5. Hike the Bible – Zippori

The Mona Lisa of Galilee. Part of a mosaic floor excavated at Zippori.

The Hike the Bible series is currently covering points of interest along two hiking trails through Galilee, the 40-mile Jesus Trail and the 39-mile Gospel Trail. These two trails re-create possible routes Jesus may have walked when He left Nazareth for Capernaum near the beginning of his ministry (Luke 4:16-37).

Jesus undoubtedly traversed all or parts of these trails during His sojourns in Galilee. Click Jesus Trail vs. Gospel Trail for a comparative evaluation of the two trails.

Points of interest that I’ll discuss lie primarily along the Jesus Trail, because I think that trail is more interesting, and because it has more Biblically-relevant sites. After discussing the Galilean points of interest, this Hike the Bible series will continue with reviews of other major hiking trails in the Lands of the Bible.

Zippori (Sepphoris)
The Jesus Trail passes through Zippori five miles north of its origin in Nazareth. The Gospel Trail does not go through Zippori.

Crusader fortress at Zippori

Zippori (Hebrew) or Sepphoris (Roman) was the capital of Galilee under Herod and the Romans in the first century AD. It was substantially destroyed by Roman soldiers in 4 BC and rebuilt during the lifetime of Jesus. However, it is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Joseph was a builder, and it’s very likely he was employed on construction projects at Sepphoris. Tradition says that Mary’s parents, the scribe Joachim and his wife Anna, were from Sepphoris. Did Joseph meet Mary in Sepphoris on a job? Did Jesus work alongside Joseph at Sepphoris? It’s quite possible, but nobody knows.

Sepphoris ruins. Joseph and Jesus may have worked as builders at Sepphoris.

Today the site is a national park. It was first excavated in 1931 and then later from 1983 to 2003. Many archaeological ruins like Roman streets, mosaics, residential foundations, Roman theater, synagogue, and a Crusader fortress are visible.

Soli Deo Gloria.

This is the fifth installment in the Hike the Bible series reviewing major hiking trails in the Lands of the Bible.
Read the prequels:
1. Hike the Bible – Jesus Trail (with video)
2. Hike the Bible – Gospel Trail (with video)
3. Hike the Bible – Jesus Trail vs. Gospel Trail
4. Hike the Bible – Nazareth

Read the sequel:
6. Hike the Bible – Mash’had

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith” (Jude 1:3)
Wednesday February 15, 2012 A.D.

Read my February 2012 newspaper column:
What’s Wrong with Polygamy?

Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:23)