Please join us for a very informative and interesting lecture; The site of  Sepphoris or Tsippori in Israel has undergone excavations by the University of South Florida since 1983. Sepphoris appears in many ancient Jewish literary sources, including the Mishnah, the two Talmuds, and the Midrashim.  Archeology has helped fill out the picture of a mostly Jewish city, the leading citizen of which in the first century was Herod the Great. At the death of Herod the city revolted, and the Romans responded by destroying the city. The rebuilt Sepphoris has proved to be a rich site with more than 60 colorful mosaic floors. Sepphoris became a great intellectual center of the Jews and dozens of Rabbis from Sepphoris are known in the tradition. The USF Excavations at Sepphoris excavated a villa with ritual baths, a common ritual bath, a basilical building with marvelous colored mosaics and re-excavated the Roman theater. The USF Expedition has excavated the two main cross streets and has surveyed the area around Sepphoris.