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Yafa an-Naseriyye
Yafa an-Naseriyye (Arabic: يافة الناصرة, also Jaffa of Nazareth, or simply Yafa, Kfar Yafia or Yafi Arabic: يافا, يفيع, Hebrew: יָפִיעַ) is an Arab town in Israel. It forms part of the metropolitan area of Nazareth, also an Arab locality. Declared a local council in 1960, it had a population of 18,837 in 2024, approximately 80.7% of whom were Muslim and 19.3% Christian.
Yafa an-Naseriyye is an ancient town where rock-cut tombs and cisterns have been found. Pottery finds date to the Iron Age IIA-B (late tenth and ninth centuries BCE), Hellenistic (late second and early first centuries BCE.), and Roman era (first to fourth century).
Yafa was a vassal of Megiddo in the fourteenth century BCE, according to the Amarna letters.
It has been identified with the ancient town of Japhia, mentioned in the Book of Joshua as a border town belonging to Zebulun.
First-century Jewish historian Josephus mentions the city Japha (Yafa) in his Life of Flavius Josephus (§ 37 and 45) and The Jewish War (Book 3, chapter 7, verse 31). He describes Japha as the largest village in Galilee, where he resided for a time and fortified it in 66 CE. Josephus also details the village's capture during the First Jewish–Roman War by the Roman army under M. Ulpius Traianus and Titus in the spring of 67 CE.
Chambers, cut in stone, three storeys high, have been found in the village. This was probably an old granary. Victor Guérin noted that when one of the chambers was cleared out in 1869, a vase was found containing about two hundred coins of Roman emperors. According to his observations, there were two of the subterranean systems, one of which is described above, both of which have suffered considerable damage since they were first visited by him in 1870. He found nothing of the ancient town, except five or six fragments of columns, broken stones, and about thirty cisterns. The city formerly included three adjacent hills. A stone quarry, also dating from the Roman period, has been excavated. It was in use from the late first century CE to the mid-fourth century CE.
The remains of a synagogue, initially reported by Vincent in the 1920s, were later excavated by Sukenik in 1950, confirming the site's identification. The excavation of the building, which is approximately 19 meters long and oriented east-west, only revealed partial details of its plan. Mosaic fragments discovered during the excavation hinted at a central motif — a large circle with 12 smaller dots — suspected to represent either a zodiac, or, as suggested by Sukenik, depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel. One notable discovery from the synagogue is an Aramaic mosaic fragment from its floor, showcasing three Hebrew letters (possibly signifying the last letters of the name Ephraim), next to the head of an animal. This finding dates back to the 3rd to 4th centuries AD.
Local medieval tradition holds that Zebedee and his two sons, the Apostles James and John lived in Yafa. As the first to mention this tradition was Marinus Sanutus, it was most likely a Crusader-era invention.
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Yafa an-Naseriyye
Yafa an-Naseriyye (Arabic: يافة الناصرة, also Jaffa of Nazareth, or simply Yafa, Kfar Yafia or Yafi Arabic: يافا, يفيع, Hebrew: יָפִיעַ) is an Arab town in Israel. It forms part of the metropolitan area of Nazareth, also an Arab locality. Declared a local council in 1960, it had a population of 18,837 in 2024, approximately 80.7% of whom were Muslim and 19.3% Christian.
Yafa an-Naseriyye is an ancient town where rock-cut tombs and cisterns have been found. Pottery finds date to the Iron Age IIA-B (late tenth and ninth centuries BCE), Hellenistic (late second and early first centuries BCE.), and Roman era (first to fourth century).
Yafa was a vassal of Megiddo in the fourteenth century BCE, according to the Amarna letters.
It has been identified with the ancient town of Japhia, mentioned in the Book of Joshua as a border town belonging to Zebulun.
First-century Jewish historian Josephus mentions the city Japha (Yafa) in his Life of Flavius Josephus (§ 37 and 45) and The Jewish War (Book 3, chapter 7, verse 31). He describes Japha as the largest village in Galilee, where he resided for a time and fortified it in 66 CE. Josephus also details the village's capture during the First Jewish–Roman War by the Roman army under M. Ulpius Traianus and Titus in the spring of 67 CE.
Chambers, cut in stone, three storeys high, have been found in the village. This was probably an old granary. Victor Guérin noted that when one of the chambers was cleared out in 1869, a vase was found containing about two hundred coins of Roman emperors. According to his observations, there were two of the subterranean systems, one of which is described above, both of which have suffered considerable damage since they were first visited by him in 1870. He found nothing of the ancient town, except five or six fragments of columns, broken stones, and about thirty cisterns. The city formerly included three adjacent hills. A stone quarry, also dating from the Roman period, has been excavated. It was in use from the late first century CE to the mid-fourth century CE.
The remains of a synagogue, initially reported by Vincent in the 1920s, were later excavated by Sukenik in 1950, confirming the site's identification. The excavation of the building, which is approximately 19 meters long and oriented east-west, only revealed partial details of its plan. Mosaic fragments discovered during the excavation hinted at a central motif — a large circle with 12 smaller dots — suspected to represent either a zodiac, or, as suggested by Sukenik, depicting the Twelve Tribes of Israel. One notable discovery from the synagogue is an Aramaic mosaic fragment from its floor, showcasing three Hebrew letters (possibly signifying the last letters of the name Ephraim), next to the head of an animal. This finding dates back to the 3rd to 4th centuries AD.
Local medieval tradition holds that Zebedee and his two sons, the Apostles James and John lived in Yafa. As the first to mention this tradition was Marinus Sanutus, it was most likely a Crusader-era invention.