Aphrodisias, the big day

On Wednesday we went to Laodicea and Colossae, both important centers of Pauline Christianity in the Lycus River Valley. Both sites are completely unexcavated, and thus they are just giant hills that you know have fantastic ruins below, but no one has dug them (the Turkish government is very tight with permits). The more important visit of the day, though, was our trip to Aphrodisias. It is Aphrodisias that I delivered a report to the group on, and it went quite well. Aphrodisias was originally a shrine to Aphrodite, probably growing as a city out of the shrine in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. The city was good friends with the Roman emperors, and that helped them out. It's important for those of us who study the New Testament and Judaism because an inscription was found there (probably from the 3rd century CE) which lists the names of many Jews, proselytes, and "God fearers", along with their occupations. From this list we get a sense of the social and economic role of Jews in a major Roman city. Like Sardis, we see that they in fact had a fairly significant role in the city. Other than this inscription, though, the site is very well preserved, and we spent about 2 hours there looking at the ruins.

From Aphrodisias we drove south to the southern coast of Turkey and the major city of Antalya. We are staying a the 5 star Talya hotel here, which is very nice. One more night here tonight, and then we're off to the north, heading into the moutains. Everything is still going well. There have been several calls for more "human interest" pictures, and for that lack I have to apologize, I just don't take pictures like that. I'll make a more concerted effort to do so, though. No worries about bird flu, we're about as far away from that stuff as you are.

Here you see the reconstructed Tetrapylon, which is a four gated entrance to one of the major roads in Aphrodisias. In the background you see the columns of the Temple of Aphrodite. This building dates to about the 2nd century BCE, but there are remains of an earlier shrine below. In the 5th century CE, it was converted into a Christian basilica. You can also see the mountains in the background.





Here's the theater in Aphrodisias. It would have held about 8000 people, and was probably built in the first century BCE. The back wall, behind the columns on the stage, is completely filled with inscriptions about the history of the city.









Here you get a good shot of the South Agora in Aphrodisias. The middle of the agora (common market area, Roman "forum") is completely covered with a large swimming pool (you can see one end in the foreground). This pool was over 200 meters long.

You see that snowy mountain in the background? That's where we're heading for the next few days.







One of the most amazing ruins at Aphrodisias is the stadium. It is the best preserved stadium in the world. Dating from the 1/2 century CE, it would have held about 30,000, and was used for athletic contests, wild beast games, and gladiator contests. Here you can see some of my colleagues racing.