The cultural milieu of ancient Sepphoris (Examining the interplay of Greco-Roman and local Hellenized culture in 2nd-century Israel)

Recent New Testament scholarship has rightly emphasized the significance of urban features at Sepphoris for gospels and historical Jesus research. How ever, some of these studies have greatly exaggerated the quantity of eviden ce for Greco-Roman influence in the first-century city. Most of the archite ctural features associated with the Greco-Roman city are missing, evidence for use of Greek is minimal, and signs of pagans are rare. In light of this , questions about the influence of Galilee's Hellenistic milieu on the hist orical Jesus must be reconsidered.