Yes, They Are

Hanan Eshel attempts to discredit the identification of mikva’ot at Sepphoris,¹ but he also suggests that first-century C.E. Sepphoris, in the time of Jesus, was both a pagan and a Jewish city. This has been the subject of much discussion and debate among the excavators as the article “How Jewish Was Sepphoris in Jesus’ Time?” of this issue shows. I believe that at the beginning of the first century C.E., and even after the First Jewish Revolt (66–70 C.E.), Sepphoris was overwhelmingly Jewish.² Since this larger issue provides a context for the mikva’ot question, I will first review some key findings.