Day 4 – Walking in the Footsteps of Paul

Smyrna, Sardis, and Philadelphia

Thursday, October 10, 2024

4:00 am. That’s when the alarm clock went off. Why? We were catching an early plane from Istanbul to Izmir.

Once we arrived in Izmir

we headed to Smyrna.

Why Smyrna? We reminded ourselves of the importance of the Christian church in Smyrna by reading Revelation 2:8-11 on the bus. Smyrna was one of the 7 churches that John wrote to in his vision from Patmos. Smyrna was one of two churches that only received praise and encouragement from John’s vision of Jesus. We will visit the other one in a few hours.

The site was meticulously excavated and there was much to see.

We went down to the ground level to check out the water distribution system

You can still see some of the pipes

And the water still flows.

The small distribution channels are also still working.

It’s hard to believe these arches are still standing.

The stone cutters had to be precise to make all these fit together with no cement.

Turkey in general has had a lot of earthquakes due to its location on a fault line. The ancient people knew this and constructed rooms that had 5 arches to built it stable enough to survive these natural disasters.

These underground places were for storage, keeping slaves, and wholesalers.

Smyrna was very close to the port a few thousand years ago and became the main city where sailors sold there goods and people came to bargain. The field beyond the ruins was the place they pitched their tents and stayed for a few days to sell their wares. The Agora, as it was known, was a marketplace for all the items that had been brought from all over the world.

If you are extra interested in the history of this place, here is a brief explanation. English is on the right hand side.

One of the seven cities in Revelation, Smyrna was a fascinating place and a group picture was in order.

Next we drove to Sardis

Sardis was a place where money was developed since they had both gold and silver mines in the area. Therefore, they were a rich city and one of the most important in its heyday from 7th century BCE to 7th century CE. In fact people have inhabited this city for 3400 years. Wrap your brain around that!

Sardis was another of the 7 churches John wrote about in his vision recorded in Revelation 3:1-6. This church received harsh criticism that even though it seemed like they were wealthy and vibrant, the truth is they were dead. They were warned to, “Wake up!” John did acknowledge that some were faithful and they would receive their reward. Signs of early Christians were found in the marketplace.

Several shops line the road on this incredible important ancient city located on a major trade route.

Sardis boasts the largest synagogue excavated of antiquity. It provides surprising evidence there was a thriving Jewish community in the 3rd century. This was the area where the purification rites took place before entering the temple to worship God.

Many of the mosaics have been recreated.

Reconstruction is still underway but the main worship space is almost done.

The altar where the Torah was read is huge.

Here is the view of the congregation from the altar.

Three (I mean, two) lions still look pretty good after thousands of years.

This synagogue is unique in that it is part of a larger complex where Roman baths and a gymnasium were also located. A gymnasium, like today, was designed for the physical education of both boys and girls usually from the ages 14-17. The gymnasium is the most impressive all structures on this site.

Especially young boys would learn wrestling, running, and exercise in the field adjacent to the structure.

Within this five acre complex built in the second century, various rooms existed for not only exercise but also bathing, massage, and academic learning.

This is the pool where the kids would swim.

We couldn’t resist taking a group picture with this beautiful structure in the background.

Sardis was so huge that we drove to the next section of the city where the remnants of the Temple of Artemis is located.

I’ll mention more about Artemis, the goddess who was the sister of Apollo, when we get to Ephesus as there is great story how Paul disrupted the worship of Artemis there. Only two columns remain standing from this magnificent location that was twice the size of the Parthenon in Athens.

The Temple of Artemis was built after Alexander the Great conquered the city in 334 BCE. It’s one of the seven largest Greek temples and just from the footprint of the place, I believe it!

The columns were often stabilizes by iron that went through the middle of it.

Those columns sure were tall

And decorative. Just look at that detail.

Interestingly, the Christian church in Sardis was next to this Temple of Artemis. Perhaps this was an attempt to deter Artemis worshippers and to worship the one true God.

The church looked very small, especially compared to the football field length temple.

The front of the church was still there as it had been for 2,000 years.

We decided this was an appropriate place for another group picture.

The scenery around Sardis was very green.

Next we headed to our last stop in Philadelphia. The city was built by the ruler of Pergamon in 189 BCE in honor of his brother. The city’s name literally means “one who loves his brother.”

Philadelphia was the third church we visited mentioned by John in Revelation 3:7-13. This church was the only other church with Smyrna to receive only encouraging words. They had remained faithful despite stiff opposition as they had been expelled from the local synagogue.