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Roman City

Sepphoris

SEFF-uh-riss · Modern Tzippori National Park, Israel · 32.7456° N, 35.2786° E

Sepphoris (Tzippori) served as the administrative capital of the Galilee under Herod Antipas, about 4 miles north-northwest of Nazareth. Given this proximity, some scholars suggest Joseph and the young Jesus, as a craftsman, may have found work in the city during its Herodian building boom, though the New Testament never mentions Jesus visiting Sepphoris directly.

Archaeology

Excavations since the 1980s have uncovered streets, bathhouses, a 4,500-seat Roman theater, and more than 40 mosaic floors, making Sepphoris one of the most extensively excavated sites in Israel. The 3rd-century Dionysus mosaic includes a striking face nicknamed the "Mona Lisa of the Galilee." Scholarly debate continues over the precise dating of some mosaics and the extent to which the city's Roman-era culture reflects on Jesus's upbringing nearby, since no ancient source places him there.

The "Mona Lisa of the Galilee," a detail from the 3rd-century Dionysus mosaic floor in a Roman villa at Sepphoris.
The "Mona Lisa of the Galilee," a detail from the 3rd-century Dionysus mosaic floor in a Roman villa at Sepphoris. — source & licence
The ruins of the ancient Roman theater at Sepphoris/Tzippori, seating roughly 4,500 spectators.
The ruins of the ancient Roman theater at Sepphoris/Tzippori, seating roughly 4,500 spectators. — source & licence

On a modern map

Sepphoris today

Further reading

Reflect

Jesus may have worked in this booming city an hour's walk from Nazareth during his hidden years — what is being built in your hidden seasons?

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