, , links=yes, ''Mereḏ Bar Kōḵḇāʾ''), or the 'Jewish Expedition' as the Romans named it ( la, Expeditio Judaica), was a rebellion by the Jews of the Judea (Roman province), Roman province of Judea, led b ...
of 132–135, Sepphoris was one of the Galilean centers where rabbinical families from neighboring Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous L ...
relocated. Remains of a synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
dated to the first half of the fifth century were discovered on the northern side of town. In the 7th century, the town was conquered by the Arab Rashidun
, image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png
, caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs
, birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia
, known_for = Companions of t ...
armies during the Muslim conquest of the Levant
The Muslim conquest of the Levant ( ar, فَتْحُ الشَّام, translit=Feth eş-Şâm), also known as the Rashidun conquest of Syria, occurred in the first half of the 7th century, shortly after the rise of Islam."Syria." Encyclopædia Br ...
. Successive Muslim dynasties ruled the area until the Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
.
Until its depopulation during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
,[Morris (2004), pp]
417
418516
517 Saffuriya was a Palestinian Arab
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
village. Moshav
A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...
Tzippori
Tzippori () is a moshav in northern Israel, in the Lower Galilee. The moshav is within the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. The moshav is located at the site of the ancient settlement of Sepphoris, after which it was named.
H ...
was established adjacent to the site in 1949. It falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council
Jezreel Valley Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק יזרעאל, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek Yizra'el'') is a regional council in northern Israel that encompasses most of the settlements in the Jezreel Valley. It includes 15 kibbutzim, ...
, and in had a population of .
The area where the remains of the ancient city have been excavated, occupied until 1948 by the Arab village, was designated an archaeological reserve named Tzipori National Park in 1992.
Etymology
Zippori / Tzipori; Sepphoris
In Ancient Greek, the city was called Sepphoris from its Hebrew name ''Tzipori'', understood to be a variant of the Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
word for bird, ''tzipor –'' perhaps, as a Talmudic gloss suggests, because it is "perched on the top of a mountain, like a bird".
Eirenopolis and Neronias
Sepphoris issued its first coins at the time of the First Jewish War
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
, in c. 68 CE, while Vespasian's army was reconquering the region from the rebels. The inscriptions on the coins are honouring both the emperor in Rome, Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
(r. 54–68), and his general, Vespasian, as they read 'Under Vespasian, 'Eirenopolis-Neronias-Sepphoris'.[ The name 'Neronias' honours Nero, while the name 'Eirenopolis' declares Sepphoris to be a 'city of peace'][ (''eirene'' is a Greek word for national tranquillity and peace, with '']polis
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
'' meaning city). 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. Celdrán notes that the name Sepphoris was reinstated before the end of Antoninus Pius's rule.[
]
Diocaesarea
Peter Schäfer
Peter Schäfer (born 29 June 1943, Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a prolific German scholar of ancient religious studies, who has made contributions to the field of ancient Judaism and early Christianity through monographs, co- ...
(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
The Bar Kokhba revolt ( he, , links=yes, ''Mereḏ Bar Kōḵḇāʾ''), or the 'Jewish Expedition' as the Romans named it ( la, Expeditio Judaica), was a rebellion by the Jews of the Judea (Roman province), Roman province of Judea, led b ...
, in Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
's time.[ Als]
here
at Google Books. This gesture was done in honour of the visiting Roman emperor and his identification with Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
Olympias, reflected in Hadrian's efforts in building temples dedicated to the supreme Olympian god.[ Celdrán (1995) places this name change a few decades later, during the time of Emperor ]Antoninus Pius
Antoninus Pius (Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.
Born into a senatoria ...
(r. 138–161), when the city minted coins using this name, and interprets it as proof of the city's high degree of Hellenisation.[ Celdrán notes that the name Sepphoris was reinstated before the end of Antoninus Pius's rule.][
]
History
Canaanite and Israelite Zippori in Hebrew Bible, Mishnah, Talmud
The Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
makes no mention of the city,[Losch, Richard R. (2005)]
''The Uttermost Part of the Earth: A Guide to Places in the Bible,''
William B. Eerdmans, p. ix, 209. although in Jewish tradition
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
it is thought to be the city ''Kitron'' mentioned in the ''Book of Judges
The Book of Judges (, ') is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom i ...
''
1:30
.
According to Mishna 'Arakhin 9:6, the old fortress of Sepphoris was encompassed by a wall prior to the putative Israelite
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
conquest of Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
under Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
.
Iron Age findings
Evidence from ceramic remains indicates the site of Sepphoris was inhabited during the Iron Age, 1,000–586 BCE.[Fischer, Alysia (2008). ''Hot Pursuit: Integrating Anthropology in Search of Ancient Glass-blowers''. Lexington Books, p. 40.]
Hellenistic period; Hasmoneans
Actual occupation and building work can be verified from the 4th century BCE, with the Hellenistic period
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
.[
In 104 BCE, the Judean priestly dynasty of the Hasmoneans conquered Galilee under the leadership of either ]Alexander Jannaeus
Alexander Jannaeus ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξανδρος Ἰανναῖος ; he, ''Yannaʾy''; born Jonathan ) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judea from 103 to 76 BCE. A son of John Hyrcanus, h ...
or Aristobulus I
Judah Aristobulus I or Aristobulus I (; el, Ἀριστόβουλος, Aristóboulos) was the first Hasmonean king of Judaea from 104 BCE until his death in 103 BCE. He was the eldest of the five sons of John Hyrcanus, the previous leader. Joseph ...
and at this time the town may have been administered by a quarter-master, probably Jewish, and by the middle of the 1st century BCE, after the campaigns of Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
, it fell under Roman rule in 63 BCE. Around 57 BCE, the city became one of the five synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
s of Roman influence in the Near East.
Herodian, later Roman, and Byzantine periods
The Roman client king, Herod the Great
Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renov ...
recaptured the city in 37 BCE after it had been garrisoned by the Parthian Parthian may be:
Historical
* A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran
* Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD)
* Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language
* Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...
proxy, the Hasmonean Antigonus II Mattathias
Antigonus II Mattathias ( grc-gre, Αντίγονος ''Antígonos''; he, , ''Matīṯyāhū''), also known as Antigonus the Hasmonean (died 37 BCE) was the last Hasmonean king of Judea. A puppet king installed by the Parthians, he was the son ...
.
After Herod's death in 4 BCE, a rebel named Judas, son of a local bandit, Ezekias, attacked Sepphoris, then the administrative center of the Galilee, and, sacking its treasury and weapons, armed his followers in a revolt against Herodian rule. The Roman governor in Syria, Varus is reported by Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
- perhaps in an exaggeration, since archaeology has failed to verify traces of the conflagration - to have burnt the city down, and sold its inhabitants into slavery.[Eric M. Meyers,'Sepphoris on the Eve of the Great Revolt (67–68 C.E.): Archaeology and Josephus,' in Eric M. Meyers,''Galilee Through the Centuries: Confluence of Cultures,'' Eisenbrauns (1999), pp. 109ff., p. 114:(Josephus, Ant. 17.271-87; War 2.56–69).][ After Herod's son, ]Herod Antipas
Herod Antipas ( el, Ἡρῴδης Ἀντίπας, ''Hērǭdēs Antipas''; born before 20 BC – died after 39 AD), was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both "H ...
was made tetrarch, or governor, he proclaimed the city's new name to be ''Autocratoris'', and rebuilt it as the "Ornament of the Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
" (Josephus, Ant. 18.27). An ancient route linking Sepphoris to Legio
Legio was a Roman military camp south of Tel Megiddo in the Roman province of Galilee.
History
Following the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136CE), Legio VI Ferrata was stationed at Legio near Caparcotna. The approximate location of the camp of the L ...
, and further south to Samaria
Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first- ...
- Sebastia, is believed to have been paved by the Romans around this time.[Richardson (1996), p]
133
/ref> The new population was loyal to Rome.
Maurice Casey
Philip Maurice Casey (18 October 1942 – 10 May 2014) was a British scholar of New Testament and early Christianity. He was an emeritus professor at the University of Nottingham, having served there as Professor of New Testament Languages and ...
writes that, although Sepphoris during the early first century was "a very Jewish city", some of the people there did speak Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
. A lead weight dated to the first century bears an inscription in Greek with three Jewish names. Several scholars have suggested that Jesus, while working as a craftsman in Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
, may have travelled to Sepphoris for work purposes, possibly with his father and brothers
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
.[ Casey states that this is entirely possible, but is likewise impossible to historically verify. Jesus does not seem to have visited Sepphoris during his public ministry and none of the sayings recorded in the ]Synoptic Gospels
The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...
mention it.[
The inhabitants of Sepphoris did not join the ]revolt
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
against Roman rule of 66 CE. The Roman legate
Legate may refer to:
*Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class
:*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period
*A member of a legation
*A representative, ...
in Syria, Cestius Gallus
Gaius Cestius Gallus (d. 67 AD) was a Roman senator and general who was active during the Principate. He was suffect consul for the second ''nundinium'' of the year 42 as the colleague of Gaius Caecina Largus. Gallus was the son of Gaius Cestius ...
, killed some 2,000 "brigands and rebels" in the area. The Jerusalemite Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
, a son of Jerusalem's priestly elite had been sent north to recruit the Galilee into the rebellion's fold, but was only partially successful. He made two attempts to capture Sepphoris, but failed to conquer it, the first time because of fierce resistance, the second because a garrison came to assist in the city's defence. Around the time of the rebellion Sepphoris had a Roman theater – in later periods, bath-houses and mosaic floors depicting human figures. Sepphoris and Jerusalem may be seen to symbolize a cultural divide between those that sought to avoid any contact with the surrounding Roman culture and those who within limits, were prepared to adopt aspects of that culture. Rejected by Sepphoris and forced to camp outside the city Josephus went on to Jotapata
Yodfat ( he, יוֹדְפַת), is a moshav shitufi in northern Israel. Located in the Lower Galilee, south of Carmiel and in the vicinity of the Atzmon mountain ridge, north of the Beit Netofa Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Misgav Re ...
, which did seem interested in the rebellion, – the Siege of Yodfat
The siege of Yodfat ( he, יוֹדְפַת, also Jotapata, Iotapata, Yodefat) was a 47-day siege by Roman forces of the Jewish town of Yodfat which took place in 67 CE, during the Great Revolt. Led by Roman General Vespasian and his son Titus, ...
ended on 20 July 67 CE. Towns and villages that did not rebel were spared and in Galilee they were the majority. Coins minted in the city at the time of the Great Revolt carried the inscription ''Neronias'' and ''Eirenopolis'', "City of Peace". After the revolt, coins bore depictions of laurel wreaths, palm trees, caduceuses and ears of barley, which appear on Jewish coinage albeit not exclusively.
George Francis Hill
Sir George Francis Hill, KCB, FBA (22 December 1867 – 18 October 1948) was the director and principal librarian of the British Museum (1931–1936). He was a specialist in Renaissance medals.
Early years
George Hill was born in Berhampur, ...
and Peter Schäfer
Peter Schäfer (born 29 June 1943, Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a prolific German scholar of ancient religious studies, who has made contributions to the field of ancient Judaism and early Christianity through monographs, co- ...
consider that the city's name was changed to ''Diocaesarea'' in 129/30, just prior to the Bar Kokhba revolt
The Bar Kokhba revolt ( he, , links=yes, ''Mereḏ Bar Kōḵḇāʾ''), or the 'Jewish Expedition' as the Romans named it ( la, Expeditio Judaica), was a rebellion by the Jews of the Judea (Roman province), Roman province of Judea, led b ...
, in Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
's time.[ This gesture was done in honour of the visiting Roman emperor and his identification with ]Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
Olympias, reflected in Hadrian's efforts in building temples dedicated to the supreme Olympian god.[ Following the revolt in 132–135, many Jewish refugees from devastated Judea settled there, turning it into a center of Jewish religious and spiritual life. Rabbi ]Yehuda Hanasi
Judah ha-Nasi ( he, יְהוּדָה הַנָּשִׂיא, ''Yəhūḏā hanNāsīʾ''; Yehudah HaNasi or Judah the Prince) or Judah I, was a second-century rabbi (a tanna of the fifth generation) and chief redactor and editor of the ''Mi ...
, the compiler of the ''Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
'', a commentary on the ''Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
'', moved to Sepphoris, along with the Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ap ...
, the highest Jewish religious court. Before moving to Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...
by 150, some Jewish academies of learning, yeshivot
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are st ...
, were also based there. The Galilee was predominantly populated by Jews from the end of the 2nd century to the 4th century CE. As late as the third-fourth centuries, Sepphoris is believed to have been settled by one of the twenty-four priestly courses
The priestly divisions or sacerdotal courses ( he, מִשְׁמָר ''mishmar'') are the groups into which Jewish priests were divided for the purposes of their service in the Temple in Jerusalem.
The 24 priestly divisions are first listed in the ...
, Jedayah by name, a course mentioned in relation to the town itself in both the Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...
(''Taanit'' 4:5) and in the ''Caesarea Inscription''. Others, however, cast doubt about Sepphoris ever being under a "priestly oligarchy" by the third century, and that it may simply reflect a misreading of Talmudic sources. Aside from being a center of spiritual and religious studies, it developed into a busy metropolis for commerce due to its proximity to important trade routes through Galilee. Hellenistic and Jewish influences seemed blended together in daily town life while each group, Jewish, pagan and Christian, maintained its distinct identity.
In the aftermath of the Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus
The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus erupted during the Roman civil war of 350–353, upon destabilization across the Roman Empire. In 351–352 the Jews of Roman Palaestina revolted against the rule of Constantius Gallus, brother-in-la ...
of 351–352, Diocaesarea, the epicenter of the revolt, was razed. Philostorgius
Philostorgius ( grc-gre, Φιλοστόργιος; 368 – c. 439 AD) was an Anomoean Church historian of the 4th and 5th centuries.
Very little information about his life is available. He was born in Borissus, Cappadocia to Eulampia and Cart ...
, speaking of these times, wrote: "The Jews of Diocæsarea (Sepphoris) also took up arms and invaded Palestine and the neighboring territories, with the design of shaking off the Roman yoke. On hearing of their insurrection, Gallus Caesar, who was then in Antioch, sent troops against them, defeated them, and destroyed Diocæsarea." Diocaesarea was further affected by the Galilee earthquake of 363
The Galilee earthquake of 363 was a pair of severe earthquakes that shook the Galilee and nearby regions on May 18 and 19. The maximum perceived intensity for the events was estimated to be VII (''Very strong'') on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karn ...
, but rebuilt soon afterwards, and retained its importance in the greater Jewish community of the Galilee, both socially, commercially, and spiritually.
The town was also the center of a Christian bishopric. Three of its early bishops are known by name: Dorotheus (mentioned in 451), Marcellinus (mentioned in 518), and Cyriacus (mentioned in 536). As a diocese that is no longer residential, it is listed in the ''Annuario Pontificio
The ''Annuario Pontificio'' (Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides names ...
'' among titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...
s.
In the centuries between the rule of Herod Antipas and the end of the Byzantine era
The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World ( grc, Ἔτη Γενέσεως Κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, also or , abbreviated as ε.Κ.; literal translation of ...
, (7th century), the city reportedly thrived as a center of learning, with a diverse, multiethnic and multireligious population of some 30,000 living in relatively peaceful coexistence.
Early Muslim period
The 4th century saw Jewish Zippori losing its centrality as the main Jewish city of the Galilee in favour of Tiberias, and its population dwindled away.[ With the Muslim conquest of the region, a new village rose on the ruins of ancient Zippori/Sepphoris,][ known by the Semitic name of Saffuriya.][Chancey (2005), p]
102
/ref>[ Saffuriya's main development occurred during the Mamluk period (13th–16th centuries).][ Various Islamic dynasties controlled the site, with an interlude during the Crusades, from the 630s and up until World War I.
The 9th-century Islamic scholar ]Ya'qubi
ʾAbū l-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer and perhaps the first historian of world cultu ...
noted that Saffuriyyah was taken during the first conquest by the Arab armies in Palestine. in 634.[Khalidi (1992), p. 351.] Later, the city was incorporated into the expanding Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
, and ''al-jund'' coins were minted by the new rulers. A stone-built aqueduct dating to the early Umayyad period (7th century CE) has been excavated. Saffuriya was engaged in trade with other parts of the empire at the time; for example, cloaks made in Saffuriyya were worn by people in Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
.[Crone (2004), p]
102
/ref> Umayyad rule was replaced by Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
rule.[
]
Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk periods
At the end of the 11th century, the Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
invaded the region and established the Crusader states
The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political in ...
, with the Kingdom of Jerusalem replacing the Islamic rule over Saffuriya. During the Crusader period, Sephoris/Saffuriya changed hands several times. The Crusaders built a fort and watchtower atop the hill, overlooking the town,[Pringle (1997), p]
92
/ref> and a church dedicated to Saint Anne
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
, the mother of the Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
.[Pringle (1998), pp]
209
210 This became one of their local bases in the kingdom, and the town was called in fro, le Saforie, links=no or ''Sephoris''.[ In 1187, the field army of the Latin kingdom marched from their well-watered camp at Sephoris to be cut off and destroyed at the ]Battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of t ...
by the Ayyubid
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
sultan, Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
.
In 1255, the village and its fortifications were back in Crusader hands, as a document from that year shows it belonged to the archbishop of Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
, but by 1259, the bishop experienced unrest among the local Muslim farmers.
Saffuriyyah was captured between 1263 and 1266 by the Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
sultan Baybars
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...
.[
]
Ottoman period
''Saffuriya'' ( ar, صفورية, links=no, also transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...
''Safurriya'' and ''Suffurriye''), came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
after it defeated the Mamluks at the Battle of Marj Dabiq
The Battle of Marj Dābiq ( ar, مرج دابق, meaning "the meadow of Dābiq"; tr, Mercidabık Muharebesi), a decisive military engagement in Middle Eastern history, was fought on 24 August 1516, near the town of Dabiq, 44 km north of ...
in 1516. An Ottoman firman
A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...
of 1572 describes Saffuriyya as one of a group of villages within the sanjak
Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ)
* Armenian language, Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province")
* Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region")
* el, Διοίκησι ...
of Safad, which was part of the Qaysi
Qays ʿAylān ( ar, قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe does not appear to have functioned as a unit in the pre-Islamic er ...
faction, and that had rebelled against the Ottoman authorities.[Heydn (1960), pp. 83–84. Cited in Petersen (2001), p]
269
/ref> In 1596, the population was recorded as consisting of 366 families and 34 bachelors, all Muslim. Saffuriyya was larger than neighboring Nazareth but smaller than Kafr Kanna
Kafr Kanna ( ar, كفر كنا, ''Kafr Kanā''; he, כַּפְר כַּנָּא) is an Arab town in the Galilee, part of the Northern District of Israel. It is associated by Christians with the New Testament village of Cana, where Jesus tur ...
. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 25% on various agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olive trees, goats and beehives, in addition to a press for olive oil or grape syrup and "occasional revenues"; a total of 31,244 akçe
The ''akçe'' or ''akça'' (also spelled ''akche'', ''akcheh''; ota, آقچه; ) refers to a silver coin which was the chief monetary unit of the Ottoman Empire. The word itself evolved from the word "silver or silver money", this word is deri ...
. 3/24 of the revenuer went to a Waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
.[Hütteroth and Abdulfattah (1977), p. 188] A number of important scholars came from the village during this period,[Khalidi (1992), pp. 350–353] including the historian, poet and jurist al-Hasan al-Burini
Badr al-Din al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Dimashqi al-Saffuri al-Burini (July 1556-11 June 1615), commonly known as al-Hasan al-Burini, was a Damascus-based Ottoman Arab historian and poet and Shafi'i jurist.
Life
Al-Burini was born in mid-July 1556 i ...
(d. 1615), the qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
(head judge), al-Baq'a al-Saffuri (d. 1625) and the poet and qadi Ahmad al-Sharif (d. 1633).[
It is reported that in 1745 Zahir al-Umar, who grew up in the town, built a fort on the hill overlooking Saffuriya.][ A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by ]Pierre Jacotin
Pierre Jacotin (1765–1827) was the director of the survey for the ''Carte de l'Égypte (Description de l'Égypte)'', the first triangulation-based map of Egypt, Syria and Palestine.
The maps were surveyed in 1799-1800 during the campaign in Eg ...
showed the place, named as ''Safoureh.''
In the early 19th century, the British traveller J. Buckingham noted that all the inhabitants of Saffuriya were Muslim, and that the house of St. Anna had been completely demolished.[Buckingham (1821), pp]
90
91
In the late 19th century, Saffuriyya was described as village built of stone and mud, situated along the slope of a hill. The village contained the remains of the Church of St. Anna and a square tower, said to have been built in the mid-18th century. The village had an estimated 2,500 residents, who cultivated 150 faddan
A feddan ( ar, فدّان, faddān) is a unit of area used in Egypt, Sudan, Syria, and the Oman. In Classical Arabic, the word means 'a yoke of oxen', implying the area of ground that could be tilled by oxen in a certain time. In Egypt, the fedda ...
s (1 faddan = 100–250 dunams), on some of this land they had planted olive trees.[Conder and Kitchener (1881), SWP I, pp]
279
−280. Quoted in Khalidi (1992), p. 351.
A population list from about 1887 showed that Sepphoris had about 2,940 inhabitants; all Muslims.
In 1900, an elementary school for boys was founded, and later, a school for girls.[
Though it lost its centrality and importance as a cultural center under the Ottomans (1517–1918) and the British Mandate (1918–1948), the village thrived agriculturally. Saffuriyya's ]pomegranate
The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall.
The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...
s, olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
s and wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
were famous throughout the Galilee.
British Mandate period
According to the British Mandate's 1922 census of Palestine
The 1922 census of Palestine was the first census carried out by the authorities of the British Mandate of Palestine, on 23 October 1922.
The reported population was 757,182, including the military and persons of foreign nationality. The divisi ...
, ''Saffuriyeh'' had 2,582 inhabitants; 2,574 Muslims and 8 Christians,[Barron (1923), Table XI, Sub-district of Nazareth, p]
38
/ref> where the Christians were all Roman Catholics.
By the 1931 census the population had increased to 3,147; 3,136 Muslims and 11 Christians, in a total of 747 houses.[Mills (1932), p]
76
/ref> In summer of 1931, archaeologist Leroy Waterman
Leroy Waterman (July 4, 1875 – May 9, 1972) was a professor of Oriental Languages and Literature at the University of Michigan, an archaeologist of the Middle East, an Old Testament scholar, a translator of the Revised Standard Version Old Testa ...
began the first excavations at Saffuriya, digging up part of the school playground, formerly the site of the Crusader fort.[
A local council was established in 1923. The expenditure of the council grew from 74 Palestine pound in 1929 to 1,217 in 1944.][
In the 1945 statistics, the population was 4,330; 4,320 Muslims and 10 Christians,][ and the total land area was 55,378 ]dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...
s.[ In 1944/45 a total of 21,841 ]dunam
A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...
s of village land was used for cereals, 5,310 dunams were irrigated or used for orchards, mostly olive trees,[Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. ''Village Statistics, April 1945.'' Quoted in Hadawi (1970), p]
110
/ref> while 102 dunams were classified as built-up land. By 1948, Saffuriya was the largest village in the Galilee both by land size and population.[
]
State of Israel
The Arab village had a history of anti-Yishuv
Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the s ...
activities and supported the Arab Liberation Army
The Arab Liberation Army (ALA; ar, جيش الإنقاذ العربي ''Jaysh al-Inqadh al-Arabi''), also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji. It fought on the Arab side in th ...
during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
.[ On 1 July 1948, the village was bombarded by Israeli aircraft.][IIED, 1994, p]
95
/ref> On 16 July it was captured by Israeli forces along with the rest of the Lower Galilee in Operation Dekel
Operation Dekel ( he, מבצע דקל , Mivtza Dekel, Operation Palm Tree), was the largest offensive by Israeli forces in the north of Palestine after the first truce of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was carried out by the 7th Armoured Brigade ...
. The villagers put up some resistance and managed to destroy several armoured cars in an ambush. Following the collapse of the resistance, all but 80 of the villagers fled. Some made their way northwards toward Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, finally settling there in the refugee camps of Ain al-Hilweh
Ain al-Hilweh ( ar, عين الحلوة, lit. meaning "sweet natural spring"), also spelled as Ayn al-Hilweh and Ein al-Hilweh, is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. It had a population of over 70,000 Palestinian refugees but swell ...
and Shatila and the adjacent Sabra neighborhood. Others fled south to Nazareth and the surrounding countryside. After the attack, the villagers returned but were evicted again in September 1948.[ On 7 January 1949, 14 residents were deported and the remaining 550 were resettled in neighboring Arab villages such as 'Illut.][ Many settled in Nazareth in a quarter now known as the al-Safafira quarter because of the large number of Saffuriyya natives living there.][ As the Israeli government considers them ]present absentee
Present absentees are Arab internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled or were expelled from their homes in Mandatory Palestine during the 1947–1949 Palestine war but remained within the area that became the state of Israel. The term applies ...
, they cannot go back to their old homes and have no legal recourse to recover them.[Kacowicz and Lutomski (2007), p]
140
/ref> The works of the poet Taha Muhammad Ali
Taha Muhammad Ali ( ar, طه محمد علي) (1931 in Saffuriyya, Galilee – October 2, 2011 in Nazareth) was a Palestinian poet.
Biography
Taha Muhammad Ali fled to Lebanon with his family when he was seventeen after their village came un ...
, a native of Saffuriyya expelled from the town, and their relationship to the landscape of Saffuriya before 1948 are the subject of Adina Hoffman
Adina Hoffman (born 1967) is an American writer whose work blends literary and documentary elements. Her books concern, among other things, the "lives and afterlives of people, movies, buildings, books, and certain city streets."
Biography
Born in ...
's ''My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness'' (Yale University Press, 2009). The area remained under martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
until the general lifting of martial law in Israel in 1966. Most of the remains of Saffuriya were removed in a late-1960s program to clear depopulated Arab villages. The site of the Arab village was planted with pine trees.[ By 2011, five books about the Palestinian village history had been published.
On 20 February 1949, the Israeli ]moshav
A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...
of Tzippori
Tzippori () is a moshav in northern Israel, in the Lower Galilee. The moshav is within the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. The moshav is located at the site of the ancient settlement of Sepphoris, after which it was named.
H ...
was founded southeast of the older village.[ The pomegranate and olive trees were replaced with crops for cattle fodder.][Benvenisti (2002), p]
216
/ref>
Archaeological park
Roman and Byzantine city
Much of the town has been excavated, revealing Jewish homes along a main cobblestone street. Several images have been found carved into the stones of the street, including that of a menorah, and another image that resembles some ancient game reminiscent of tic-tac-toe
Tic-tac-toe (American English), noughts and crosses (Commonwealth English), or Xs and Os (Canadian or Irish English) is a paper-and-pencil game for two players who take turns marking the spaces in a three-by-three grid with ''X'' or ''O''. T ...
. Stepped pools have been uncovered throughout Sepphoris, and it is generally believed that these may well have been used as Mikva'ot
Tractate Miqwaʾoth (Hebrew: מקואות, lit. "Pools of Water"; in Talmudic Hebrew: ''Miqwaʾoth'') is a section of the Mishna discussing the laws pertaining to the building and maintenance of a mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath. Like most of Seder T ...
, Jewish ritual baths.
Roman theatre
The Roman theatre sits on the northern slope of the hill, and is about 45 m in diameter, seating 4500. Most of it is carved into the hillside, but some parts are supported by separate stone pillars. The theatre shows evidence of ancient damage, possibly from the earthquake in 363.
Nile mosaic villa
A modern structure stands to one side of the excavations, overlooking the remains of a 5th-century public building with a large and intricate mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
floor. Some believe the room was used for festival rituals involving a celebration of water, and possibly covering the floor in water. Drainage channels have been found in the floor, and the majority of the mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
seems devoted to measuring the floods of the Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
, and celebrations of those floods.[
]
Dionysus mosaic villa
A Roman villa, built around the year 200, contains an elaborate mosaic floor in what is believed to have been a triclinium
A ''triclinium'' (plural: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to accommodate a diner who ...
. In Roman tradition, seating would have been arranged in a U-shape around the mosaic for guests to recline as they ate, drank and socialised. The mosaic features images of Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
, god of wine and of socialising, along with Pan and Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
in several of the 15 panels. The mosaic depicts a wine-drinking contest between Dionysus and Hercules.[Unique Byzantine-era winepresses unearthed in roofed water cistern in Tzippori]
/ref>
The most famous image is that of a young woman, possibly representing Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
, which has been dubbed the "Mona Lisa of the Galilee". Smaller mosaic ''tesserae
A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive ''tessella'') is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus.
Historical tesserae
The oldest known tesserae ...
'' were used, which allowed for greater detail and a more lifelike result, as seen in the shading and blush of her cheeks.[
]
Byzantine-period synagogue
The remains of a 5th-century synagogue have been uncovered in the lower section of the city. Measuring 20.7 meters by 8 meters wide, it was located at the edge of the town. The mosaic floor is divided into seven parts. Near the entrance is a scene showing the angels visiting Sarah
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...
. The next section shows the binding of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac ( he, , ), or simply "The Binding" (, ), is a story from Genesis 22 of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah. As Abraham begins to comply, having bound Isaa ...
. There is a large zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...
with the names of the months written in Hebrew. A depiction of the Greek sun god
A solar deity or sun deity is a deity who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it. Such deities are usually associated with power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The ...
Helios
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyper ...
sits in the middle, in his chariot. The last section shows two lions flanking a wreath, their paws resting on the head of an ox.
The mosaic shows the "tamid
Tamid ( he, תָמִיד ''ṯāmīḏ''; "daily offerings") is the ninth tractate in the Order of Kodashim, which is the fifth of the six orders of the Mishnah, Tosefta and the Talmud.
The main subject of Tamid is the morning and evening burn ...
" sacrifice, the showbread
Showbread ( he, לחם הפנים ''Leḥem haPānīm'', literally: "Bread of the Faces"), in the King James Version: shewbread, in a biblical or Jewish context, refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present, on a specially-de ...
, and the basket of first fruits
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particula ...
form the Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...
. Also shown are a building facade, probably representing the Temple, incense shovels, shofar
A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the ...
s, and the seven-branched menorah from the Temple. Another section shows Aaron
According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...
dressed in priestly robes preparing to offer sacrifices of oil, flour, a bull and a lamb.
An Aramaic inscription reads "May he be remembered for good Yudan son of Isaac the Priest and Paragri his daughter Amen Amen"
Crusader tower
The Crusader fortress on the hill overlooking the Roman theater was built in the 12th century on the foundation of an earlier Byzantine structure. The fortress is a large square structure, 15m x15m, and approximately 10 m. high. The lower portion of the building consists of reused antique spolia
''Spolia'' (Latin: 'spoils') is repurposed building stone for new construction or decorative sculpture reused in new monuments. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice whereby stone that has been quarried, cut and used in a built ...
, including a sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
with decorative carvings. The upper part of the structure and the doorway were added by Zahir al-Umar in the 18th century. Noticeable features from the rebuilding are the rounded corners which are similar to those constructed under Zahir in the fort in Shefa-'Amr
Shefa-Amr, also Shfar'am ( ar, شفاعمرو, Šafāʻamr, he, שְׁפַרְעָם, Šəfarʻam) is an Arab city in the Northern District of Israel. In it had a population of , with a Sunni Muslim majority and large Christian Arab and Druz ...
. The upper part of the building was used as a school during the reign of Abdul Hamid II
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
in the early 1900s (late Ottoman era), and used for this purpose until 1948.
Excavation history
Since 1990 large areas of Zippori have been excavated by an archaeological team working on behalf of the Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
's Institute of Archaeology.
In 2012, a survey of the site was conducted by Zidan Omar on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...
(IAA).Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...
Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2012
Survey Permit # A-6675 In June 2018, archaeologists discovered two subterranean Byzantine-period wine press
A winepress is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during wine making. There are a number of different styles of presses that are used by wine makers but their overall functionality is the same. Each style of press exerts controll ...
es at Tzippori National Park.[
]
See also
*Al-Burini
Badr al-Din al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Dimashqi al-Saffuri al-Burini (July 1556-11 June 1615), commonly known as al-Hasan al-Burini, was a Damascus-based Ottoman Arab historian and poet and Shafi'i jurist.
Life
Al-Burini was born in mid-July 1556 i ...
(1556-1615), Damascus-based Ottoman Arab historian, poet, and Shafi'i jurist
*Battle of Cresson
The Battle of Cresson was a small battle between Frankish and Ayyubid forces on 1 May 1187 at the "Spring of the Cresson." While the exact location of the spring is unknown, it is located in the environs of Nazareth. The conflict was a prelude ...
between Crusaders and Muslim troops in 1187, possibly at the Springs of Sepphoris
*Jesus Trail
The Jesus Trail ( he, שביל ישו, ''Sh'víl Yeshú'') is a hiking and pilgrimage route in the Galilee region of Israel that traces the route Jesus may have walked, connecting many sites from his life and ministry. The main part of the tra ...
, 65 km (40 mi) hiking and pilgrimage route in the Galilee passing through Sepphoris
*Oldest synagogues in the world
Historic synagogues include synagogues that date back to ancient times and synagogues that represent the earliest Jewish presence in cities around the world. Some synagogues were destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site. Others wer ...
*Shikhin Shikhin (, variant spelling שׁוּחִין), known in Greek as Asochis, was an ancient Jewish village in Galilee which was abandoned in the fourth century CE. It was situated right next to the regional capital, Sepphoris, and its ruins have been ...
(ancient Asochis), village 1.5 km north of Sepphoris, major pottery production centre in Roman Galilee
*Taha Muhammad Ali
Taha Muhammad Ali ( ar, طه محمد علي) (1931 in Saffuriyya, Galilee – October 2, 2011 in Nazareth) was a Palestinian poet.
Biography
Taha Muhammad Ali fled to Lebanon with his family when he was seventeen after their village came un ...
(1931–2011), Palestinian poet born in Saffuriyya
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Heyd, Uriel (1960): ''Ottoman Documents on Palestine, 1552–1615'', Oxford University Press, Oxford. Cited in Petersen (2002)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Tzippori excavation project
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Palestine Remembered
Safuriyya
Zochrot
Zochrot ( he, זוכרות; "Remembering"; ar, ذاكرات; "Memories") is an Israeli nonprofit organization founded in 2002. Based in Tel Aviv, its aim is to promote awareness of the Palestinian ''Nakba'' ("Catastrophe"), including the 1948 Pa ...
* Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5
IAA
Wikimedia commons
Saffuryeh
from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh
Hillel International
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (Accessed 9 February 2005.)
Zippori National Park
official brochure with site map. (Accessed 27 December 2019.)
Photos of Sepphoris
from the Manar al-Athar
Manar al-Athar is a photo archive based at the Faculty of Classics at the University of Oxford which aims to provide high-quality open-access images of archaeological sites and buildings. The archive's collection focuses on areas of the Roman Em ...
photo archive
{{Authority control
Populated places established in the 5th millennium BC
Ancient Israel and Judah
Archaeological sites in Israel
Crusader castles
Castles and fortifications of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Castles in Israel
National parks of Israel
Diocaesarea in Palaestina
District of Nazareth
Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
Mosaics
Talmud places
Populated places in Northern District (Israel)
Roman towns and cities in Israel
Ancient Jewish settlements of Galilee
Church buildings in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Israeli mosaics