No wonder Christians, Muslims and Jews fell in love with this ancient site

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Everyone loves Zippori. Even today you can still feel the culture, the grandeur, the power of wealth there. This hill in the Lower Galilee has seen countless incarnations during its existence and is still one of the most fascinating places in the country. Zippori’s inhabitants were no great heroes. They just wanted to live well, and peacefully. They cherished art, wine, clear-cut rules and faith. No wonder Jews, Muslims and Christians fell in love with the place.

In the first century B.C.E., Zippori (aka Sepphoris, according to its ancient Greek name) was conquered by Herod the Great, and his grandson later made the site his capital. Christians believe that Joachim and Hannah, the grandparents of Jesus – Mary’s parents – lived there. The city surrendered without a fight in the Great Jewish Revolt against the Romans in 66 C.E. and was spared destruction, unlike neighboring Yodfat. Early in the third century C.E., Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi (Judah the Prince), relocated there along with the Sanhedrin (supreme Jewish council) and codified the Mishnah. According to rabbinic literature, Zippori boasted 18 synagogues at that time. Only one has been uncovered in excavations so far.

The entrance to the large, second-century structure used for storing water at Zippori.
Gil Eliahu

The fort at Zippori.
Gil Eliahu

Zippori was destroyed in the fourth century by a powerful earthquake and then rebuilt. The Muslims conquered it in 634 C.E. and renamed it Saffuriya; the site was home to several leading Arab scholars. In the 12th century, the Crusaders set out from there for the decisive Battle of Hattin, where they were defeated by Saladin’s army.

The Arab village of Saffuriya, where about 4,000 people lived in 1948, was bombed by the Israel Air Force in July that year and captured shortly thereafter; the few residents remaining in the area were deported. The remains of houses and ancient olive trees are still clearly visible at the site.

Mosaic inside the fifth-century Nile House at Zippori.
Gil Eliahu

Zippori may best be known for its fantastic and intricate 1,500-year-old mosaics, but on a visit there it is first worthwhile to see the remains of its ancient reservoir, comprised of a complex and ingenious system of aqueducts and tunnels. The large, second-century structure used for storing water is located to the left of the entrance to the Zippori National Park (which has a separate parking area) and is about a kilometer from the remains of the ancient city. It is rock-hewn, 10 meters high and 250 meters long – and fairly narrow, at just four meters wide. The descent into the reservoir, with its high walls creating a long and impressive crevice, is breathtaking. It is also possible to crawl through a pitch-dark section of what is called the Six-Shaft Tunnel.

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Other points of interest in Zippori include remains of a huge Roman theater, a fort, a Crusader church and several dwellings. The famous mosaic known as the “Mona Lisa of the Galilee” is located in Dionysus House, a Roman palace in the heart of the ancient city of Zippori – but the more interesting site is the fifth-century Nile House, so called because of its depictions of the river in Egypt, which served as a public meeting area. The multiple mosaic floors inside are rife with Amazonian hunters, beasts of prey and magnificent figures from legends.

More mosaic inside the fifth-century Nile House at Zippori.
Gil Eliahu

Getting there: Enter Zippori National Park in Waze; turn North from the road leading to the Nazareth interchange (Route 79)

Admission: 28 shekels for adults, 14 shekels for children; advanced reservation necessary through the Nature and Parks Authority website.

The ancient village of Zippori. It was conquered by Herod the Great, and his grandson later made the site his capital.
Gil Eliahu