A gang of antiquities robbers was caught at the end of last week in the area of the ancient town of Zippori, during an operation of the inspectors of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery, in cooperation with the security coordinators of Alonim and Alon Hagalil in the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. An alert woman hiker identified the gang and reported their suspicious activity. She will be awarded a certificate of recognition for her good citizenship.
The bandits conducted an unauthorized excavation in the antiquities site, in an attempt to break underground and locate a shelter labyrinth from the Roman period, circa 2,000 years ago.
Zippori (Sepphoris) is located in the central Galilee region, 3.7 miles north-northwest of Nazareth, 286 meters above sea level, overlooking the Beit Netofa Valley. The site holds a rich and diverse historical and architectural legacy that includes Hellenistic, Jewish, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, Arabic and Ottoman influences.
The Jewish settlement in the ancient city of Zippori existed for hundreds of years as part of the Jewish community in northern Israel. The site has public and residential buildings, including a Roman theater, two early Christian churches, a Crusader fort renovated by Zahir al-Umar in the 18th century, and more than sixty different mosaics dating from the third to the sixth century CE.
The inspectors of the robbery prevention unit and volunteers arrived at the robbery scene and chased and captured two of the three gang members. The suspects, in their thirties, are residents of nearby Nazareth. They possessed digging tools at the time of their arrest. They were taken for interrogation at the Nazareth police station.
Nir Distelfeld, an inspector of the antiquities robbery unit in the north, said in a statement: “We have witnessed a great deal of activity by antiquities robbers in the north, and two weeks ago a similar gang was captured in a burial cave in the Karmiel area. It seems that neither the heavy heat nor the Ramadan fast deter the robbers from going out and trying their luck in looting ancient treasures.”