Sepphoris; Zippori; Saffuriye Complete
Localization
Site plan
Description
Extensive excavations at Sepphoris were carried out toward the end of the twentieth century. The settlement’s principal growth took place in the Roman and early Byzantine eras, when a number of churches and other civic structures were established. A downturn followed in the early Islamic period. One synagogue uncovered at the site preserves numerous inscriptions in Aramaic and Greek. The excavator dated its construction to the early fifth century (Weiss 2008: 2033). A subsequent reassessment has suggested shifting the date to the sixth century (Maoz 2015). In addition, an important Aramaic inscription was found north of the Crusader church in the early twentieth century (Naveh 1978, 51 [29]; Beyer 1984: 394 [ggSE1]; Weiss 1993: 1327). Together with a Greek inscription that may derive from the same structure (Weiss 1993: 1327; IIP sepp0032), these finds led Milson to propose the existence of a second synagogue at Sepphoris, likely concealed beneath the later Crusader church (Milson 2007: 464). Plan source: Weiss 2008: 2030. Further reading: Maoz, Z.U. 2015. “The Synagogue at Sepphoris – a revised chronology.” Journal of Jewish Studies 66/2, 288–294. Milson, D.W. 2007. Art and Architecture of the Synagogue in Late Antique Palestine, Leiden, 464–466. Weiss, Z. 1993. “Sepphoris.” The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land Supplementary Volume, vol. 4, 1324–1328. Weiss, Z. 2005. The Sepphoris Synagogue. Deciphering an Ancient Message through Its Archaeological and Socio-Historic Contexts. Jerusalem. Weiss, Z. 2008. “Sepphoris.” The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land Supplementary Volume, 2033–2034. https://synagogues.kinneret.ac.il/synagogues/sepphoris/