Issue: May 1998
Designer: G. Sagi
Souvenir Sheet of 1 stamp (90mm x 60mm)
Stamp Size: 30.8mm x 30.8mm
Printers: Government Printers
Method: Offset

During the Hellenistic and early Roman period (2nd and 1st Centuries BCE), Zippori was situated mainly on the hilltop, with clusters of private domiciles, many with ritual baths, along its slopes.

Early in the 2nd Century CE, the city spread eastward, with an impressive gridwork of streets emanating from two central colonnaded avenues. Among the public buildings uncovered to date in this area are the bath-houses, a Basilical hall, a theater, two churches and a synagogue.

Archeologists have also unearthed over 30 mosaics at Zippori, decorating public buildings and the homes of the wealthy. The most important discovered so far are in the Dionysiac and Orpheus buildings, which date from the Roman period; the Nib Festival building; and in the synagogue constructed during the Byzantine period.

This group of mosaic pavements, so diverse in composition, style and chronology, has contributed significantly to our understanding of the development of the mosaic art in the region. The floors in Zippori compare favorably with Roman and Byzantine mosaics found throughout the empire, and yet such a rich and colorful concentration is almost unknown in any city in the region; as such, historians now suggest that during the Roman and Byzantine periods Zippori was a center for mosaic art.

The image on the souvenir sheet, that of an the exceptionally beautiful woman in Zippori, was integrated into a series of medallions that decorated the central mosaic parlor floor in a large 3rd Century AD building located on the top of the hill. The mosaic includes details relating to the image and rituals of the god Dionysus. The woman depicted on the stamp is adorned with a laurel wreath and earrings.

The image is one of the finest ever to be discovered in mosaic form anywhere in the world. In the Midrash, Rabbi Yohanan said of it: "A portrait a thousand men look at, each and every one of whom says: 'It is looking at me.'" (pesitka Rabbat 21).