Sepphoris

Though not mentioned in the Bible, Sepphoris was a major governmental city in Lower Galilee, about 7km NW of Nazareth. Josephus called it, in the time of Herod Antipas, "the security of all Galilee" and "the greatest city in Galilee." Many commentators have surmised that, instead of being just a carpenter in Nazareth Jesus may have actually worked in Sepphoris (the Greek word tekton usually translated "carpenter" at Mk 6:3 is a broader term than the English word implies).

The origin of the city (whose name means 'bird,' so called, according to one rabbinic tradition, because it perched on a hill) remains uncertain. Some commentators have identified it with Kitron (Judg 1:20)

Sepphoris entered recorded history for the first time in the reign of King Alexander Jannaeus when, in 103 BC, it was unsuccessfully besieged by the King of Cyprus. Little is known about it again until half a century later when the Roman Proconsul of Syria, Gabinius reorganized the region and established one of the five Roman councils there. Herod the Great siezed it in a snowstorm in 38-39 BC from the Pathians who had invaded the country two years previously.

When Herod the Great died in 4 BC, a rebellion led by Judah ben Hezekiah rose up in the city, which Varus, the Roman governor of Syria put down and, in the process, reduced the city to ashes. It came under the rule of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, who rebuilt it (hence the conjecture about Jesus working in Sepphoris noted above) until it surpassed Tiberias in its beauty, oppulence, and importance, with a mixed population of Greek-Roman and Jews. But already it also becoming a residence of choice for families with priestly connections. The city was Roman-friendly and one of the targets of the Jewish rebels (including Josephus who attacked the city before he turned himself over to the Romans) during the First Jewish Revolt. The city even petitioned the Romans to put down the outbreak of violence against their fellow Jews elsewhere in the country. In the following decades it became a centre of rabbinic learning blessed with famous and beautiful synagogues, until the Rabbinic institutions relocated to Tiberias towards the end of the 3rd Cent AD, when the city also became a city of Christian interest. By then, however, the city was losing its cultural and political importance.

Further Reading & Resources:

☰ James F. Strange, "Recent discoveries at Sepphorls and their relevance for biblical research," Neotestamentica 34.1 (2000): 125-142.