What is "sepharad"

Sepharad, or Sefarad, or Sfard, is a biblical place name of uncertain location. It is mentioned only once in the Bible, in the Book of Obadiah . There are, however, Old Persian inscriptions that refer to two places called Saparda (alternative reading: Sparda): one area in Media and another in Asia Minor. It is speculated that Sepharad could have been Sardis, whose native Lydian name is Sfard.

Since the period of 2nd century Ancient Rome, Spanish Jews gave the name "Sepharad" to the Iberian peninsula. The descendants of Iberian Jews refer to themselves as Sephardi Jews (Hebrew, plural: Sephardim) and identify Spain as "Sepharad" in modern Hebrew.