The City of Zippori

Zippori, otherwise known as Sepphoris or Eirenopolis (city of peace), was an ancient Galilean cityestablished in Hellenic times. Founded on a fertile hillside in Lower Galilee, it has been mentioned by many Jewish historians, most notably by Josephus Flavius in the First Century B.C. Around this time the city was the Roman Administrative capital of Galilee and was governed by Galinius. Perhaps he was a better Governor compared to his Roman colleagues, because the 66 B.C. organized revolt against Rome passed over Zippori. Far from joining in, the city showed a distinct preference for all things Roman by throwing open its gates to Vespasian's revolt suppressing soldiers. For this the city did not share the fate of the rest of the countryside and escaped devastation. It also received the supreme honor from Rome of having its name changed from Eirenpolis to Diocaesarea, a combination commemorating both Zeus and the Roman Emperor. This must have pleased its law-abiding, romanized citizens.

Despite the overt Roman slant, Zeppori managed to retain a distinct Jewish character and identity. Attracted by the peace and stability of the city, many Jewish scholars and thinkers flocked to Zippori and it had, by the Second Century B.C., become an important hub of the Jewish religious faith. This can be seen by the fact that the most important Jewish Assembly, the Sanhedrin, which had the final say in all religious and spiritual maters, came to be later on based in Zippori. Much later the Sanhedrin moved it's base to the city of Tiberias. Zippori had by this time become famous for its numerous Jewish religious institutions and students camefrom far and wide to study the Torah and other Jewish scriptures under somenotable Jewish teachers at the Synagogues. The remains of one such synagogue, built around the sixth century, shows a column-lined rectangle of 16m by 6.5m that is divided into a main hall and a narrow aisle. The main hall is paved with a mosaic of the zodiac and some biblical scenes.

This was a very good period for Zippori. The Roman Empire was at its zenith and so by association the city was economically prosperous as well. There was peaceful co-existence between the Jewish and the non-Jewish population of the city. The citizens were proud of their city and sought to beautify it with Romanized art. Houses were decorated with brilliant mosaics in roman style and give an idea of the daily life of the people of Zippori.

Zippori was a very well-planned city built in two parts - the upper city and the lower city - and each having a fine network of narrow and broad paved streets lined with buildings and shops. The buildings were big and impressive and the residences of the rich were usually spacious, one or two storied villas with a large number of rooms.The Jewish homes were distinctive for having the 'Mikva'ot' or the special bath places required for Jewish rituals. These were cut into the bed rock and plastered and had steps leading down to the bottom. The Roman homes were generally built around a central courtyard, with covered porticos lining it and doorways leading to a large main hall called the Triclinium. Most of the buildings, Jewish as well as Roman, had their floors paved with magnificent, aesthetically pleasing mosaics.The mosaics not only depicted scenes from daily life but also showed many scenes from Roman and Greek Mythology - Dionysos, the Greek God of wine was especially popular - and several festival scenes - amongst the most beautiful and well-preserved mosaics from Zippori are those from the 'Nile Festival House', a huge 50m by 30m place, which has about 20 rooms showing scenes fronm the Nile Festival. Despite a devastating earthquake in363, Zippori continued to be an important city of the Roman Empire.

With the advent of Christianity, the character of Zippori underwent a major change. Under the Christianized Byzantine rulers, the city's Christian population increased and became socially prominent. They erected many impressive Byzantine churches and the city now achieved fame as an important center for Christianity. The city fared less well however with the advent of Islam. The catholicity of the Catholics apparently had limits and could not incorporate Islamic tenets into the fold. Conquerors however do not like to be scorned and the new Arab rulers were no exception. Zippori, less favored, lost its grandeur. There were attempts to revive it during the Crusades of the 12th century - the Crusaders built a watch tower and a church dedicated to the parents of Jesus Christ on the city's hillside. However, as mentioned, the city's great days were now behind it.

References :

Jews, God, and History - by Max I. Dimont, Revised and Updated Edition, Mentor, Penguin Group, 1994.