Tuesday, August 12, 2008

THE ROMAN TEMPLE at Sepphoris (Zippori) gets some more coverage from the AP and the Jerusalem Post. Here' the archaeologist's take on the significance of the discovery:
The excavations, undertaken by the Noam Shudofsky Zippori Expedition led by Prof. Zeev Weiss of the university's Institute of Archaeology, shed light on the multi-cultural society of ancient Zippori. They indicate that Zippori, the Jewish capital of Galilee during Roman times, had a significant pagan population which established the temple at the heart of the city, and was later also inhabited by Christians.

"It shows that pagans who were a minority prayed in the center of the city and lived in harmony with the Jewish majority," Weiss said Monday.
Background here.