Donald W. Burdick
Continuing his second missionary journey, Paul traveled from Athens on to Corinth (Acts 18:1). The distance from Athens to Corinth is about 55 miles, a journey of three days in Paul’s time. Two features of Corinth’s location were significant. It was situated just beyond the isthmus that connects the Peloponnesus (the land mass on which Corinth was located) with the remainder of Greece. And, secondly, it lay at the foot of a rocky acropolis called the Acrocorinth, which looked down on the city some 1500 feet below.
Today the isthmus is cut at its narrowest point by a ship canal. In Paul’s day a paved roadway, called the Diolkos, was constructed for hauling ships and cargoes across the isthmus. In this way the dangerous voyage around the southern tip of Greece was avoided. In recent times sections of the Diolkos have been excavated paralleling the present-day canal. On his journey from Athens to Corinth Paul would have crossed this ancient “ship road” about six miles before he arrived at Corinth.
The “Bema” and Inscriptions at Corinth
The Corinthian structure which has the most direct relationship to Paul is the bema (judgment seat) where Paul was brought before Gallio by the Jews (Acts 18:12ff). Although it is in a poor state of preservation, its condition is considerably better than the Philippian bema. In the day when Gallio heard the Jewish complaints against Paul, the judgment seat was a marble covered structure. On either side was located a waiting room with seats for those waiting for their cases to be heard. This bema or rostrum was used for public addresses by important personages as well as for legal cases. The listeners would stand in the large open space in front of the bema. It was from this area that Gallio attempted to drive the complaining Jews, and it was here that the Greeks beat Sosthenes, the leader of the Corinthian synagogue (Acts 18:16, 17).
In 1898 a large stone block, perhaps the synagogue lintel, was found near the spot where the Lechaion Road enters the Agora (market place). The stone bears the inscription, “Synagogue of the
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The Bema (Judgment seat) at Corinth, where Paul was brought before Gallio (Acts 18:14).
Hebrews.” Whether this inscription dates back to Paul’s day is uncertain. If not, it may well be that the first century synagogue occupied the same site as the later one did. And the house of Titus Justus would also have been in this area (Acts 18:7).
Two other inscriptions have possible Pauline relationships. One, from the shops in the south stoa (porch), reads, “Lucius the butcher.” Another inscription, found near the Lechaion Road, has the Latin word macellum, which is related to the Greek term Makellon, the “shambles” or meat market of 1 Corinthians 10:25. Paul instructed his readers to eat the meat bought in the butcher shop without asking whether or not it had been consecrated to an idol in one of the nearby temples.
Temples and Stadiums at Corinth
From almost anywhere in ancient Corinth one could see the great temple of Apollo, which dated back to the sixth century B.C. It stood on the rocky hill just northwest of the Agora, dominating the public buildings of the city. To the southeast of the Apollo temple
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across the Lechaion Road the Peribolos of Apollo was located. This was a four-sided court surrounded by an interior colonnade, which housed a statue of Apollo. To the west of the terrace of the Apollo temple a temple for the worship of Hera Akraia had been built in the days of Julius Caesar. Today the remains of these centers of pagan worship still may be seen. It was to idols in these and other temples that the meat sold in the shop of Lucius the butcher was consecrated.
On the Acrocorinth towering above the city stood another temple whose influence powerfully molded the morals of Corinth. It was the small sanctuary for the worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Here it is said that a thousand priestesses served as sacred prostitutes. It is no wonder that Corinth gained notoriety as the city of loose morals. And it is understandable that Paul found it necessary to deal with problems of immorality in the new church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 5; 6:9–20).
About six miles east of the city was the site of the Isthmian Games centered around the temple of Poseidon. Here, since 1952, archaeologists have unearthed the foundations of the temple of Poseidon (in whose honor the games were held), a theater, and two stadiums — one ancient and one from Paul’s time. The athletic terminology of 1 Corinthians 9:24–27 would have been clearly understood and
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appreciated by the Corinthians. Every two years — in A.D. 51, for instance, when Paul was in Corinth — the Isthmian Games were held, featuring musical, equestrian, and athletic competition. The sports contests included boxing and racing in the stadium. The reward was a crown of withered wild celery — the “corruptible crown” of 1 Corinthians 9:25.
Paul’s Third Missionary Journey
The major archaeological site of the third Pauline journey is the city of Ephesus. As he began the journey he visited for a third time the churches of Galatia. From Pisidian Antioch his route led directly west to Ephesus, the “Queen City of Asia.” At that time its population was at least 250,000 in number. Still today, Ephesus is the most impressive of all the Pauline sites in Turkey.
As the twentieth-century visitor approaches the city, his attention is first caught by the great theater leaning against the foot of Mt. Pion. It was begun in Hellenistic times, years before Paul visited Ephesus, but it was enlarged during the reigns of Claudius (A.D. 41-54) and Trajan (A.D. 98-117). In its final form it held 24,000
The theater at Ephesus where the silversmiths rioted in protest against the preaching of Paul (Acts 19:29).
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spectators. Until 1964 the structure was half covered with earth. The general contour of the seats and some of the stonework was all that could be seen. Since that time the seats have been cleared of dirt so that it now looks much more like it did in early centuries. In Roman times the structure, covered as it was with marble, must have been most impressive. It was here that the silversmiths held their riotous assembly in protest against the preaching of Paul (Acts 19:29).
Just across the street from the theater is the Commercial Agora, where archaeologists have found shops once occupied by silversmiths. The income of these craftsmen was derived from making silver replicas of the temple of Artemis (Diana) (Acts 19:24).
Statue of Artemis, or Diana, now in the Archaeological Museum in Seljuk, Turkey.
The remains of the Artemis temple were found in 1869 lying more than 20 feet underground, below the water level. The most recent excavations of the site were carried on by Austrian archaeologists beginning in 1965. Using pumps to lower the water level, they were able to uncover the altar of Artemis, a horse-shoe-shaped structure estimated to have been about 100 feet wide and 72 feet deep. It was faced with marble, nearly six inches thick.
Although the original statue of Artemis has not been found, the Archaeological Museum in Seljuk, not far from the temple site, contains two replicas of it. The smaller of the two comes from the second century, but the larger one is dated during Domitian’s reign (A.D. 81-96). The goddess’ skirt is covered with representations of bees, lambs, lions, crabs, deer and bulls. Around her chest are more than 20 objects which have been identified as breasts or as ostrich eggs. In either case they were no doubt symbols of fertility, evidence of the glorification of sex as a part of worship.
The most recent excavation in Ephesus is at the site of the “house
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on the slope.” In fact, work is still going on in this area. The building, which was built in the first century, extends up the hillside in five successive terraces. It contained an open court with a pool in the center, mosiac floors, marble covered walls, and a mural portrait of Socrates, which is now located in the Seljuk museum. Running water was carried to such houses through underground tiles, many of which have been uncovered. Doubtless many more such luxurious homes await further archaeological excavation in the same area.
Assos
After over two years of ministry in Ephesus Paul went by way of Troas into Europe, where he revisited the Macedonian and Greek churches founded on his second journey (Acts 20:1–3). On his return he came back to Troas and spent a week there. The following day his companions sailed ahead while Paul walked more than 25 miles across the hilly countryside to Assos. There he joined the others and continued his journey by ship (Acts 20:13).
Assos enjoyed a very striking location, perched almost 700 feet high on a rocky hill overlooking the sea. Its agora was built on a terrace on the southern slope above the harbor. The city was surrounded by some of the most complete fortification walls in the Greek world. Sections of the walls still stand today reaching, in places, to their original height. I walked through the main gate where Paul also must have entered the city in search of his party. The eastern tower of the gateway, complete except for the battlement, stands over 46 feet high. From there I followed the terrace around to the agora and looked down to the site of the ancient harbor where the Apostle set sail for Miletus (Acts 20:14–17).
Miletus
Upon reaching that city Paul sent to Ephesus asking the Ephesian church leaders to come to Miletus for a parting word of counsel and encouragement.
Although Miletus has four harbors, it is reasonable to assume that Paul’s ship entered the main harbor known as the Bay of Lions. On either side of the entrance to the port a large stone lion lay looking out over the water. The lions are still there today, but the sea is gone, pushed five miles to the west by silt from the Menderes (Maeander)
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River. In ancient times this secluded harbor could be closed off by a chain stretched across its mouth.
At the head of the harbor Paul would have landed on the marble paved street in front of the harbor stoa, stretching 525 feet along the south end of the bay. On his right he would have seen the large harbor monument built to honor the Emperor Augustus shortly after 31 B.C. The foundations of the Harbor Stoa and Monument are still there today, and not far from them is a partially excavated synagogue, which Paul may have visited. Had the Apostle walked through the center of town, as he no doubt did, he would have passed the Delphinion, the city’s chief religious center, where Apollo was worshiped. After walking 325 feet down the processional road he would come to the great South Agora, equal in size to some sixteen city blocks and surrounded by something like one hundred shops.
After meeting with the Ephesian elders Paul boarded the ship hoping to reach Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost. There he was thrown into prison, an experience that ultimately took him to Rome.
Miletus was as far as I went tracing the third journey of Paul. I had discovered, miles before, that walking in the footsteps of the great Apostle, though it be 1900 years later, was a most enlightening and gratifying experience.
THE STONES CRY OUT
The stones cry out,
Long silent through the ages,
Unfolding now, a written scroll,
God’s truth in dusty pages.
The stones cry out,
Their story tells with power,
Long hidden from the eyes of man,
God’s truth for this hour.
Anne Moore
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