In the town of Sepphoris, thought to be the place where the Mishnah was redacted, archaeologists have unearthed a series of elaborate 2nd-century-CE frescoes unlike anything else found from this time and place. Robin Ngo writes:

Just four miles north of Nazareth, Sepphoris was a thriving urban center during the . . . 1st century CE. With the conclusion of the first Jewish Revolt against Rome in 70 CE, the ancient Jewish historian Josephus reports that the residents of Sepphoris welcomed the Roman garrison [rather than risk destruction by resisting].

Following the revolt, in the late 1st through 3rd centuries, the city experienced a building boom with the construction of . . . public buildings, a marketplace, a theater, an aqueduct system, and public bathhouses. . . .

The fragments [of the newly discovered frescoes] display a variety of bright colors and designs, including geometric and floral patterns. Of special interest are fragments depicting both human and animal figures: a lion, a bird, a tiger, a horned animal—maybe a bull—and a man holding a club. . . .

Who commissioned the building of this monumental structure decorated with colorful frescoes? Was the person Jewish? Roman?

Archaeologists are still seeking answers.

Analyzing the recent direct Iranian attack on Israel, and Israel’s security situation more generally, Michael Oren looks to the 2015 agreement to restrain Iran’s nuclear program. That, and President Biden’s efforts to resurrect the deal after Donald Trump left it, are in his view the source of the current crisis:

Of the original motivations for the deal—blocking Iran’s path to the bomb and transforming Iran into a peaceful nation—neither remained. All Biden was left with was the ability to kick the can down the road and to uphold Barack Obama’s singular foreign-policy achievement.

In order to achieve that result, the administration has repeatedly refused to punish Iran for its malign actions:

Historians will survey this inexplicable record and wonder how the United States not only allowed Iran repeatedly to assault its citizens, soldiers, and allies but consistently rewarded it for doing so. They may well conclude that in a desperate effort to avoid getting dragged into a regional Middle Eastern war, the U.S. might well have precipitated one.

While America’s friends in the Middle East, especially Israel, have every reason to feel grateful for the vital assistance they received in intercepting Iran’s missile and drone onslaught, they might also ask what the U.S. can now do differently to deter Iran from further aggression. . . . Tehran will see this weekend’s direct attack on Israel as a victory—their own—for their ability to continue threatening Israel and destabilizing the Middle East with impunity.

Israel, of course, must respond differently. Our target cannot simply be the Iranian proxies that surround our country and that have waged war on us since October 7, but, as the Saudis call it, “the head of the snake.”