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The
ruins of Sardis can be divided into four areas: the Acropolis on Bozdağ (Mount
Tomolos),
the Pactolos Valley where the Artemis Temple was built, the city located on both sides of
the modern highway between Ankara and Izmir and finally "Bintepeler" (the Thousand Hills)
consisting of hundreds of Lydian tombs. Sardis was the capital of famous kingdom of
Lydia. Lydians were powerful and creative leaders in the fields of
commerce and economics. Sardis was ruled by Alexander the Great in the
4th century B.C. and then by the Roman
Empire in the 2nd century B.C. The ruins to the
north of the highway are what were then public
toilets, gymnasium and a synagogue.
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To the
south of the synagogue was the main road of the city which
had various shops, including a hardware store and a paint
shop. The road once formed the westernmost stretch of the
Royal Road. These ruins are of Byzantine period and have
been dated to the 4C AD. The Synagogue is from the 3C AD and once was a part of the gymnasium and restored
to be a synagogue. Sardis has the largest known ancient synagogue. Its size and grandeur
are a testimony to the prosperity of the Jews in Sardis during Roman times and to their
eminent position in the city. It was probably not originally planned to be a synagogue as
it has a very different layout. It faces the direction of Jerusalem and the entrance is
also from the same side through three gates, which open from the courtyard into the main
assembly hall. After entering, one has to turn back to see the two shrines between the
gates. At the opposite end of the hall there is a semicircular apse with three rows of
marble seats which were thought to be for the elders. The floors were mostly covered with
mosaics.
The Gymnasium is a large complex consisting of a palaestra next to the
synagogue, colonnades on three sides and the main building with the recently-restored
ornate facade. According to its inscription, it was dedicated by the people of Sardis to
Geta and Caracalla, the sons of Septimus Severus and to their mother Julia Domna.
It was a complex of symmetrically arranged rooms.
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The temple of Artemis
next to the Pactolus river (Sart çayı)
dates from the 4th century B.C. There was a temple dedicated to goddess Kybele before that
during the time of King Croesus. This one was destroyed by Athenians during the revolt of
Ionians against the Persian rule. Then Alexander the Great ordered a new one, the temple
of Artemis, on the same site. In fact, only the temple of Kybele was destroyed not the
spirit of this important Anatolian goddess. She continued to live in the form of Artemis!
The Artemis Temple is located in the Pactolos Valley and was one of the
seven largest ancient temples with eight columns at each end and twenty along each side.
It was believed that an altar dedicated to Artemis had existed there as early as the
5C BC. The temple was built in stages, the first part being constructed in
300 BC. Later further construction took place in the 2C BC. Again only part of
the project was completed. |
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The third stage started in the 2C AD. At this stage the
cella was divided into two halves by an internal cross-wall, the western half dedicated to
Artemis and the other half to the Empress Faustina, who was deified after her death.
The fact that many Artemis temples in the Aegean region face west is testimony to
Ekrem Akurgal’s
conclusion that all these temples were connected to each other by an earlier Anatolian
religious cult. Ruins of a small building at the southeastern corner of the temple belong to a 4C AD
church. According to some sources it is referred to as one of the Seven Churches of the
Revelation. However, this cannot be correct as congregations not the actual buildings were
meant by churches at that time. The
king Croesus was the wealthiest man of his time and Sardis became the richest city of
antiquity. The famous wise man of Athens, also the reformer, Solon, came to see this great
city and its famous king. It is thought that the famous story teller Aesop was a Phrygian who lived in
Sardis during the reign of king Croesus. The empire fell to the hands of Persians in 546 B.C. Beside
the
temple a small Byzantine church and recently unearthed synagogue stood.
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On his letter of revelation to the Christians of Sardis, St.John wrote :
(3:1) To the angel of the church in Sardis write :
This is the message from the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I
know what you are doing; I know that you have the reputation of being alive, even though
you are dead!
(3:2) So wake up, and strengthen what you still have before it dies completely.
For I find that what you have done is not yet perfect in the sight of my
God.
(3:3)
Remember, then, what you were taught and what you heard; obey it and turn
from your sins. If you do not wake up, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not
even know the time when I will come.
(3:4) But a few of you there in Sardis have kept your cloths clean. You will
walk with me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so.
(3:5) Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white, and I will
not remove their names from the book of the living. In the presence of my Father and of
his angels I will declare openly that they belong to me.
(3:6) If you have ears, then,
listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches!
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