Hebrew: Yodefat
Fortified hilltop
town in central Galilee 6 miles north of Sepphoris
& less than 2 miles from Cana.
The fortress is first mentioned in the Assyrian records of
Tiglath-Pilesar's conquest of the kingdom of Israel (732
BCE).
After Alexander
Jannai brought it under Judean control (ca. 100
BCE), Jotapata became the Jewish
administrative center for central Galilee. Its fortifications
were strengthened by Josephus
but it succumbed to Vespasian's siege (67
CE) & Josephus himself became a Roman hostage.
Recent excavations by Mordecai Avian revealed the town to be
much larger & wealthier than previously imagined. Though
just 10 miles from Nazareth,
it is not mentioned in any gospel.
References: Josephus,
Life 188, 234,
332, 350-357, 412-414.
_____, War 2.57;
3.111-114, 141-339, 404-406.
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