Qedem 65.
The western summit of Sepphoris was excavated by three expeditions: Joint Sepphoris Project, (Duke University, North Carolina and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 1985–1989), Sepphoris Regional Project, Duke University (1993-1997), and Sepphoris Acropolis Excavation, University of LaVerne, California (2000). The rich data from these excavations serve as the basis for the analysis presented in the current volume of Qedem. This volume examines the extent to which information gleaned from installations on the western summit can clarify the stratigraphy of the architecture with which they were associated. Scores of underground and surface installations, including cisterns, storerooms, and stepped pools, among many others, were documented, noting their original configurations, modifications made to them, and the interrelationships between them. The installations themselves provided sufficient evidence to shed light on an early settlement on the summit that pre-dated all extant architecture. During the Late Hellenistic/Early Roman through Early Islamic periods, the installations were analyzed as integral parts of the architecture. A thorough understanding of the installations clarified many details of the architectural stratigraphy, property lines, and architectural details that might otherwise have been less understood, unexplained, or unnoticed. In the final chapter, several examples of the intersection between the archaeological evidence in the field and opinions recorded in the Rabbinical literature (Mishnah and Tosefta) are given.