Turkey Archives - Reading Acts

Turkey Day 7 – Ephesus

Our full final day included a walk through Ephesus. This is the highlight of any tour to western Turkey. Although Perge and Hierapolis were large sites with many restored buildings, Ephesus has more to see and it is a far more significant location historically. Paul spent up to three years in Ephesus, Timothy was in Ephesus when Paul wrote 1 Timothy to give him instructions on how to deal with elders who were defecting from the faith, John likely wrote his Gospel and the three letters of John from Ephesus and the Book of Revelation was written from Patmos and sent first to the church at Ephesus (Rev 2).

Since we are staying in Kuşadası, we had a short easy drive to the Ephesus Museum. Why did we start at the museum rather than the archaeological park? There was a slight chance of rain in the morning, so by going through the museum first we were able to miss any sprinkles. Unfortunately one of our group was not feeling well and had to go back to the hotel. The rest of us walked through the museum. The museum has a large display of statutes from Ephesus, all very clearly arranged and labeled. A number of displays were dedicated to items discovered in the Terrace houses. These illustrate the lifestyle of the wealthy in the city. In the courtyard between the two buildings are several important inscriptions, but these lack transcription and translation.

The highlight is the room with two first century Artemis statues. Both are impressive, the smaller is slightly older and is in better condition, the larger has her full crown and is significantly larger.

Just beyond the rooms with the two Artemis statues is a display of items from the Imperial Cult, including a portions of a monumental statues of Domitian. Or is it Domitian? The head and forearm are usually identified as Domitian, but more recently scholars have suggested the head looks more like Titus. In fact, at the Imperial Temple site in Ephesus the sign has it both ways. I am intrigued by the possibility the statue is Titus since he was the general in charge of the destruction of Jerusalem. If John was influenced at all by the Roman Imperial cult in Ephesus when he wrote Revelation, then calling the emperor who destroyed Jerusalem “the beast” who was inspired by Satan has a bit more anti-imperial venom.

After the Museum we drove to the upper entrance to Ephesus at the Magnesia Gate. There is an Odeon dating to A.D. 150 just inside the entrance to the site, but the first thing to interest me is site of the Imperial Temple (dedicated to Domitian? Titus? the Flavian Dynasty?). The massive structure is an indication of the strength of the imperial cult in Ephesus at the end of the first century and the early second century. In this square is a a reproduction of a Nike relief (the real on is in the Ephesus Museum). Be sure to see the caduceus in front of what would have been a health clinic near the entrance to the Imperial cult center. If you are interested in Greek inscriptions, there is a collection in this area although the main gallery is locked and you would need to have special permission to enter (which I did not have).

From this spot tourists can get a great photo of the sloping Roman street (the “Avenue of the Curate”) leading to the Library of Celsus and the Agora. There are several interesting things to see on this street, including a public toilet and bathhouse. The entrance to the bathhouse has inscriptions dedicated to both the Empire and Artemis. For some reasons people love to see the ancient toilets, although Ephesus has roped these off so tourists can no longer take awkward photos. The Hadrian temple has been largely replaced with replicas, but still offers a view of the imperial might of Rome in Ephesus.

Although an additional ticket is required, the Terrace Houses is a major highlight of a tour of Ephesus. Sadly, only about 1.5% of all visitors to Ephesus pay the extra ticket price to walk through the six residences are across from the Hadrian Temple. These are large homes for the wealthy and elite citizens of Ephesus, occupied as early as A.D. 25 through the seventh century. The houses look like modern condos, with open air courtyards, water pipes (and at least one indoor toilet). Many of the walls have the original art and a few have ornate mosaic floors. The entire complex is covered to protect it from the elements, and the stairs work their way up the hill, exiting with a view of the street which passes by the agora, leading to the large theater. From this point on the hillside you could hike to the Cave of Paul and Thecla, assuming you have arranged for the visit (and paid the fee and can make the hike. It is too muddy in March to even attempt to see the cave).

Library of Celsus and Gate of Augustus

The Library of Celsus dates to the second century (completed about A.D. 114), so this is not the place Paul rented space from Tyrannus (Acts 19:9). Although the library was destroyed in a earthquake in A.D. 262, the reconstructed façade of the library is spectacular, with replica statues of Sophia (wisdom), Episteme (knowledge), Ennoia (intelligence) and Arete (virtue). The library was eventually converted into a bathhouse, although only a large pool remains.

Next to the library is the entrance to the entrance to the agora. This is the largest we have visited on this trip (525×240 feet), although very little has been excavated or restored. The Hellenistic agora sits lower than the street running from the Terrace Houses and the theater (Roman period). This theater seats up to 25,000 and is the location of the riot in Acts 19:21-34. Since it faces the harbor, the noise of the riot would not have been heard in the boule near the Magnesia Gate, explaining why it took some time for the town clerk to arrive. A street leads from the theater to the ancient harbor. Unfortunately for us there is an extensive renovation project so the area in front of the theater is closed, We sat on the steps and read through portions of Acts 19 and talked bout how Paul’s Gospel impacted the culture of the city, including the magicians of Ephesus.

Theater at Ephesus

We ate lunch at a Turkish rug factory. This is fairly typical of a tourist visit, and the shop gave a very interesting demonstration on how they obtained from the worms and how the women who make the rugs work the loom. They brought out about 50 rugs while we waited and I am glad someone in our group bought one to offset our free lunch. I would have preferred to skip the rugs and spend another hour at Ephesus, but that it was not a total waste of time.

We ended out day at the Basilica of Saint John, the traditional burial site of the apostle John. There are a few things of interest at this site, including the tomb of John and a large baptismal room. It is also a good place to see what is left of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus: a single reconstructed column (with a stork nest on top).

We start the long journey home tomorrow at 8AM, should back to Chicago in the late afternoon. This has been a good trip, but it was made greater by my traveling companions, the hard work of our tour guide and driver. Thanks to Tutku Tours for making out time in Turkey so memorable!

Turkey Day 6 – Didyma, Miletus and Priene

This day was a series of firsts for me since I have not visited any of these three locations on previous tours of Turkey. Since this is a “missionary journeys of Paul” tour I wanted to include Miletus, the location of Paul’s speech to the Ephesian elders (Acts 20), although we will not be visiting Ephesus (Acts 19) until tomorrow morning. Since we are driving all the way over to Miletus, it made good sense to start the day in Didyma, then visit Miletus and Priene after lunch.

Unfortunately, it rained heavily on the drive from Izmir to Didyma on the Aegean Sea. Although it was barely sprinkling when we arrived, we had to deal with mud and slippery marble while exploring the Temple of Apollo and Artemis (the twins implied by the name Didyma). The Temple was founded sometime after Alexander the Great took the territory from the Persians, the temple was designed by the same architect as the temple of Artemis in Ephesus. A ten-mile sacred road connects Miletus and Didyma.

Even though the temple was not completed it functioned as an oracle. This gave me an opportunity to talk about how oracles functioned in the Greek world and I related this to Paul’s encounter with the slave girl in Philippi (Acts 16:16-18). Alexander the Great, Seleucus I and Seleucus II all received oracles from the temple at Didymas. The temple was finally closed by under Theodosius I (A.D. 379-395).

One of the nice side-benefits to this day is the drive through the countryside of the south western end of Turkey. The area between each of these sites is largely agricultural (cotton, but also fruit trees and olives).

At Miletus we walked from the parking area to the theater. Once again, it rained while we were driving, but as soon as we got out of the minibus the rain stopped and for most of our visit it was sunny. The main thing to see in the is a seat with a Greek inscription mentioning the God-fearers. The God-fearers were Gentiles who chose to worship the God of the Jews and even keep most of the Law, although the men stopped short of full conversion because of the stigma of circumcision. Both Cornelius (Acts 10) and Lydia (Acts 16).

After lunch (a lamb kabob), we drove back to Priene. This is a beautiful site but is a long steep hike from the parking area to the Hellenistic city. The first half of the hike is on a broad, smooth path, but eventually the path becomes a stairway of Roman stones, very uneven and rough. But the hard walk is worth it since this is one of the more beautiful archaeological sites I have visited. There are pine trees shading most of the area and there is a constant view of the a forbidding Mount Mycale behind the city and the fertile plain below.

There are several highlights, including a small theater. Even though it is small, there are five thrones for elite members of the audience right at the floor level. Each has animal feet carved into the base and inscriptions below the seat (I took photographs to work on later). From the theater we moved into a later Byzantine church and made our way to the temple of Athena. Like the temple at Didyma, this impressive structure was initially sponsored by Alexander the Great but never completed. It is comparable to Didyma or Sardis, but only five of the massive pillars have been re-assembled. The whole area of the temple is a maze of pillar drums, although I cannot imagine how anyone could do a major restoration project on the top of this hillside. Nevertheless, the Temple is very impressive. Prine also has a small synagogue with two or three small graffiti menorahs. Other than these marks, there is little in the building to hint at the use as a synagogue.

We are staying at a very nice hotel right on the Aegean Sea (an advantage of off-season travel) and will visit Ephesus in the morning.

Turkey Day 5 – Pergamum

The cryptoportico at the Asclepion at Pergamum

Today we headed to the city of Pergamum. For those who have visited this impressive Roman site in the past, you might recall the sky-tram running from the base of the mountain to the park entrance. At this time, the system is being repaired so the larger busses have to hire a series of cabs to ferry people to the top. Since we are a smaller group traveling in a van we went up the winding road ourselves. There was one larger group ahead of us, otherwise we had the acropolis to ourselves.

The city has a rich history. Pliny the Elder considered the city “the most important in the province” (Naturalis historia 5.126). Pergamum was the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon 281–133 BC; in 133 BC Attalus III died without an heir and gave the kingdom of Pergamon to Rome in his will.

Although Pergamum was the site of the first imperial cult in Asia under Augustus, the imperial cult site at the acropolis was redesigned for Trajan (who died before it was completed) and Hadrian. The city reached its peak population of about 200,000 at this time.

One of the main points of interest is the platform of the Temple of Zeus. The temple itself was dismantled and moved to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, but one can still imagine how impressive the building would have been sitting at the time of the acropolis. For many interpreters, Revelation 2:13 refers to this temple as the “place where Satan has his throne.” For others, this is a reference to the imperial cult, although the impressive imperial Temple was not constructed until after Revelation was written. A few have suggested Satan’s throne is the Asclepium (see below).

Imperial Cult Temple at Pergamum

The imperial temple has been partially reconstructed. There are a number of impressive pillars and the vault system is open to visitors. A partial statue of Trajan is still standing, everything else has been moved to a museum. In a small open-air collection of inscriptions next to the imperial temple is an inscription honoring Trajan. After listing many of his imperial titles, the main part of the inscription ends with the words, “of the earth and the sea, Lord.” This is the imperial claim that the Emperor was the Lord of the Land and Sea, probably reflected in Revelation’s beast of the earth and beast of the sea (Revelation 13).

The theater is the steepest in the ancient world. The 78-rows could hold up to 10,000 people. Pergamum also boasted a large library containing as many as 200,000 volumes.

One member of our group grabbed a wooden handrail and was skewered by a massive splinter. After a brief detour to the hospital for stitches, we spent some time at the Asclepion. (I suppose we could have waited for the healing waters of Asclepius, but we thought a tetanus shot was a better idea).

I had not visited the this site in my two previous trips to Turkey, I was really looking forward to seeing this center of healing in the Ancient world. Asclepius was the god of medicine and the Asclepion was equal parts cultic center and medical center. Certainly the sick benefited from medicine and hygiene, but they were also encouraged to sleep in the presence of the god and listen for his voice in the night suggesting medical treatments. The famous ancient physician Galen worked at the Asclepion in Pergamum for many years,

We had a late lunch and a visit to an onyx shop (many contributed to the local economy) before heading back to the hotel for our last night in Izmir.

Turkey Day 4 – Sardis and Smyrna

We left our hotel and headed to Sardis. Two of the cites of Revelation do not have much to see, Philadelphia and Thyatira. The problem is both of these locations have modern cities built over them, making the kind of archaeology seem at Hierapolis or Laodicea impossible. I read the letter to Philadelphia as we drove past in our van rather than make the stop. This also freed up time to spend at Smyrna later in the day.

Synagogue at Sardis

The highlight of the day was Sardis. This is not a large site, but it has three very significant features. First, there is a large synagogue dating to the fourth century A.D. The mosaic floors are partially restored including several mentioning the donors who contributed to the synagogue. There are two niches which could have been used to store a Torah scroll or possibly individual scrolls of the Septuagint.

Although is is surprising to see a synagogue in Turkey, Sardis is probably mentioned in Esther 3:12-14 and Josephus reports Antiochus III moved a large number of Jews to Sardis (Ant 12.148–49). This synagogue dates at least 400 years after that time and there are several odd things about the Synagogue, First, a Lydian stone table with lion motif have been placed near the front of the synagogue, Our guide suggested this table was a sacrificial / cultic table which was reused by the synagogue for Torah readings. This strikes me as odd, especially since it is really too tall for that purpose. It is certainly possible this table was use for Torah readings, but the reader would need a step-stool! Second, there are no benches along the walls as in other early synagogues, but rather a set of seats which looked more like a Greek boule to me. These seats are on the far end of the room, behind the table. I suppose the reader could face this semi-circle and men could sit there and hear the Torah, but there is room for only a small audience and the whole building could accommodate several hundred people.

The second impressive feature of Sardis is the façade of the gymnasium restored by a team from Harvard. Although much is not original, the reconstructed façade give the visitor a sense of the grandeur of the building. The inscriptions on the cornice pieces appear to have been colored in so they are more clearly visible, as they would have been when the building was new.

Temple of Artemis at Sardis

The third important feature of Sardis is a huge unfinished Temple of Artemis. This is a short drive from the main city and could be overlooked by a visitor, but for me this is really a treat. Since there is nothing left of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, this temple will give the visitor a taste of the immense size of an Artemis Temple, you can tell it was unfinished because the bases of several of the huge pillars have not been trimmed and several have incomplete or missing decorations. Like the temple of Artemis at Jerash (in Jordan), several massive pillars have stood since construction stopped. A small Byzantine chapel was eventually built on the sight and there are several examples of Christian graffiti on the temple walls.

After an excellent lunch (lamb kabob and a Turkish coffee) we drove all the way to Izmir to visit the Smyrna agora. Like Philadelphia and Thyatira, Smyrna is under the modern city of Izmir, with the exception of a portion of the agora discovered under an Ottoman era cemetery, The graves were relocated and excavations are ongoing. The highlight of the Smyrna agora is the underground vaults, but unfortunately we were not able to visit the closed section where archaeologists have preserved a large number of Greg-Roman graffiti. As odd as that sounds, these scribblings on the wall can tell you a great deal about what average people were like in the second century A.D.

Under the Agora at Smyrna

We are staying at the Mövenpick hotel in Izmir, an excellent hotel right on the bay. Since we arrived at the hotel a bit earlier than other nights on this trip, most of our group headed out to explore the city and seaside promenade (while I dutifully updated this blog!) The wifi is quite fast at this hotel, so I was able to add a few more pictures here and on yesterday’s post, Turkey Day 3 – Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. Check it out.

Turkey Day 3 – Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis

Today began with a long drive north out of Antalya, following the general route of the via Sebaste. I was struck by several things on the four hour drive to Laodicea. First, most people reading Acts do not realize how high the Taurus Mountains are. Paul traveled more than 4000 feet above sea level on a Roman Road to reach Pisidian Antioch. Second, depending on the time of year, the trip may have been quite cold. It is the first week of March and there is still a great deal of snow in the mountains, and at one point we travel miles in a think fog. People tend to think of Paul traveling in blazing hot sands with a camel and a donkey, but that was not always the case.

There are two prohibitions in that chapter (to not preach in Asia and to not enter Bithynia). By observing the Roman province names and the location of the roads, The prohibitions make sense. Paul was in Asia already, so he was not to preach there, but the road went north toward Bithynia, so he was command to even to enter there.

Before arriving at Laodicea we made a brief stop at Colossae. There is virtually nothing to see there except the unexcavated mound. The city was small and unimportant in Paul’s day, and it is still a sadly overlooked site by the archaeological community. Despite several efforts in recent years, there is not much to see there. Many of us climbed to the top of the mound and then walked around the backside to see the outline of a small theater, but nothing of ancient Colossae remains.

Imperial Temple at Laodicea

Laodicea on the other hand has received a great deal of attention lately. Year-round excavations by the local university and the support of the Denizli community has revived interest in this large Roman site. Although the two theaters have not been restored, some work has been done once smaller theater. The skene has been exposed and now the orchestra area has been cleared. We watched workers restoring some of the seating in the theater, lowering large stones into place with a crane. In addition, there has been work on the larger agora near the theater, with a gate already restored and many of the pillars put back in place. I except to return in another year and see even more of this ongoing work completed.

Small theater at Laodicea

Another interesting discovery is a marble pillar with a menorah, shofar and perhaps and etrog, with a prominent cross cut into the top of the menorah. Is this evidence of a synagogue in Laodicea? Was the cross added later (perhaps as a sign of supercessionism after Christianity became dominant in the city? I doubt this was the intent, since it would be just as easy to obliterate the menorah. Based on Josephus, there is little doubt of a Jewish presence in Laodicea in the first century Josephus (Ant 14.241–3). Nevertheless the menorah seems to be evidence of a Jewish community in Laodicea well into the Christian Era.

From Laodicea we drove the short distance to Hierapolis. Hierapolis is a very large Roman city, although the association with the white cliffs of Pamukkale, a Turkish word meaning something like “Cotton Castle.” There was an early Christian community in Hierapolis (Colossians 4:13) but there is no evidence Paul ever visited the city. Like Colossae, he may have sent people like Epaphras to the city.

We took a shuttle up to the martyrion of Philip, an octagonal church built on the site of the martyrdom of Philip, although which Philip is unclear. The relevant passage in Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. 3.31.2–5; 3.39.9; 5.24.2) has confused the apostle and the evangelist (who had four daughters. The walls of the church have been nicely reconstructed and the arches between the sections of the octagon are restored. Down a steep flight of stairs is the martyrion, the tomb of Philip and a small chapel.

The Theater at Hierapolis

The shuttle the took us down to the large theater. This theater has been restored, although visitors are only allowed to walk on the upper section. The skene has been partially rebuilt and there are two statues in the niches. Originally the theater seated up to 15,000 people and could stage mock navel battles. I was a bit annoyed at the photographers offering to take my picture with a Roman soldier. Why are there never any Artemis or Aphrodite cosplayers?

We ended the day at the Doga Resort and Spa, one of the thermal hotels just a few minutes from Hierapolis. The rooms are comfortable, although the air conditioning is not functioning before April 1. Opening the slider provides a nice breeze (and I can hear the music from the lounger area). Unfortunately the internet is poor at best, so I will update the photographs when I get to Izmir tomorrow night.