by hadassah | Feb 14, 2016 | The Rabbis
Aerial view of the city of Sepphoris, Lower Galilee Photo courtesy of bibleplaces.com. Sepphoris, Zippori in Hebrew, is located in the center of the Lower Galilee, three miles northwest of Nazareth. Although it was probably founded in First Temple days (eighth...
by hadassah | Feb 7, 2016 | The Rabbis
Menorah in the Beth Shearim Catacomb, Lower Galilee, 2nd- 4th centuries CE An example of the intricate carvings in the catacombs of Beth She’arim, this menorah stands on top of the head of a man in a Roman military tunic. Jewish symbols such as the menorah...
by hadassah | Jan 28, 2009 | Maccabean Period, The Rabbis
Jewish Funerary Inscriptions—Most Are in Greek, Pieter W. van der Horst, BAR 18:05, Sep-Oct 1992. No less than 1,600 Jewish epitaphs—funerary inscriptions—are extant from ancient Palestine and the Diaspora dating to the Hellenistic and Roman-Byzantine periods...
by hadassah | Jan 28, 2009 | The Rabbis
Beth Shearim Catacombs, 2nd-4th century CE Catacomb Sarcophagus Rabbi Judah the Prince (HaNasi) headed the Sanhedrin from about 160-200 CE. He was based in Beth Shearim until ill health forced him to move to Zippori. Despite the move, he was buried in Beth...
by hadassah | Apr 9, 2008 | Roman Period II, The Rabbis
Sepphoris Mosaic, 3rd century CE “The Mona Lisa of the Galilee” Set in the white ground of the mosaic floor at one end—like a beautiful rug—is a 20- by 20-foot area of colored mosaic. The colored area consists of a rectangle flanked along part of...
by hadassah | Apr 8, 2008 | The Rabbis
Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon 1-2: The First Generation of the Tannaim Rav Sherira Gaon, who wrote in ca. 987, provides an idealized account of the history of the tannaitic movement from the time of Hillel and Shammai up to the generation before Rabbi Judah the...
