asia minor · (lystra and colossae are the other two.) in 1888 sterret, later followed by ramsay,...

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through the 3rd/2nd centuries BCE. “Ashur,” in anumber of late biblical texts, stands for “Syria”(e.g., Isa 11 : 11–16; 19 : 23–25; 27 : 13; Mic 7 : 12;Zech 10 : 10–11; Ps 83 : 8), and a Minaean text fromthe 3rd century BCE has �A�sur in the same sense.

Bibliography: ■ D. Edelman, “The ‘Ashurites’ of Eshbaal’sState (2 Sam. 2,9),” PEQ 117 (1985) 85–91. ■ E. A. Knauf,“Saul, David and the Philistines,” BN 109 (2001) 15–18.■ F. V. Winnett, “The Arabian Genealogies in the Book ofGenesis,” in Translating & Understanding the Old Testament,FS H. G.May (eds. H. T. Frank/W. L. Reed; Nashville, Tenn.1970) 171–96.

Ernst Axel Knauf

AshvathAshvath (MT �Aswat; LXX Ασιθ) only appears in1 Chr 7 : 33 as a 4th-generation descendant fromAsher. The meaning of the name can be derivedfrom the Arabic �asa, “be blind” or �aswat, “lack ofintelligence” (Noth: 228). Within the Hebrew man-uscript tradition and the Septuagint a number oforthographic variants are attested. Two Hebrewmanuscripts evidence �Aswat in contrast to MT.Within the Greek translations, the Lucianic recen-sion reads Ασσ�υαθ, while LXXBA has Ασειθ. TheLXX variations can be explained by the graphicsimilarity between waw and yod. On the other hand,the Lucianic recension recognizes the Hebrew let-ters and read the waw as a mater (the Vulgate fol-lowed this reading, translating Asoth).

Bibliography: ■ M. Noth, Die israelitischen Personennamen(BWANT 46; Hildesheim 1980 [= Stuttgart 11928]).

Peter Altmann

Asia/Asia Minor; /East Asia; /South Asia;/Southeast Asia

Asia Minor1. Asia Minor in the Bible2. Archaeology3. History4. Society5. Religion6. Culture and Arts7. Asia Minor and the Bible

1. Asia Minor in the BibleAsia Minor means not only Anatolia but also the Ae-gean world. For the Old Testament the term is an-achronistic, being unattested before the Roman era.It encompassed the Hittite Empire, among thegreatest ancient Near Eastern powers, whose suze-rainty treaties parallel the biblical idea of covenant,an occasional partner with ancient Israel in tradeand war (1 Kgs 10 : 29; 2 Kgs 7 : 6); and the Urartu

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kingdom, the setting of the mountains of Araratwhere Noah’s ark supposedly lay (Gen 8 : 4). Ioniancolonies appear in the P source’s Table of Nations(Gen 10 : 2–5), the sole Hebrew reference to theGreeks before the coming of Alexander. Javan (LXX�Ιων�α) and Lud (LXX Λυδ�α) are among the futurewitnesses to God’s glory (Isa 66 : 19). Javan came tomean the whole Aegean world and its king, Alexan-der (Dan 8 : 21; 10 : 20; 11 : 2). The Septuagintmakes Asia Minor more prominent than in the He-brew Bible: Cappadocia (Amos 9 : 7; HB Caphtor);Rhodians (Ezek 27 : 15; HB Dedanites); Cilicia (Jdt1 : 12; 2 : 21–25); “crown of Asia” (1 Macc 11 : 13–14; 12 : 39; 13 : 32).

In the New Testament, Acts 21 : 39 presentsPaul as Asian, a citizen of Tarsus, Cilicia, who trav-els through much of Asia Minor as an apostle. Hisco-worker Lydia, a “dealer in purple cloth” (Acts16 : 14), comes from the Roman province of Asiaand shares in its commercial prosperity. Ephesus,the capital city, was an early Christian missionarycenter, from which as much as half of the New Tes-tament may have originated (most of Paul’s letters,Luke–Acts, the Pastoral Epistles, and Revelationfrom nearby Patmos). The great Ephesian Templeof Artemis numbered among the seven wonders ofthe ancient world, and Acts 19 : 23–41 criticizes itscommercialization of religion. The wealth and cul-tic Roman integration of Asia’s major cities (e.g.,Ephesus, Pergamum, Smyrna, Sardis) receive vitu-peration in the Apocalypse (Rev 2 : 1–3 : 22). Galatiais the address of a major Pauline letter. The termdenoted both a general region (central Anatolia)and a Roman province (with variable borders),which makes understandable a debate in New Tes-tament studies over whether the letter addresses in-habitants of Roman Galatia proper (North Galatiantheory) or in the southern cities around PisidianAntioch (South Galatian theory). To the east of Ga-latia lay the frontier land of Cappadocia, extendingto the Euphrates River and the border of Armenia.Jews resided in the region (Acts 2 : 9), as did earlyChristians (1 Pet 1 : 1).

Bibliography: ■ A. Y. Collins, Crisis and Catharsis (Philadel-phia, Pa. 1984). ■ S. M. Elliott, Cutting Too Close for Comfort(JSNT 248; London 2003). ■ S. J. Friesen, Imperial Cults andthe Apocalypse of John (Oxford 2001). ■ O. R. Gurney, TheHittites (New York 21954). ■ P. H. Harland, Associations,Synagogues and Congregations (Minneapolis, Minn. 2003).■ H. Koester (ed.), Ephesos (HThS 41; Valley Forge. Pa. 1995).■ B. W. Winter (ed.), The Book of Acts in its First Century Setting,6 vols. (Grand Rapids, Mich. 1993–).

J. Albert Harrill

2. ArchaeologyThis article will survey the beginnings of archaeol-ogy in Asia Minor. It will tell the story of Anatolianarchaeology by describing the history of excavationat representative biblical sites and mentioning thesignificant personalities and discoveries associated

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with them. It will conclude with a discussion of thecurrent state of archaeology in Turkey today.

a. Beginnings and First Travelers. The beginningof the scientific study of Asia Minor’s ancient sitescan be traced to the messianic and millenarianmovements of 1666. Apocalyptic expectationsamong European Christians coupled with the an-nouncement in Smyrna by Sabbatai Zevi that hewas the Jewish messiah created great interest in theSeven Churches of Revelation. In 1667 P. Rycautwas appointed by the Levant Company as consulat Smyrna. Before his return to Turkey, the RoyalSociety asked Rycaut to “inquire after these excel-lent Works of Antiquity.” Rycaut assured H. Olden-burg, the society’s secretary, that he would be dili-gent to give him an account of the ruins of theSeven Churches of Asia. In the next two years Ry-caut visited all of the sites, discovering the site ofThyatira at Akhisar in the process. His observa-tions, published in 1678 at the command of theking, summarized the present state of the SevenChurches.

In 1670 T. Smith, the British chaplain at Con-stantinople, traveled in the Aegean, and eight yearslater published in Latin and English an account ofhis visit to the Seven Churches. Smith blamed thecarelessness of the Greeks for the neglect of the ru-ins, while at the same time faulting western Chris-tians for “either not caring or not daring to visitthem.” Smith commented on the architectural re-mains and did pioneering epigraphic work by re-cording 36 inscriptions.

Smith’s book created much interest amongother scholars. One was E. Chishull, the chaplainof the Levant Company at Smyrna. His Travels inTurkey (1847) chronicled his visits to Ephesus andSmyrna. The French traveler J. P. de Tournefortpublished a two-volume work in 1718 called Travelto Asia Minor. The volume included a description ofnumerous biblical sites as well as gravures of se-lected sites. R. Pococke in 1739 traveled fromSmyrna to Ankara, but his A Description of the East(1743–1745) is largely concerned with regions ofAnatolia previously unexplored by the British.

A number of other travelers visited Asia Minorduring the intervening years. W. M. Leake in 1824published his Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor. Thefocus of Leake’s research was inner Asia Minor.During his stay in Smyrna F. V. J. Arundell, thechaplain to the British factory, collected many an-tiquities, coins, and manuscripts that were latersold to the British Museum. In 1826 Arundellmade two journeys to the Seven Churches, publish-ing his notes in A Visit to the Seven Churches of Asia(1828). The volume also included over 50 inscrip-tions. Arundell was accompanied by a missionarynamed J. Hartley, who in 1833 published his ownaccount, Researches in Greece and the Levant.

After the 1833 Greek War of Independence,travel to Turkey was possible again, and in 1838


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the English artist T. Allom visited the SevenChurches. A year later his Constantinople and the Scen-ery of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor appeared.Through Allom’s art, the ancient sites of Asia Mi-nor were brought to life visually for Europeans. Al-though the scenes are idealized, the gravures never-theless show the biblical sites as they existed in theearly 19th century.

Best known for his discoveries at Xanthus inLycia, C. Fellows made four trips to Asia Minor be-tween 1838 and 1844. In 1852 Fellows prepared apopular abridged version of his journals for publi-cation. Fellows’ published accounts of his travelsand researches created even more interest in the an-tiquities of Asia Minor.

In 1869 A. Svoboda provided the earliest photo-graphic record in his The Seven Churches with accom-panying text. These photographs are historicallyand archaeologically significant because they showruins that have either deteriorated further or elsehave disappeared today.

One of the most famous names associated witharchaeology in Asia Minor is W. M. Ramsay, whomade repeated visits beginning in 1880. His re-search resulted in the publication of two classics –The Historical Geography of Asia Minor (1890) and TheCities and Bishoprics of Phrygia (1895). His journeys toTurkey continued until 1914. Ramsay’s example ofon-site research was soon followed by younger Eu-ropean scholars who began to take similar archaeo-logical journeys through Asia Minor.

b. Archaeology at Select Biblical Sites. i. Assos.The Archaeological Institute of America sent J. T.Clarke and F. H. Bacon to Assos in 1880 to beginthe AIA’s first excavation. Their work continueduntil 1883, although it was fraught with leadershipproblems, lack of field experience, and ineptness inworking with the Turkish authorities. Only 13 outof 50 cases of excavated artifacts were allowed to beshipped to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In1884 a change in Ottoman antiquities law prohib-ited all antiquities from leaving the empire. Thepublication of the site lingered for years. FinallyClarke’s selective notes on the Athena temple werepublished in 1898. In 1909 and 1921 Bacon pub-lished two volumes of Investigations at Assos withClarke and German architect R. Koldewey. Thebooks featured site plans drawn to careful scale,drawings of partial restorations of monuments, andsite elevations. Bacon’s drawings helped to stirAmerican interest in excavating classical sites. Ex-cavation at Assos stopped until 1981 when a Turk-ish team resumed excavations. A different Turkishteam took over the excavations in 2005. Objectsfrom Assos are displayed at the Louvre, the BostonMuseum of Fine Arts, and the Istanbul Archaeol-ogy Museum.

ii. Derbe. Derbe is one of the three unexcavated bib-lical sites with a tell (Turkish höyük) in Turkey.


1009 Asia Minor

(Lystra and Colossae are the other two.) In 1888Sterret, later followed by Ramsay, proposed thatDerbe’s location was southeast of Lystra at Gude-lisin. However, epigraphic and numismatic evi-dence was lacking. In 1956 M. Balance discoveredan inscription at Kerti Höyük northeast of Kara-man that mentions Derbe. In 1967 B. Van Eldersendiscovered another inscription nearby that names abishop of Derbe named Michael. These importantdiscoveries allowed the site of Derbe finally to beestablished. The two inscriptions are now displayedat the archaeological museums in Konya and Kara-man.

iii. Ephesus. E. Falkener was the first archaeologistto work at Ephesus. In 1845 he attempted unsuc-cessfully to find the temple of Artemis. However,Falkener did identify many buildings and pro-duced the first city plan. In 1863 J. T. Wood alsobegan to search for the Artemisium. He also exca-vated at the odeion and the theater, where in 1866he found the Salutaris inscription. Wood used thisinscription to lead him finally to the Artemisium,which he discovered on New Year’s Eve 1869. Exca-vation was difficult because of the high water tableand sickness. Wood abandoned his excavations in1874, donating his meager finds to his sponsor, theBritish Museum. The Museum again sponsored an


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excavation at the Artemesium in 1904–5. This wasled by D. G. Hogarth, who investigated the archaicphases of the shrine. Meanwhile, in 1893 O. Benn-dorf proposed to the Austrian Ministry of Culturethat Ephesus become the target of an excavationproject. C. Humann, the excavator of Pergamum,submitted a technical report supporting the exca-vation. In 1895 the Austrians under Benndorf’s di-rection began their work at the Artemisium. In thenext two decades excavations had begun at 16 addi-tional buildings. Preliminary reports by the excava-tion director began to be published in 1898, and in1906 the first volume of the series Forschungen inEphesus (FiE) was published. The Austrians haveworked continuously at Ephesus for over a century,except for breaks surrounding the two world wars(1914–26; 1939–54). Three Roman copies of thecult statue of Artemis Ephesis were found rituallyburied under the floor of the Prytaneum. The ongo-ing excavations in the terrace houses has providedimportant insights into how the city’s rich and fa-mous lived. Anastyloses has been accomplished atseveral places including the Celsus Library and thePollio Fountain. Ephesus also proved to be a richepigraphic source with over 3,800 texts discovered.These have been published in the Inschriften vonEphesos (IE; 1979–84), which forms a subset of the


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Inschriften griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien (IK). IE con-sists of eight volumes in nine parts plus a supple-ment. Finds from Ephesus are displayed at IstanbulArchaeology Museum, the Ephesus Museum in Vi-enna, and the archaeology museum in Selçuk.

iv. Hattusha. In 1834 C. Texier discovered the ruinsof Hattusha, believing it to be a Median city. W. J.Hamilton (1836), G. Perrot (1861), and K. Humann(1882) were among the many travelers to visit thesite. In 1906 the Germans H. Winckler and T. Mak-ridi recovered 2,500 fragments of cuneiform tab-lets, which allowed its first identification as theHittite capital Hattusha. The German Archaeologi-cal Excavation (DAI) initiated excavations in 1907;its work has continued to the present interruptedonly by the two world wars. Large-scale excavationshave cleared the remains of the royal citadel, thelower and upper cities, and the Great City. Limitedexcavations have occurred at the rock sanctuary ofYazılıkaya. In 1935 work began at the nearby Hit-tite site of Alacahöyük, the first excavation to besponsored by the Türk Tarih Kurumu. The TurkishHistory Foundation, which received its initial man-date from Atatürk, has gone on to sponsor over 50other excavations. Approximately 30,000 cunei-form tablets have been found at Hattusha. In 1915B. Hrozny succeeded in deciphering the Hittite lan-guage. Museums at Bog�azkale and Alacahöyük dis-play finds as well as the Museum of Anatolian Civi-lizations in Ankara.

v. Laodicea. Laodicea was well-known to early trav-elers in Asia Minor. G. Weber conducted the firstarchaeological research at the site in 1883 and pro-duced a city plan. In 1895 W. M. Ramsay conducteddetailed research at the site. No further work wasdone until 1961–63 when a French archaeologicalteam from Quebec Laval University excavated atthe nymphaeum. Included in their 1969 excavationreport was a discussion of its inscriptions by thenoted French epigrapher L. Robert. In 1997 T. Cor-sten published the first volume of Laodicea inscrip-tions for the IK series. Formal excavations were re-sumed again in 2002 led by the archaeologydepartment of Pamukkale University in nearbyDenizli. Excavations have progressed rapidly alongthe Syrian street and north between the east andwest theaters. A column fragment found in thenymphaeum displays the only known graffito of amenorah with a cross inscribed above it. The mu-seum at Hierapolis displays finds from the site.

vi. Perga. Perga was well known to travelers includ-ing Fellows who visited the site in 1840. Formalexcavations did not begin, however, until 1946when A. Mansel directed the work sponsored by theTürk Tarih Kurumu. He also excavated from 1953–57 and 1967–75. Restorations were completed atthe southern gate and at the well-preserved sta-dium. A large Roman bath complex was also exca-vated. After Mansel’s death, J. Inan directed the ex-


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cavations. In 1935 Inan had become the firstTurkish woman to train as an archaeologist in Ger-many. In her four decades as a professor at IstanbulUniversity she trained hundreds of Turkish archae-ologists. She also helped to establish the archaeo-logical museums at Antalya and Side. Inan’s ex-pertise in Roman statuary contributed to theconservation of numerous pieces found in the exca-vations. These are now displayed in the AntalyaMuseum. Her work in the monumental tombs ofthe west necropolis has unearthed two inscribedsherds (6th century BCE) – one in Greek and theother in epichoric Pamphylian script. These showthe coexistence of the two languages in archaicPerga. The Hellenistic city gate through which Paulwalked has recently been restored.

vii. Pergamum. Since Cyriacus of Ancona in the 15thcentury, Pergamum’s remains have been describedby travelers. From 1878–86 C. Humann worked toexpose the frieze of the altar of Zeus that was builtinto the Byzantine city wall. With the permissionof the Turkish authorities the sculptural fragmentswere shipped to Germany for later reconstruction.Under the auspices of the German ArchaeologicalInstitute (DAI), A. Conze directed the excavationsduring this period and unearthed much of the up-per city. From 1900 through 1911 W. Dörpfeld, ex-posed monuments in the middle and lower city. T.Wiegand resumed the excavations in 1927, and histeams worked mainly on the arsenal, heroon, theAsclepium, and the Red Hall until 1936. From1957–68, E. Boehringer resumed work at the Askle-pieion and attempted unsuccessfully to find thesanctuary of Athena Nikephoros in the lower city.W. Radt directed the excavations from 1971–2005.The Trajan temple on the acropolis was restored inthe 1980s. Another focus was the city’s residentialquarter where a richly decorated mansion of theHellenistic/Roman periods was discovered. ThisBuilding Z was opened to the public in 2004. Theinscriptions of Pergamum, originally published bythe DAI between 1896–1913, are now being repub-lished and updated by Commission for AncientHistory and Epigraphy. These are now available on-line at the DAI web site. The archaeology museumin Bergama and the Pergamon Museum in Berlindisplay finds from Pergamum.

viii. Pisidian Antioch. Pisidian Antioch has drawnmuch attention from travelers and archaeologists.In his Discoveries in Asia Minor (1834) Arundell de-scribed the ruins accurately. J. R. S. Sterrett visitedPisidian Antioch on his two epigraphic journeys(1884, 1885), copying over 60 new inscriptions.W. M. Ramsay first visited Pisidian Antioch in1882. After his 1905 visit he published a completedescription in Cities of St. Paul. In 1911 Ramsay, hiswife, and W. M. Calder discovered the shrine ofMen Askaenos on the peak of nearby Karakuyu.Ramsay, Calder, and J. G. C. Anderson did a hap-


1013 Asia Minor

hazard dig in the Men sanctuary during 1912 and1913. After their funding ran out, the Ramsays ex-cavated the propylon leading to the Augustan tem-ple. They discovered and published fragments ofthe Res Gestae. Work was suspended during WorldWar I, and it was not until 1924 that Ramsay andF. W. Kelsey of the University of Michigan receivedpermission from the Turkish government to renewexcavations. The Michigan expedition was led byD. M. Robinson. It greatly improved upon the ini-tial efforts of Ramsay and his colleagues. Perhapsthis was the reason behind the bitter dispute thatoccurred between Ramsay and Robinson. Ramsayworked there alone in 1925 and 1926, and afterKelsey’s death in 1927 no further excavations bythe University of Michigan were attempted. AfterRamsay, there was no further archaeological workdone in Pisidian Antioch. In the 1980s Turkish ar-chaeologist Mehmet Taslıalan began the extensiveexcavations that are seen today. Taslıalan’s researchat the Augustan sanctuary confirmed the tradi-tional view that it was an imperial cult temple andnot a temple to an Anatolian deity. Ramsay’s con-jecture that the central church was built on the siteof the synagogue where Paul preached has nowbeen discredited. The museum in Yalvaç displaysfinds from the site.

ix. Sardis. The first known map of Sardis was drawnin 1750 by G. B. Borra, a member of the Society ofDilettanti who was touring ancient ruins. In 1854L. P. Spiegelthal, the Prussian consul in Smyrna,tunneled into a tumulus and discovered the burialchamber of the Lydian king Alyattes. The first exca-vations at Sardis were sponsored by Princeton Uni-versity and led by H. C. Butler. The team workedfrom 1910–14 and unearthed the temple of Arte-mis as well as over 1,000 Lydian tombs. The workwas suspended during the war, and the Americaneffort did not begin again until 1958. In coopera-tion with ASOR, Harvard and Cornell Universitiesfielded another expedition led by G. M. A.Hanfmann. Reconstruction of the Marble Court ofthe bath and gymnasium complex ran from 1964–73. The largest synagogue in Asia Minor was dis-covered in the 1960s and subsequently restored. In-vestigations of the Lydian burial grounds at BinTepe were also conducted. From 1977–2008, thefield director was C. H. Greenewalt, Jr. Recent exca-vations under the Greco-Roman theater have re-vealed several Lydian houses and their contents.Since 1958 over 11,000 objects have been invento-ried by the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis.Some of these finds are displayed at the area mu-seum in Manisa and at the Metropolitan Museumof Art in New York.

x. Tarsus. Excavation at Tarsus has been difficultbecause the modern city is built over the ancientone. H. Goldman excavated at Gözlükule from1934–39 and again in 1947–48 under the sponsor-


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ship of Bryn Mawr University. It was on thismound that the pioneer Jewish female archaeolo-gist found evidence of continuous settlement fromthe Neolithic period. Bryn Mawr resumed excava-tions at Gözlükule in 2007 in cooperation with Is-tanbul’s Bog�aziçi University. In 1993 a rescue exca-vation was begun in downtown Tarsus when awell-preserved section of colonnaded street withshops was discovered. In 2007 a section of Romanbridge that spanned the former course of the Cyn-dus River was discovered during renovations to theMakamı Serif Mosque. Little restoration work hasbeen done to the large, concrete temple called Do-nuktas. North of Tarsus near the village of Sag�lık-lıköy is one of the best preserved sections of Romanroad in Turkey. Finds are displayed at the archaeol-ogy museums in Tarsus and Adana.

c. Archaeology in Turkey Today. The General Di-rectorate of Monuments and Museums currentlyadministers over 80 museums in Turkey. This di-rectorate likewise oversees the management of allarchaeological sites in Turkey. The results of ongo-ing archaeological work are presented each May atthe annual Symposium of Excavations, Surveys,and Archeometry sponsored by the Turkish Minis-try of Culture. Since 1980 these findings have beenpublished in a series of annual excavation reports(Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı). In 1983 the publicationof survey results (Arastırma Sonuçları Toplantısı)began, and in 1985 the archaeometry results (Arke-ometri Sonuçları Toplantısı). In 1990 a fourth se-ries was added dealing with museum recovery exca-vations (Müze Kurtarma Kazıları Semineri). Theexcavation reports are summarized and translatedinto English on a web site called “Current Archae-ology in Turkey.” The American Journal of Archeology(AJA) annually publishes a summary of archaeologi-cal activity in Turkey. The journal ANMED annuallypublishes news of archaeology in the Mediterra-nean region. The TAY Project has inventoried allarchaeological excavations in Turkey and has pub-lished a summary of these sites. Most archaeologi-cal excavations in Turkey now have their own web-sites.

Bibliography: ■ E. Akurgal, Ancient Civilizations and Ruinsof Turkey (Istanbul 1993). ■ S. H. Allen, Excavating Our Past(Boston, Mass. 2002). ■ G. M. Cohen/M. S. Joukowsky,Breaking Ground (Ann Arbor, Mich. 2005). ■ W. H. C. Frend,The Archaeology of Early Christianity (Minneapolis, Minn.1996). ■ A. Hoffmann, Erinnerungen (Istanbul 2004).■ S. L. Marchand, Down from Olympus (Princeton, N.J. 1996).■ J. McRay, Archaeology and the New Testament (Grand Rapids,Mich. 1991). ■ G. Wiplinger/G. Wlach, Ephesus (Vienna1996); trans. of id./id., Ephesos (Vienna 1995).

Mark Wilson

3. HistoryThe history of Anatolia is rooted in geography. Thepeninsula has been compared with a hat, with brimand indented crown. Only in the west, where river


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valleys make deep inroads, has the brim any width.Along the Black Sea and Mediterranean it is verynarrow. The crown sinks in the middle to formrolling plains. In the east the mountains rise untilthey merge with the Caucasus, and the roots of therange belong in the Himalaya and beyond. Thenumber of areas to be mentioned here under theirclassical names (see “4. Society”; “5. Religion”; “6.Culture and Arts”) shows how geography broke upthe peninsula and allowed diverse human systemsto develop. In antiquity its fertility made it attract-ive to invaders: it could provide grain, fruit, andtimber, obsidian and then metals (except tin). Di-versity is the keynote: while the central plateauearned the designation “Axylon” (woodless), andstill deserves it, it nevertheless was divisible intozones and had its fertile corners.

Anatolia has also been compared with a bridgewith an east-west axis. The peninsula has beenfought over and shared by powers with their basesto the east or west – Iranians and Greeks; Byzan-tines and Turks. Two main routes ran along thisaxis: the northern highway, known as the Royal(Persian) road, the administrative artery linking thewest coast at Sardis (Sert) with Ancyra (Ankara) andthe Euphrates crossings and on to the Persian capi-tal at Susa, and the southern highway, the geogra-pher Strabo’s Koine Hodos (Common Road), whichcarried merchandise to and from Ephesus (Efes)through Apamea Celaenae (Dinar) north of themountains of Pisidia, down through the pass in theTaurus called the Cilician Gates into the Levant.These routes were followed by armies campaigningin Anatolia. Sea routes along the coasts also needto be borne in mind, and those that linked Anatoliawith the Balkans and south Russia.

Anatolia emerges into history in the Neolithicperiod, with Çatal Hüyük the first of its quasi-ur-ban developments, fortified citadels that arose inthe centre and west; then in the Bronze Age cameHacılar and Alaca Hüyük; Troy (Hisarlık) in thenorth-west is the most famous example. Trade inmetals was the support of Kanes (Kültepe), an As-syrian settlement of the Middle and Late Bronzeages documented on cuneiform tablets. It survivedas Hanisa, and was absorbed into the capital ofCappadocia at Mazaca (later Caesareia, now Kayseri)in the late Hellenistic age. The mixed origin of thecity population is shown by nomenclature andcults: Assyrian Astarte, Greek Zeus and Herakles.

One power that arose on the plateau was thatof a mixed people, the Hittites, whose main centrewas Hattusa at Bog�azköy, 160 km east of Ankara.The empire of Hatti lasted from about 1700–1190BCE. Making effective use of chariot warfare, it ex-tended from the west coast of Anatolia to thesouth-east, and brought contact with the Hurrians,who were establishing themselves on the upper Ti-gris and Euphrates, with Babylonians and the Phar-


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aohs, who called the kingdom Kheta. There weremarriage alliances with Egypt, but relations werenormally hostile. The battle of Kadesh (ca. 1285BCE) secured Hittite control of Syria. (The later“Hittites” [MT høtym] in the Syria of the Hebrew Bi-ble to the end of the 8th century were relics of thiscontrol.) In the 12th century the kingdom wasoverwhelmed by the “Peoples of the Sea” men-tioned under 1182 in records of Ramesses III: Mysi-ans and Phrygians, coming from the west. ThePhrygians, Balkan immigrants, figure in Homer’sIliad on the Trojan side (their territory on the west-ern uplands made them influential horsebreeders).They dominated central and north-western Anato-lia until the Cimmerians, invading from Russia,caused the suicide of the fabulously rich King Mi-das (738–696/5). The Cimmerians took Sardis (644),killed its king Gyges (ca. 680–645), and terrorizedIonia. But the warfare with Lydia helped wear themdown. Gold in a tributary of the Hermus (GedizÇay) and access to sea-routes also made Lydia’s rul-ers rich. The Mermnad dynasty ruled successfullyca. 700–546 BCE, but the proverbially wealthyCroesus looked to expand eastwards and broughtthe equally expansionist Achaemenid Persiansdown on Sardis. The fall of Lydia carried perma-nent Persian rule under satraps to the westerncoast, creating a significant Iranian legacy (see “6.Culture and Arts”).

More significant still were the waves of Greekssettling round the coast of Anatolia, especially inthe rich west. The Aeolians came from Boeotia andThessaly towards 1000 BCE, settling lands from theHellespont to the Hermus and intermarrying withlocal people. Further south, Ionians claimed de-scent from Athens; they intermarried with the Cari-ans and developed precociously from the mid-8thcentury (see “6. Culture and Arts”). Their revoltagainst Persia (499) provoked the attacks on Greecerepulsed in 490 and 480/79. After that Persian Ana-tolia itself was fair game for Greek ambitions, andit was liberated by Alexander the Great in 334.

Alexander went on to destroy the Persian Em-pire, but his own empire did not survive his deathin 323. Syria and the greater part of Anatolia fell tohis general Seleucus I Nicator (ca. 358–281) whosedescendants, the Seleucids, kept control of much ofthe peninsula until Antiochus III the Great (ca.242–187) fell under the suspicion of the Romans(designs on mainland Greece were the charge) andwas defeated by them at the battle of Magnesia(Manisa) in 190 BCE. He lost Lydia, Phrygia, Mysia,and Caria, keeping Pamphylia and Rough andSmooth Cilicia. The beneficiaries were Rome’s al-lies, Rhodes, which was given charge of districts onthe south-west corner of Anatolia, and, inland, thedynasty of Attalus I (269–197) of Pergamum (Ber-gama), which had its own ambitions. The Pergam-ene kingdom had already achieved resounding suc-cess by defeating new arrivals, the Gauls.


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The Celts, taking advantage of the disorganiza-tion of Macedonia and the wars between Alexan-der’s successor kings, descended on Greece at thebeginning of the 270s and crossed en masse into thenorth-west of Anatolia looking for booty, merce-nary wages, or land, devastating the Hellespont(Dardanelles), Aeolis and Ionia, and the hinterland.It was Attalus I who is claimed to have confinedthem to the area round Ancyra. Their threebranches kept their independence down to the ex-pedition of Cn. Manlius Vulso against them in 189BCE, selling their services as allies, and they sur-vived, still nomadic, eventually giving their nameto a Roman province, Galatia, annexed in 25 BCE.

The Attalids survived as friends of Rome untilAttalus III died in 133, bequeathing his kingdomto the Romans. They left the further reaches to de-pendent monarchs; it was Roman policy to leavedifficult areas in the hands of local dynasts, whohad forces on the spot. Many autonomous citieswithin the kingdom also remained free. Rome putdown a pretender, Aristonicus, in the process of an-nexation (129), and Provincia Asia, so called becausethe commander’s sphere of control was not delim-ited, settled down under senators entitled “procon-suls.” Provincia means “job,” and etymologicallysomething “for the conquering.” Rome delimitedsuch provinces for administrative convenience,without following linguistic or racial divisions.

The peacetime activities of governors werelargely juridical. They went on circuit to a dozenor so assize centres (conventus), where they could beapproached by local residents; the 10th book ofPliny the Younger’s Letters, written as governor ofBithynia-Pontus (ca. 109–12), richly illustrates theissues. Roman rule was greedy and tyrannical,though there were a few conscientious administra-tors. These were liable to fall foul of the tax collec-tors, whose activities were regulated in vain. Acomprehensive series of customs regulations waspublished in Ephesus in 62 CE.

The weakening of the Seleucids had allowedsmaller powers established after Alexander’s deathto assert themselves. One of the most importantwas that of the Iranian Mithridates VI Eupator(120–63 BCE), centred on Cappadocia. Rulers ofthis kingdom claimed to regulate the succession ofsmaller realms such as Commagene and ArmeniaMinor. In 88 BCE, Mithridates’ quarrel with theRomans culminated in his invasion of Asia and themassacre allegedly of 80,000 Romans, carried outin Greek cities at his behest. War continued inter-mittently until Pompey the Great forced Mithri-dates to suicide in 63. Pompey, who also broughtthe Seleucid monarchy to a formal end, added toRoman possessions in Anatolia by setting up theprovince of Bithynia-Pontus in the former kingdomof Bithynia.

Meanwhile, east of the Euphrates, a new power,that of the Parthian Arsacids, whose era dates from


1018

247 BCE, had taken over the rump of the PersianEmpire, and aspired to its place in the world.Trouble with dependencies weakened it as a claim-ant to Anatolia, but it was powerful enough for theRomans to regard it as a serious rival. First contactwas made in the 90s BCE when the Roman com-mander L. Cornelius Sulla negotiated with a Par-thian general about the future of states east of Pro-vincia Asia. Later there was war over the same issue,and M. Licinius Crassus suffered a fatal defeat atCarrhae (53 BCE), involving the loss of Romanstandards. In 40 BCE, with the help of a Romanrepublican, Q. Labienus, the Parthians overranwestern Anatolia, to be driven out two years later.In the division of the empire between Mark Antonyand his fellow Triumvirs after Octavian and Lepi-dus Anatolia came to be in Antony’s portion. An-tony set himself up as a new Alexander, but evenwith the resources of the eastern provinces and ofQueen Cleopatra VII of Egypt behind him, he failedto achieve permanent success against Parthia.

Antony and Cleopatra were destroyed by theirrival Octavian in 30 BCE. Under his new name, Au-gustus, the victor reached détente with the Parthi-ans in 20 BCE. Control of Armenia Major, southof the Caucasus, was the issue on which disputesfocused Under the agreement the Romans ap-pointed its king and the standards were restored.The system was prestigious for Rome, but unstablewhen the Armenian ruler died or was rejected. TwoRoman princes, C. Caesar and Germanicus Caesar,sent east to restore the status quo, lost their lives(4 and 19 CE). By 54 CE, when Emperor Claudiusdied, Armenia was again in Parthian hands, andNero sent a powerful general to recover the posi-tion. By 63 CE, however, he was ready to accept aParthian nominee for Armenia, provided he hadbeen recognized by Rome. In the face of the dan-gers one emperor after another had solidified Ro-man control over Anatolia: Galatia was followed byCappadocia and Commagene (17 CE), Lycia-Pam-phylia (43 CE), and Pontus Polemoniacus (64 CE).Attention to the north of the peninsula was devel-oped in the face of a perceived threat from tribesbeyond the Caucasus, related to dangers from thoseon the Danube. Vespasian (69–79 CE) strengthenedthe Euphrates frontier by deploying legions at Me-litene (Malatya) and Satala (Sadag�). Nero had unitedthe provinces of Galatia and Cappadocia under aconsular governor. Vespasian confirmed the ar-rangement.

The presence of troops on the Euphrates andthose guarding routes through Anatolia, and theirsettlement in colonies or individually after dis-charge, made a profound difference to eastern andcentral Anatolia, and intensified in the troubled3rd century. The construction of a road system ineastern Anatolia was beneficial, (though achievedonly with corvée manpower), and there was nothing


1019 Asia Minor

comparable until the end of the 19th century; butthe passing through of Roman troops might bedevastating to communities forced to supply them.(Even local police, the paraphylakes, were guilty ofextorting supplies and accommodation.)

Nero’s economical arrangement lasted until thecourtesies were neglected in 113 CE, when the Par-thians installed a monarch in Armenia withoutconsulting Rome. The soldierly Trajan (98–117 CE)embarked on campaigns which culminated in hisimposition of a Roman puppet on the throne ofParthia itself. The success was momentary, and thestructure broke down even before Trajan’s death.Wars of conquest continued in the 2nd and 3rdcenturies, which again led to the creation of provin-ces beyond the Euphrates, until the Parthian em-pire collapsed in the face of a resurgent Persianpower that claimed to be the true heirs of theAchaemenid dynasty. From 226 CE on, the Romanshad to face the Sassanians.

This change of control was the beginning of anew phase of relations, usually fought out east ofthe Euphrates, but sometimes disastrously forRome, as when the emperor Valerian (253–60 CE)was captured by Sapor I. It was not only with thesouth-east that Rome had trouble. The GermanicHeruli came down the Hellespont in 268–70 CE,and the Goths from the Vistula, to be countered byGallienus (253–68 CE), Claudius II Gothicus (268–70 CE), and Aurelian (270–75 CE). Already concernfor the empire’s northern and eastern fringes wasclear, like the importance of the route through theBalkans and Anatolia prescribed in the “AntonineItinerary,” a late 3rd-century document whosename recalls the expedition against the Parthiansof the emperor Caracalla (211–17 CE). After the di-vision of responsibility under Diocletian’s “Te-trarchy” (293: two “Augusti” and two “Caesars”)and Constantine’s foundation in 324 CE of the newcapital of Constantinople (Istanbul), on the westernside of the Bosporus and replacing an earlier centreat Nicomedia (Izmit), defence was no longer in thehands of Rome; it was not until 395 CE that thetwo halves of the Roman Empire were finally sepa-rated. In Anatolia provinces had been split: Phry-gia-Caria was detached from Asia, Pontus was sun-dered from Bithynia, troublesome Isauria fromGalatia. Instead of the seven or so provinces intowhich Anatolia was divided in the later 1st centuryCE there were two dozen in late antiquity.

After the 4th century, deficient sources makethe history of Anatolia (as opposed to that of Con-stantinople) problematic, though wars are well doc-umented. Certainly the Byzantine Empire de-pended on Anatolian supplies for its Europeancampaigns. Reorganization of what remained ofJustinian’s empire (427–65 CE) by Maurice (582–602 CE) played a part in the development of thetheme system that was devised to meet an even more


1020

threatening phase of eastern conflict. A theme was alarge military zone partly populated by dischargedsoldiers, under a strategos (general): Anatolia wassliced east-west to the Halys (Kızıl Ιrmak) into theOpsikion, Anatolikon (hence the designation of thewhole peninsula), and Cibyrrhaiote themes; to theeast was the Armeniakon.

The new phase began when the Sassanids werereplaced in the 7th century by the Saracens, Mus-lim conquerors, who had come out of Arabia and,based in caliphates in Damascus and Baghdad, werebent on achieving as wide a realm as they could.Constantinople was attacked in 669, 674, and 716,Cilicia lost in 692; raids reached Sardis and Perga-mum in 715 and continued into the 9th century.But by 1038 Baghdad was in the hands of a Turkishgeneral of the Selçuk clan.

Alp Arslan, the second Selçuk sultan, occupiedCilicia and Cappadocia in 1067 and, attacking Ar-menia, defeated Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes atManzikert four years later. Romanus’ commandersfled, leaving the countryside open to the Turks,who acquired Nicaea (Iznik) in 1080. In 1107 theSelçuks of Rum (“Roman” central Anatolia) de-clared themselves an independent kingdom, withIconium (Konya) as their capital. For the first timesince the Hittite Empire, Anatolia was itself thecentre of a major power. The Crusader Frederick IBarbarossa took Konya in 1190 but moved off forSyria. Byzantine attacks were repulsed, and thesouthern and northern coasts had been reached (At-taleia (Antalya) in 1211, Sinope (Sinop) in 1214. Byhis death in 1234 Kaikobad I had annexed Erzın-can, Harput (near Elazıg), and Seleucia (Silifke);even the surviving Christian princedoms of Nicaea,Trapezus (Trebizond, Trabzon), and Lesser Arme-nia were his tributaries. But Anatolia was also sub-ject to Turko-Mongol invasion and the the Selçukswere defeated by them: Genghiz Khan reached theStraits in 1219, and Timur (Tamerlane) of Samar-kand was present from 1399–1404. The Selçuk dy-nasty, which had already conceded land round An-kara to the Ottoman Turks, died out ca. 1299 andwas succeeded by their more durable regime, cre-ated by Osman (1288–1326) in Bithynia. Graduallythe Byzantines yielded Anatolia, until no territorywas left except what was closest to Constantinople.The correspondence of Manuel II Palaeologus(1391–1425) paints a piteous picture of cities in hisfirst year, notably Pompeipolis (Tas Köprü), ruinedand deserted. In 1453 the capital finally fell toMehmet II (1451–1481). With the exception ofsome successor states, such as that of Trebizond,Anatolia, like swaths of Europe (Greece and the Bal-kans), was firmly under Muslim Turkish rule. TheOttoman Empire in Europe decayed and came toan end with its defeat in the war of 1914–18. TheRepublic, turning its back on Istanbul as an admin-istrative capital in favor of Ankara, became thethird major power based centrally on Anatolia.


1021 Asia Minor

Bibliography. Primary: ■ A. F. Pauly/G. Wissowa (eds.),Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft (Stuttgart1894–1972). ■ Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für die Tabu-lae Imperii Byzantini (Wien 1973–). ■ Turkey, 2 vols. (Geo-graphical Handbook Series B. R. 507; The Naval Intelli-gence Division; London 1942). ■ S. Hornblower/S.Spawforth (eds.), Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford 1996).[Forth edition forthcoming] ■ R. Stillwell (ed.), The Prince-ton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (Princeton, N.J., 1976).

Secondary: ■ O. R. Gurney, The Hittites (London 21990).■ J. M. Cook, The Greeks in Ionia and the East (London 1962).■ D. Magie, Roman Rule in Anatolia, 2 vols. (Princeton, N.J.,1950) ■ S. Mitchell, Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Anato-lia, 2 vols. (Oxford 1993). ■ J. Reynolds, Aphrodisias andRome (JRS Monographs 1; London 1982).

4. SocietyRich though Anatolia was in resources, harsh con-ditions, cold and drought, caused want, and thatwas aggravated by class privilege. Hence war, pi-racy, rebellion, and lawlessness (see “3. History”).The claim of Aelius Aristides, the 2nd-century CEorator, that the Cilician Gates presented no terrorsis significant. Law enforcers appear regularly, thecity eirenarch (security officer) in the same period,when prosperity was at it height. For, besides ruralperils, there was violence within cities (often overgrain), as well as between cities, over control ofland and resources, then later over status. Orationsof Dio of Prusa (Bursa) repeatedly deplore inter-and intra-city strife. He himself was besieged as agrain-hoarder by a mob during a famine. Opportu-nities offered during Roman civil wars: Nicaea (Iz-nik) and Nicomedia (Izmit) vented their enmity inthe war between Septimius Severus and PescenniusNiger (194 CE).

But it was villages that predominated in Anato-lia. Variously referred to in Greek as komai, katoik-iae, choria, and demoi (villages, settlements, districts,peoples), their status in Greek thinking was low.Greek city-states, poleis (see “3. History”), organizedin Roman provinces as leagues (koina: the Asian koi-non was “the Greeks in Asia”), exploited them. Thevariety of natural conditions In Anatolia made itpossible for it to offer a variety of products. Theywere marketed under local names; so the styraxgum of Selge (Zerk); Angora (Ancyra, Ankara) woolremains famous. It was cities, however, that gavetheir names to these products. Villages became in-creasingly significant in the organization of Anato-lia, especially under the theme system (see “3. His-tory”). Movement between city and village statuswas possible, as Julian’s demotion of Caesareia(Kayseri) shows (see “5. Religion”), and the 4th-cen-tury elevation of Orcistus (near Alikel), which couldprovide the requisite number of councillors. Thetwo types of community were antagonistic, butquarrels between villages are also known; responsi-bility for supplying the imperial transport systemwas an issue, as between Anosa and Antimacheia(near Sulmenli) in early 3rd-century Phrygia. Some


1022

komai, ruled by (elected) headmen, were attributedto cities, like the 32 responsible for the territory ofOenoanda (Incealiler) in Lycia; others were ownedby local landowners as part of large estates.

In the Roman period property helped qualifyowners for Roman citizenship, creating an addi-tional social stratum. When St. Paul travelled to Pi-sidian Antioch (Yalvaç) from Cyprus it was no ran-dom choice. Cyprus was governed by L. SergiusPaullus, whose family is believed to come from An-tioch (they owned estates at Lycaonian Vetissus (Sü-lüklü). Paullus (or his son) was suffect consul in 70CE. His son-in-law, C. Caristanius Fronto, certainlya native of Antioch and descended from a Romancolonist, received the same honour in 90 CE. Manyestates came into imperial ownership, through be-quest or confiscation or as Roman public land (agerpublicus), war booty. Such were those among theOrondeis east of Beysehir Gölü. Estates kept innu-merable coloni (cultivators) busy, under procurators,pragmateutae (businessmen), misthotae (renters), andoikonomoi (Lat. vilici; managers).

Both Hellenistic monarchs and Roman dynastspromoted the development of poleis to do the workof the imperial power. Macedonian military settle-ments provided homes for discharged veterans andprotection against the Gauls. Pompey the Great im-mortalized himself as a founder in the Mithridatickingdom (see “3. History”) and in the south, wherehe settled ex-pirates: Nicopolis and Pompeiopolis(Pürk; Mezetli). City magistrates included the“ruler” (archon), secretary (grammateus), who atEphesus (Efes) quelled a riot in the theatre bythreatening the intervention of the governor, mar-ket supervisor (agoranomos), censor (timetes), gymna-sium supervisor (gymnasiarch), organizer of games(agonothetes), and legal representative (ekdikos). Therange depended on a city’s origins and history: Sel-eucid foundations had boards of stephanephoroi (gar-land-bearers) with religious and honorific func-tions, making it possible for women to serve.(Societies were patriarchal, though there is evidenceof matrilinearity, both among the Hittites and inLycia).

Within the polis were full citizens and incomers,as well as suppressed classes sometimes called par-oikoi (dwellers on the side): the linen workers ofTarsus could not pay the cost of full citizenship.Admission was a possibility, and membership ofmore than one polis. Popular assemblies graduallylost power. With Roman encouragement poleis wererun by the wealthy, who dominated councils (boulaiof 100–600 members). Popular power rested on in-formal demonstrations. In towns guilds couldmake themselves felt: at Ephesus the silversmithswere effective against Paul, and there was a riotprovoked by a bakers’ association at the end of the2nd century. Suspicions of misconduct by thewealthy were well justified: public money intended


1023 Asia Minor

for construction (theaters, gymnasia, baths, or theRoman novelty, aqueducts) was lost by waste orcorruption, as Pliny’s letters to Trajan (ca. 109–12)attest. In return for dominance, the wealthy wereexpected to provide amenities, and they and theirfellow-citizens commemorated their gifts. A 1st-century CE list of priests of Rome and Augustusfrom Ancyra mentions hecatombs, banquets, oil,gladiatorial and wild beast shows. Such ceremoniesand priesthoods encouraged the development ofcivic and in particular Hellenic institutions in re-moter communities.

Urbanization and settlement were continued byAugustus, whose military colonies were in areascontiguous with difficult tribes such as those of Pi-sidia, and by later emperors. Under Roman rulecentral Anatolia was transformed by a network ofcities. Emperors also allowed communities thatshowed loyalty or enterprise to use their name, aswith Claudiopolis, Flaviopolis, and Hadriani (Mut;Kadırlı; Gâvur Ören). Cities were strengthened bythe influx of Roman businessmen, who suffered inthe Mithridatic massacres (see “3. History”). Theybecame prominent in civic and indeed Roman pub-lic life, notably in Pamphylian Attaleia (Antalya)and Perge (Aksu), which their gifts made more il-lustrious. The well-monetized cities were not alto-gether parasitic on the countryside: they providedcustomers and wider markets, entertainments andreligious centres. The size of cities would haveranged from the 180,000–200,000 estimated forPergamum (Bergama), on the basis of the 2nd-cen-tury CE physician Galen’s figures, down to 5,000–25,000; the total population of Roman Anatolia hasbeen estimated at about 13 million.

Aelius Aristides claimed that a man could rideon one day through two or three cities, as if he werepassing only through one. Decades earlier Josephuswrote of 500 cities. However, their density variedmarkedly. While the south-west – Lycia, Caria, Pi-sidia – was strongly Hellenized, the interior re-mained less well endowed: one community, Gor-dium, the capital of the Phrygian kingdom(Sivrihisar; see “3. History”), became a mere village.Cappadocia was the least urbanized area, and itsinhabitants enjoyed a correspondingly low reputa-tion. When Tiberius annexed it in 17 CE it was ad-ministered through domains – and enabled him toreduce an unpopular tax.

Slavery, practiced throughout the Roman Em-pire, was most prominent in areas where there wereno alternative labor systems. Galatia and Phrygiawere important suppliers of slaves to markets else-where in the Empire, and hierodouloi (sacred slaves)were familiar (see “5. Religion”), but in Anatoliathere were also threptoi (nurslings) available. Therewere enough foundlings in Bithynia-Pontus for itsgovernor Pliny to ask Trajan about their legal sta-tus. Unwanted children were left at known places


1024

and could be reared by the childless or those whowere after cheap labor. These foundlings occupiedan ambiguous position in the house, often beingnamed on the extended family tombstones thatpre-Christian antiquity favoured, but at the end, orsometimes as dedicators. Genuine affection mightmark the relationship.

There was always natural change: In the west,silt carried down by the rivers affected the fortunesof Miletus, Priene, and Ephesus (Milet, Samsun Ka-lesi, Efes). But prosperity was shaken in the 3rdcentury, when only exceptional areas such as Pam-phylia were immune; Side (Eski Antalya) had a newaqueduct in the 2nd half of the century, demon-strating confidence, and Caria escaped impoverish-ment. Inflation, invasion, and plague affected thesurvival of cities, although the underlying struc-ture, based on agriculture, remained; local coinageceased. Especially in wartime officials and disaf-fected soldiers travelling through Anatolia pillagedvillages (see “3. History”). At Ag�abeyköy near Phila-delphia (Alasehir) in Lydia, nine workers were ab-ducted from the estate and, failing the return ofthem all, the rest threatened to leave. An inscrip-tion from Aragua in the Upper Tembris (PorsukÇay) Valley tells the same story. After the 230s, theoffice of epanorthotes, in Latin corrector, became regu-lar, attesting unease about city fortunes and con-duct. The collection of taxes was one function thatpassed from the responsibility of publicani, who hadleased the duty, and cities into the hands of stateofficials. The increasing number of provinces (see“3. History”), may have been due to the perceptionthat existing ones were too big for individuals tohandle.

As civic life declined, service on local councilsseemed a burden. Councillors fled to their estates,where they could command private enforcers suchas the xylokaballoi (mounted club-men) who occurin Paphlagonia. There is little commemoration ofcivic activity in inscriptions of the 4th to 6th centu-ries. In smaller poleis civic buildings decayed. Citygovernment came to be dominated by bishops,marking the civil structures. The bishops also madethe link between communities and the Emperor.The church laid claim to the administration of jus-tice, and crowds noisily joined in disputes. Outsidethe cities and especially up-country there wasgreater autonomy, taking the form of asceticism,monasticism, and heresy (see “5. Religion”). Even-tually even the dominance of city-based bishopsgave way to the moral authority of monks and holymen, and from the mid-7th-century life of Theo-dore of Sykeon (between Constantinople and An-cyra) no trace of city officials can be gleaned. Eco-nomic power belonged to landholders (ktetores),official to nearby imperial administrators. Social aswell as civic life changed. As to charity, there wasan advance: the poor rather than the elite benefited


1025 Asia Minor

from the generosity of benefactors. And tomb-stones commemorating extended families began togive way to monuments stressing the relations ofthe deceased with God.

Bibliography: ■ H. Brandt, Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft Pam-phyliens und PIsidiens im Alterthum (Asia Minor Studies 7;Bonn 1992). ■ T. R. S. Broughton, “Roman Asia Minor,” inAn Economic Survey of Ancient Rome, vol. 3 (ed. T. Frank; Balti-more 1938). ■ C. Foss, Ephesus after Antiquity: a late Antique,Byzantine and Turkish City (Cambridge 1979). ■ H. J. Hou-wink ten Cate, The Luwian Population Groups of Lycia and Cili-cia Aspera during the Hellenistic Period (Leiden 1961).■ A. H. M. Jones, Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces of theRoman Empire (Oxford 21973). ■ X. de Planhol, De la plainepamphylienne aux lacs pisidiens: Nomadisme et vie paysanne(BAHI 3; Paris 1958). ■ L. Robert, Noms indigènes dans l’AsieMineure gréco-romaine (BAHI 13; Paris 1963). ■ L. Robert, Atravers de l’Asie Mineure (Paris 1980). ■ C. Roueché, Aphrodi-sias in Late Antiquity (JRS Monographs 5; London 1989).

5. ReligionReligious Anatolia is complex. History (q.v.) im-posed one stratum on another (indigenous, Hittite,Iranian, Greek, Celtic, Roman, Jewish, Christian, Is-lamic), each pierced by survivals. Geography, too,influenced the spread of beliefs and practices. Po-seidon the earth-shaker was a natural deity in thesouth-west; the extreme climate favoured the over-all dominance of sky-gods such as Zeus Bronton(Thundering), and Eukarpios (Bringer of goodcrops). It was easy too for deities to be assimilatedor associated, as Apollo was with Hosion kai Dikaion(Holy and Just) in the Tembris (Porsuk Su) valley,and Helios with the Christian God. It is a difficult,perhaps misguided, question whether we have vari-ants of one deity or distinct entities. Finally, theappeal even of regional deities was wide: in 79 CEan imperial official made dedications near Appia(Abya) to Phrygian Zeus Bennios.

Early clues come from Neolithic Çatal Hüyükand Alaca Hüyük (early Bronze Age), and fromearly 2nd-millennium seals showing individual de-ities. The Hittite kingdom of 1650–1200 adds textsfrom Hattusas (Bog�azköy). There was a compositepantheon of indigenous Hattian, Hittite, and Hur-rian-Mesopotamian elements. The gods controlweather, sun, grain, and hunting; the king was apriest, visiting a pantheon of divine families, thefemale members variously important. Neo-Hittitestates of the south-east (1100–700) continued thesedeities, and the Phrygian Mother Cybele emerged.Some components were close to Greek cults enter-ing around the coasts: sky-gods were identifiablewith Zeus. In the east especially, Persian rule madea strong impress. Mithras was introduced by thePersians and fire-worshipping Magusaioi remain inCappadocia in the 370s CE. Even in the west a Per-sian family served Artemis of Ephesus (Efes) untilthe same period.

Pre-Greek cults continued: sky-gods, mother-goddess, the Moon-god Mên, and gods of justice;


1026

in the wilder south (Lycia, Pisidia, Isauria, and theCibyratis) cults of rider- and warrior-gods wereprominent. Temples, inscriptions, and city-coina-ges (until the mid-3rd century CE) attest cults local,regional, and empire-wide. Development may beseen at Aezani (Çavdarhisar) in Phrygia. Nearby theMeter Steunene (a topographic epithet) gave birthto her son Zeus in a cave. The cult moved to thecity, handsomely reconstructed in the 2nd centuryCE. The new temple of Zeus contained a basement,replicating the Steunene cave, and a sacred waylinked the two centers. Similarly, at the Roman col-ony of Pisidian Antioch (Yalvaç), founded in 25BCE, Mên Askaenos was worshipped at 2nd-cen-tury BCE shrines on the nearby mountain, whoserevenues accrued to the colonial treasury. Even tocolonists he was patrios theos (the ancestral deity),and a route is traceable between city and shrine. AtEphesus the procession devoted to Artemis becameassociated with honors for the Roman emperor.

Gods revealed themselves. After healing a lameman in the Roman colony of Lystra (Hatun Saray)Paul and Barnabas were hailed as such. Some com-munities were ruled by priests, most famously Ve-nasa (near Suvermez) and Comana (Sar) in Cappa-docia, which had 9,000 “sacred slaves” betweenthem. Pompey allocated Comana to an Archelaus,whose name was Greek and whose family had rela-tions with the Roman aristocracy. But the cult wasAnatolian (one of his successors died from a surfeitof forbidden pork). Pontus too had temple states:one dedicated to Ma at Comana Pontica (nearTokat), one to Mên Pharnakou at Cabeira (Niksar).At the shrine of Cybele, at Pessinus (near Sivrihisar)in Phrygia, Gauls took over the high priesthood asthe Attis – after the practice of castrating him hadended. Indigenous cults abounded in the country-side: Angdistis, Papas, Sabazios; villages describedthemselves as belonging to a deity, such as MênTyrannos or the Great Mother Aneitis “who holdsAzitta.” But Mên’s cult was widespread. North ofPisidian Antioch inscriptions attest subscriptionspaid in the 3rd century CE to an association ofXenoi Tekmoreioi (Tekmorian Guest-Friends). Thetekmor (sign) was an upturned crescent on a base,associated with Mên monuments. Subscribers camefrom seventeen poleis (cities) and 120 villages. TheMeter Theon Zizimmene (Mother of the Gods atZizma) from the territory of Laodiceia Combusta(Ladık), linked with other Anatolian and Greek dei-ties, developed into the chief deity of nearby Ico-nium (Konya).

Oracles were common: in the west, as at theshrines of Clarian Apollo and Didyma (Didim), theyresembled those of mainland Greece. In Lycia andPisidia city centers offered dice oracles. For all theinnovations, Anatolia remained a reservoir of an-cient beliefs. In the 2nd century CE the oracle ofAsclepius at Cilician Aegeae (Ayas) was a centre of


1027 Asia Minor

Pythagoreanism, and fostered the Alexander whobrought notoriety to Abunoteichus (Ineboli, fromits new name Ionopolis), with his oracular snakeGlycon. Oracles also point the way towards beliefin one guiding principle, Zeus or Theos Hypsistos(Highest God). Such cults were close to Jewish andChristian belief: Gregory of Nazianzus’ fatherpassed to Christianity from Hypsistos. Another linkbetween pagans, Christians, and Jews was a cult ofangels, particularly Michael, prevalent in Phrygia.

To judge from decorations on gravestones, no-tably the widespread “doorstone” type, occupantswere expected to be preoccupied with what preoc-cupied them in life: produce of the land, spinning,personal adornment. Cults did not lack moral con-tent. Some involved the hunting down of offend-ers. Very common were imprecations on grave-stones against those who disturbed the grave. Thepenalty was a fine payable to the local community,or the divine vengeance, sometimes in the form ofeverlasting fire. (It was for such formulae that thePhrygian language survived in written form.)Sometimes all the gods, sometimes one, Hecate orNemesis, were invoked, or the Christian or JewishGod. Phrygians were renowned for their sophrosyne(self-restraint) and Hosion kai Dikaion fit that char-acter. One of the two famous sets of “confession”inscriptions (some illustrated in sculptured scenes)comes from Phrygia, from the shrine of Apollo Lair-benus near Hierapolis (Pamukkale), the other fromnorth-east Lydia. The authors narrate the offence(theft of clothes from a bath-house; stoning sacredpigeons; visiting a temple while defiled, perjury)and its punishment, acknowledging the power ofthe deity.

Anatolia, long subject to aliens, passed in 30BCE to Rome’s future emperor, Octavian. Relationswith him too had to be managed. In 29, the provin-cial assemblies (koina) of Bithynia and Asia, gavehim the status that they had accorded Julius Caesarand even regular governors since the early 1st cen-tury. Octavian’s acceptance was qualified: “Greeks”were permitted to offer cult offerings to himselfand to Rome at Pergamum (Bergama) and Nicome-dia (Izmit); Romans were allowed only temples toJulius Caesar at Ephesus and Nicaea (Iznik). In Ga-latia too the cult was introduced; the Hellenistic-style temple at Ancyra (Ankara) is its imposingmonument. There was competition in 26 CE be-tween other cities of Asia as to which might be per-mitted to erect a temple to Tiberius (CE 14–37); thecelebration of prestigious games went along withthe privilege. Ultimately Pergamum and Sardis(Sert) were entitled to call themselves four timesneocorus (temple warden), Sardis showing its fourtemples (one of Artemis) on coins dating from thereign of Elagabalus (218–22 CE). There were alsocults from individual cities, and a host of civicpriesthoods and private dedications. Naturally, cit-


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ies informed emperors of their devotion. Alreadyin 9 BCE, when the Asian koinon made Augustus’birthday the beginning of its year, its decree as-sumes that each city will have a Caesareum; thirty-four cities are attested as having high priests of thecult, and in Paphlagonia by 3 BCE, when the entirepopulation took oaths to the dynasty, they were ad-ministered in Sebasteia (shrines dedicated to Augus-tus) throughout the region. The cult was a tool ofRoman imperialism, but when in the Milyas theprevious year natives joined the Romans who were“doing business” among them and the Thracianswho were settled among them in erecting an altarto Rome and Augustus, it was a sign of the growingtogether of these elements. High priests who servedthe emperor had particular pre-eminence, and thesophisticated organization of the imperial cult hasbeen held to be the bulwark against Christianiza-tion.

Semitic divinities came to Anatolia in the formof Astarte from Syria, becoming the main deity ofTyana (Nig�de). More significant were Jewish com-munities, some settled as farmers from Babylon bythe Seleucids at the end of the 3rd century BCE,notably around Apamea (Dinar). At Sardis Jewishreligious freedom was repeatedly guaranteed by theRoman government. How influential communitieswere can be seen from Acts. Paul, himself a Jew fromTarsus, approached them first on his journeys. AtPisidian Antioch his preaching caused offence andthey brought pressure to bear on the colonial elite,who, like many Romans, were attracted to Jewishmonotheism. There were theosebeis (God-fearers) inmany Anatolian communities. In Acmonia (Ahat) awoman from a dynastic family built a synagogue,and the numbers of interested gentiles are sug-gested by a 3rd-century inscription from Aphrodi-sias (Geyre) that has charitable contributors to asoup kitchen in a ratio of three Jews for two theose-beis.

In the 3rd and 4th centuries, Christianity be-came the dominant political and structural, as wellas religious and cultural, force. Already in the early2nd century the younger Pliny, governing Bithy-nia-Pontus, found converts numerous in town andcountry. But evidence for pre-Constantinian Chris-tianity is patchy and inexplicit: in the later 2nd-century gravestones of Cadi (Gediz) display breadstamped with the cross and grapes with stalks inits shape. Until 313 Christians were subject to per-secution. Pliny wrote to the emperor Trajan to findout what to do with them. Later come martyr sto-ries: the pursuit of bishop Polycarp by the eirenarchand his diogmitae (flying squad) from Smyrna (Iz-mir, ca. 155 CE). Bishops came into their own dur-ing the difficulties of the 3rd century, and Chris-tians suffered again during the persecution carriedout by the emperor Maximinus in 311–113. Thevictims became centers of fresh cults and contrib-


1029 Asia Minor

uted to the burgeoning of Christianity in the coun-tryside, with martyrs’ relics as a prime attraction.Rural bishops (chorepiscopi) acquired great influenceand survived, despite formal abolition at the end ofthe 4th century, into the 8th. In remote areas as-cetic movements proved alarmingly hard for citybishops to control.

“Paganism” did not pass without a struggle: inthe mid-4th century the emperor Julian (“the Apos-tate”) stripped Caesareia Mazaca (Kayseri) in obdu-rate Cappadocia of its city status for its anti-paganbehaviour. Christianity outdid other religions, ex-cept Judaism, in its charitable outreach, and Julianrecognized this when he urged the high priest ofGalatia to compete. When Christianity became theofficial religion of the empire at the end of the 4thcentury, temples were destroyed or converted intochurches. At Aphrodisias intellectuals maintainedpagan beliefs in a philosophical school linked withAlexandria; the temple of Aphrodite survived assuch until the mid-5th century.

Anatolia, especially Cappadocia, produced dis-tinguished members of the church: in the mid-4thcentury, Basil and Macrina of Caesareia, theirbrother Gregory, bishop of Nyssa, and Gregory ofNazianus. Besides its involvement in empire-wideissues (the Council of Nicaea in 325 dealt with Ari-anism), Anatolia engendered its own heresies. It isuncertain to what sect those on the upper Tembrisbelonged who dedicated gravestones as “Christiansfor Christians” even before 313. Christianity itselfin its Judaic origins was an expression of dissent.Now it became subject to dissident pressures. Peas-ants and women found a place in sectarian religion.Even an orthodox bishop might fall: Marcellus ofAncyra, leader of the Ancyro-Galatians, was de-posed in 336 for extreme homoousionism. Duringhis comeback in 337 opposing clergy and nunswere manhandled. According the Jerome, Ancyraharboured a plethora of heresies, including Mon-tanism.

Vilified as the creation of a pagan eunuch andtwo prophetesses, this was the late 2nd–5th centu-ries “Phrygian heresy,” its monuments focused onTemenothyrae (Usak) and Acmonia. Famously it al-lowed female presbyters and living saints (hagioi).Montanus began to prophesy in 156–57 or 172 atan unidentified Mysian village, and the “New Jeru-salem” was at Pepuza, also unidentified. Whetherthis rigorous sect had roots in Phrygian paganismis disputed, but despite being condemned in 200CE it spread to Africa and attracted Tertullian. No-vatians, self-styled “Cathars,” not heretical but rig-orously against the readmission of apostates afterthe mid-3rd-century persecutions, were, like theEncratites of Pisidia and Laodiceia Combusta (acentre of heresy), another manifestation of Phry-gian puritanism. They reached Constantinoplefrom Bithynia, Paphlagonia, and Galatia; Isauriatoo had its communities.


1030

Rigorists were ready for ascetism and monasti-cism. The Novatian hermit Eutychianus introducedmonasticism to Constantinople in the 340s. Thefirst epigraphically attested monasteries were thoseof the Apotactites of Laodiceia Combusta. But Eu-stathius’ communities in Armenia, Paphlagonia,and Pontus were condemned for their hostility tomarriage and to less rigorous attitudes. He influ-enced the family of Macrina, which under her lead-ership undertook its own monastic regime. Therock-dwelling monasteries of Göreme and else-where in western Cappadocia may have been in-spired by them. Near Laranda (Karaman) a commu-nity emerged, now called Binbir Kilise (1001Churches); and at Seleucia on Calycadnus (Silifke)the center devoted to Thecla and focused on achurch constructed in about 375 overshadowed themetropolis; a century later Zeno the Isaurian en-dowed an even greater church there. The 50 meterbasilica of St. Michael at Germia (Yürme) was con-temporary, another popular cult centre. The mira-cle that Theodore of Sykeon performed there in the6th century helped spread his influence along thehighway. But it was St. George who guided thesaint. Contact with the divine, conspicuous asceti-cism, and wonders performed, notably mass andindividual exorcisms, gave holy men ascendancybeyond that of elected bishops.

Anatolian Christianity survived Saracen, Selçuk,and Ottoman invasions and settlement. Enclavesremained until the failed invasion of 1922, whichsought to restore Greek power to the peninsula.

Bibliography: ■ S. Elm, Virgins of God: The Making of Asceti-cism in Late Antiquity (Oxford 1994). ■ R. Lane Fox, Pagansand Christians in Late Antiquity (Oxford 1984). ■ S. Mitchell,Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor. II. The Rise of theChurch (Oxford 1993). ■ M. N. van Loon, Anatolia in the Sec-ond Millennium BC (IOR.MNE 15.12, Leiden 1985). ■ M. N.van Loon, Anatolia in the earlier First Millennium BC(IOR.MNE 15.13; Leiden 1991). ■ S. R. F. Price, Rituals andPower: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (Cambridge1984). ■ G. M. Rogers, The Sacred Identity of Ephesos: Founda-tion Myths of a Roman City (London/New York 1991).

6. Culture and ArtsAnatolian culture was diverse. Coastal Greek com-munities gave way to intermediate peoples, Phrygi-ans, Mysians, and Lydians; these were distinct intheir agricultural villages, linguistic features, andcults from the peoples of the Pontic mountains inthe north and the Taurus in the south. Greek pene-tration was extended by Hellenistic foundations(see “3. History”), still leaving central Anatolia,Phrygia, Lydia, Galatia, Lycaonia, without π&λεις,although Pisidia was markedly Hellenized by theend of the 2nd century BCE. Only in the mid-4thcentury CE could men of Pontus, Galatia, and Cap-padocia be noted for their vigor and culture (see“5. Religion”).


1031 Asia Minor

Hellenized areas reached the heights: in astron-omy and philosophy, drawing on Mesopotamianand Iranian culture, there were Thales, first to pre-dict an eclipse (546 BCE), Anaximander, and Anaxi-menes, all of 6th-century Miletus (Milet), Heracli-tus of Ephesus (Efes; ca. 500 BCE); mathematics,Apollonius of Perge (Aksu) at the end of the 3rdcentury BCE, renowned for his theorem; medicine,Galen of Pergamum (Bergama) in the 2nd centuryCE and Alexander of Tralles (Aydın) in the 6th. Inhistory Anatolia produced Herodotus of Halicar-nassus (Bodrum; 5th century BCE) and Cassius Dioof Nicaea (Iznik; 2nd–3rd centuries CE). The novelis represented by Xenophon of Ephesus (ca. 100–150). Anatolia was valuable to Rome, producing in-tellectuals, administrators, and (notably among theGauls) soldiers. Arrian of Nicomedia (Izmit) com-bined the gifts: historian (admirer of Xenophon),capable commander, he reached the consulship(?129 CE). Its inhabitants would have been oblivi-ous of any stigma of “orientalism” that it suffered,long under alien control and sporting exotic cults(see “5. Religion”).

Indo-European languages emerged in the early2nd millennium, Hittite and Luwian (south andwest Anatolia) the best known, with Palaic in thenorth-west. The cuneiform tablets are divided intothree Hittite periods (ca. 1570–1220). Then camealphabetic Lycian and Lydian (5th–4th centuriesBCE), and Carian, Sidetic, and Phrygian (4th–3rdcenturies BCE); much later Pisidian is found (3rdcentury CE). Anecdotal evidence shows the survivalin oral form of many languages and dialects intothe Roman Empire, including a number of Pam-phylian dialects. (Mithridates VI could converse in22 in his own realm.) Lucian, the 2nd-century CEsatirist, who came from Samosata (Samsat), had tolearn Greek; Aramaic was probably his nativetongue. At Colonia Lystra (Hatun Saray) St. Paulwas addressed in Lycaonian. Phrygian was particu-larly robust, as curse formulae attest (see “5. Reli-gion”), and one bishop of Cotiaeum (Kütahya)preached in Gothic too. Two 4th- or early 3rd-cen-tury BCE inscriptions from Hellenistic Docimium(Isçekarahisar) illustrate cultural assimilation: inbetween that Phrygian has Greek male propernames, including Nicostratus; the Greek one is forTatis, his daughter, who (characteristically forwomen) bears a native name. But Greek culture hadspecial prestige: cities lacking genuine Greek originsometimes invented it: Sparta was the implausiblefounder of Pisidian Selge (Zerk).

The Gauls (see “3. History”) used their own lan-guage until late antiquity, and there are Celtic re-mains. They were divided into three tribes, eachwith four “tetrarchies.” The council of three hun-dred, meeting at the Drynemetos (Oak Grove), de-cided murder cases. These were partly 2nd-centurydevelopments attained under Greek influence,partly (like the fourfold division), authentic.


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Inscriptions were a feature of the Greco-Romanworld: the “epigraphic habit” reached a peak in thefirst three centuries CE. It depended on the availa-bility of material, funds to pay for it and for stone-cutters, and on received culture. Decorated grave-stones are particularly informative. Those of theTembris (Porsuk Çay) Valley represent styluses andwriting tablets, evidence of the respect in which lit-eracy was held in the 2nd–4th centuries CE.Women’s monuments bear written tributes to theirsemnotes and sophrosyne (gravity and self-restraint).

Philosophers, like doctors and successful ath-letes, were valued and claimed civic support. Apol-lonius of Tyana (Nig�de; 1st century CE) was a guruembroiled in legend but celebrated among theelite, notably Empress Julia Domna (193–217 CE).More sober in his influence was Alexander of Aph-rodisias (Geyre) a Severan commentator on Aris-totle. Philosophers are attested even in Ancyra (An-kara), which sent students to study with Libaniusat Syrian Antioch. As Christianity took hold, theo-logical controversy rivalled philosophical disputa-tion.

The most familiar form of Anatolian literary en-deavour is oratory. Two styles were at loggerheads.The florid Asiatic, of which Hegesias of Magnesia(Manisa) was a practitioner, provoked an Attic reac-tion. Related to philosophy and aspiring to its sta-tus was sophistry, a performing art that flourishedfrom the 1st century CE to the 3rd and was dubbedthe “Second Sophistic.” Dio of Prusa (Bursa), called“Chrysostom” (Golden-mouthed), was a leadingpractitioner in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries.He instructed young men in eloquence and citiesin prudence, and like a near contemporary, AeliusAristides of Hadrianoutherae (Balıkısar), gained theear of high-placed Romans. The art survived inlater 4th-century Paphlagonia: Themistius foundeda school of oratory at Constantinople and also as-pired to guide imperial rulers.

In material culture Anatolia was also distin-guished, from the prehistoric palaces onwards. Thetemples at Ephesus and Sardis were renowned, butCaria possessed one of the wonders of the world,the pyramidal Mausoleum of a satrap of Caria(377–353 BCE). The Attalids gave Pergamum itshilltop complex, including the Great Altar of Zeusand the Temple of Athena; in Commagene the co-lossal eclectic images that Antiochus I (ca. 69–38BCE) set up on Nemrud Dag� still impress. Rivalrybetween poleis was a spur. Modifying under alienrule the ambitions of independent states, theyturned to constructing civic buildings. So the Ro-man period too had achievements: the Ionic templeof Zeus at Aezani (Çavdarhisar), the 2nd-centuryPergamene basilica complex, the Kızıl Avlu (RedCourtyard), and the Library of Ephesus (dedicated110 CE). Artists from Anatolia helped decorate theMausoleum of Hadrian (117–38 CE). The spread of


1033 Asia Minor

buildings for public use – aqueducts, theatres –marks the age. Greek culture did not prevent addic-tion to Roman bath-houses. Under Christianitytemples were destroyed or converted; for new struc-tures basilicas began to be favoured.

By the end of the 2nd century CE, cities werewell equipped with buildings; benefactors foundedgames and festivals, attracting visitors and so in-come. Emperors encouraged such provisions: Au-gustus had given the quinquennial Romaia Sebastaof Pergamum exemption from customs during thegames. Proliferation under the Severi (193–235 CE)and under Valerian and Gallienus (253–68 CE)links them with troop movements and the presenceof the emperor. They were celebrated on local coin-ages and played a part in inter-city rivalries, as be-tween Side (Eski Antalya) and Perge in Pamphylia.Festivals included poetry and music. A tuning pegfor stringed instruments has been found, and twoditties inscribed in a Carian temple, but more strik-ingly there was a “Phrygian” αEλ&ς (reed-pipe)with the left-hand pipe longer than the right, andit was a Phrygian, Olympus, who was said to havebrought aulos–playing to Greece. Four of the modes(8ρμ�ν�αι) of Greek music were named after regionsof Anatolia: Lydian, Aeolian, Ionian, and Phrygian,the last considered to instil moderation.

Lydia was reputedly the first state to mint gold-silver coinage. It became a mark of independencefor a π&λις to have its own coinage, sometimes paidfor by individuals (εEεργ�ται), who won esteemwithin their community and esteem for it in thewider world, even with the Emperor. Local coina-ges informatively depicted local deities and build-ings on their reverses and are important sources ofinformation, although not necessarily of high artis-tic merit.

The art of Anatolia was intimately connectedwith religion. The temples of the Hittites containedcult statues. They also represented deities on rockfaces, notably at Yazılıkaya near Hattusa, where thepantheon is shown confronting the king, and atAlaca Hüyük (the king worships the weather god).There are scenes of hunting and a procession ofmusicians and jugglers. The Hittites were alsoskilled with stamp- and cylinder-seals. Later pow-ers that could afford it spent money on ornamenta-tion. The “dying Gaul” is the most famous of thePergamene sculptures. In Lycia imposing builtmonuments housed the bodies of the aristocracy.At Aezani 2nd-century designs owed much to theaccomplished school responsible for the decorationof the temple. Anatolia is rich in marble, notablythe polychrome (pavonazetto) from Docimium onthe Upper Tembris. The quarries came under impe-rial control, but the opportunities that the materi-als provided encouraged the development of localartists. Funerary monuments are rich and diverse.In Phrygia and beyond tombstones presented the


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form of a door, often highly ornamented withbirds, animals, and allusions to the vines of the re-gion, and sometimes portrayed the inhabitant(s). Itmight present a partial inventory of their posses-sions: besides the writing implements, ploughs,pruning hooks, (for women) mirrors, combs, card-ing combs, spindles, distaffs, baskets. At the end ofthe 2nd century at Aezani doorstones gave way tosarcophagi; Pamphylian sarcophagi were exportedto other parts of the Mediterranean. With the tri-umph of Christianity pagan mythology began to bereplaced in art by biblical scenes; increasing num-bers of verse inscriptions appearing in the 3rd and4th centuries reveal continued cultural pretensions.

A flowering of culture in Anatolia was pro-duced between 330 and 1453, when Constantino-ple fell to the Ottomans, although the capital itselfpossessed much of the greatest work. The end ofJustinian’s reign in 565 began a period of invasionsand soon the rise of Islam; setbacks encouraged thedevelopment of devotion to icons, interrupted forperiods in the 8th century when images of Christ,Mary, and the Saints were banned, destroyed orwhitewashed. The ban was maintained intermit-tently from 730–843 CE, but icons became the hall-mark of Orthodoxy. Byzantine architecture, sculp-ture, and decorative arts, notably mosaic, spread farbeyond Anatolia, into Italy, the Balkans, and Rus-sia. From the reign of Heraclius (610–41 CE) Greekreplaced Latin even for law and administration. By-zantine culture preserved Greek and much of an-cient Greek literature. The reign of Constantine VIIPorphyrogenitos (913–59 CE) was remarkable forits art, encyclopaedic books, and the recopying ofthe Classics. The Turkish conquest brought a dif-ferent language and religion, new architecture andart forms, notably from the Selçuks. At Konya (Ico-nium) diverse monuments survive: the MevlanaCelaleddin Rumi Mausoleum, Iplikci Camii(Mosque), and Ince Manareli Medresse (School).

Bibliography: ■ A. Kammenhuber, “Hethetisch, Paläisch,Luwisch, Hieroglyphischenluwisch und Hattisch,“ in HO1–2.2 (Leiden 1969) 119–357. ■ S. Swain, Hellenism andEmpire: Language, Classicism, and Power in the Greek World AD50–250 (Oxford 1996). ■ L. Zgusta, Kleinasiatische Personna-men (Monografie Orientálnilho ústavu CSAV 19; Prague21972). ■ L. Zgusta, Kleinasiatische Ortsnamen (Beitäge zurNamenforschungs NF 21; Heidelberg 1984). ■ M. Wael-kens, Die kleinasiatischen Türsteine: Typologische und epigra-phische Untersuchungen der kleinasiatischen Grabreliefs mitScheintür (Mainz 1986).

Barbara Levick

7. Asia Minor and the BibleAsia Minor is the name given to the peninsulabounded by the Mediterranean, the Aegean Sea,and the Black Sea. Early Christianity quickly be-came established in this region. Initially, the apos-tle Paul traveled extensively and founded Christiancommunities in a range of cities in Asia Minor. A


1035 Asia Minor

number of other early Christian leaders also hadcontact with Christian communities in Asia Minor.Some of the documents which these leaders wroteto Christian communities in the area have becomepart of the New Testament. In this way, Asia Minorexerted a considerable impact on the Bible, andstudy of the history, archaeology and culture ofAsia Minor has brought much insight to interpret-ers of the New Testament.

Jewish pilgrims from Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,Phrygia and Pamphylia were the first people fromAsia Minor to hear the Gospel when they heard Pe-ter preach on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2 : 9–11). Some of these pilgrims could well have estab-lished the first Christian communities in Asia Mi-nor; they remind us of the gaps in our knowledgewith regard to the origins of these communities.

The expansion of Christian witness is one of thechief themes of the Acts of the Apostles and Chris-tian mission in a range of cities in Asia Minor isdescribed: Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13 : 13–52;14 : 21–23), Iconium (Acts 14 : 1–5, 21), Lystra (Acts14 : 6–21; 16 : 1–5), Derbe (Acts 14 : 6–7, 20; 16 : 1),Perga (Acts 14 : 25) and Ephesus (Acts 18 : 19–20 : 1;20 : 17–38).

Debate continues as to whether Paul wrote “Ga-latians” to churches in the territory of Galatia,which would be central Anatolia around Ankara(the “North Galatian” theory) or to the province ofGalatia (the “South Galatian” theory). If it is to thelatter, then it would include the churches men-tioned in Acts 13–14: Derbe, Lystra, Iconium andPisidian Antioch. 1 Corinthians 16 : 8 indicates thatPaul wrote this epistle from Ephesus.

The Epistle to the Colossians was written to Co-lossae in the Lycus Valley, although Pauline author-ship is disputed. This epistle also mentions Chris-tian communities in Laodicea and Hierapolis (Col2 : 1; 4 : 13) and a letter written to the church of theLaodiceans (Col 4 : 16). Similarly Philemon is writ-ten to a group in Colossae (see Col 4 : 9; 12–17;Phlm 2 : 23–24). It is not known when these com-munities were established, but it is probable thatPauline co-workers traveled to the Lycus valleywhile Paul was in Ephesus (see Acts 19 : 10; Col4 : 12).

Paul wrote three epistles while in prison (Colos-sians, Philippians and Philemon). While it is pos-sible that he wrote these epistles from an Ephesianimprisonment, this is a minority view, and manywould argue that Rome is the more likely locationfor his imprisonment, while Caesarea is also a pos-sibility.

With regard to the epistle now called “To theEphesians,” whose Pauline authorship is also dis-puted, there is general agreement that the phrase�ν �Ε��σω@ (“in Ephesus”), found in some manu-scripts at Eph 1 : 1, was not part of the original text.However, it seems most likely that the epistle was


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sent to a variety of readers, probably chiefly in AsiaMinor, who regarded Paul as a great apostle.

1–2 Timothy are probably authored by a disci-ple of Paul’s, and are probably to be connected withEphesus (see 1 Tim 1 : 3–4; 2 Tim 1 : 18; 4 : 12) sincea number of the people mentioned in the Pastoralletters have a documented connection with the city(Timothy, Titus, Prisca, Aquila, Tychicus, Erastusand Trophimus).

1 Peter is addressed to Christians in Pontus, Ga-latia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Pet 1 : 1),which are all provinces within Asia Minor (al-though generally Bithynia-Pontus was spoken of asone province). Clearly the readers have been under-going some form of persecution (see 1 Pet 1 : 6–7;2 : 12, 19–25; 3 : 9–19; 4 : 1, 12–19; 5 : 9–11). 2 Petermay also have been written to readers in Asia Minorsince 2 Pet 3 : 1 suggests the letter was addressed tosome of the same churches that had received 1 Pe-ter, and 2 Pet 3 : 15–16 notes that the recipientsknew Paul’s letters. However, a destination else-where is also possible.

Early Christian writers associated John’s Gospelwith Ephesus (see e.g., Irenaeus, Haer. iii.1.1;iii.3.4; see also Eusebius, Hist. eccl. iii.31.2; v.20.6;v.24.16); although this is debated, it remains themost likely locale for the composition of the Gos-pel. 1–3 John are clearly to be associated withJohn’s Gospel, whether they were written by thesame person, or by someone closely associated withthe author of the Gospel, perhaps a member of thesame “school.” This would mean that these epistlesare also to be located in Ephesus.

An Ephesian provenance has also been sug-gested for Luke-Acts, but this is a minority view.

The book of Revelation was written to sevenchurches in Western Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna,Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia andLaodicea. We also note that Ignatius wrote lettersto churches in Western Asia Minor (Ephesus, Mag-nesia, Tralles, Philadelphia and Smyrna as well asa letter to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna) that werenot accepted into the canon. Later documents fromAsia Minor include Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippi-ans, and Melito of Sardis’ Paschal Homily.

Clearly then, Asia Minor made a very signifi-cant impact on the New Testament, through thework of a variety of authors. It is also clear that adiversity of genres (Gospel, Letters (including thecircular letters of Ephesians and Revelation) andApocalypse) were contributed to the New Testa-ment by authors connected with Asia Minor.

Bibliography: ■ C. K. Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles, 2 vols.(ICC; Edinburgh 1994, 1998). ■ C. E. Hill, The JohannineCorpus in the Early Church (Oxford 2004). ■ E. E. Lemcio,“Ephesus and the New Testament Canon,” BJRL 69 (1986)210–34. ■ S. Mitchell, Anatolia, 2 vols. (Oxford 1993).■ E. J. Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, 2 vols. (DownersGrove, Ill. 2004); trans. of id., Urchristliche Mission (Wupper-tal 2002). ■ P. R. Trebilco, “Asia,” in The Book of Acts in its


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Greco-Roman Setting (eds. D. W. J. Gill/C. Gempf; Grand Rap-ids, Mich. 1994) 291–362. ■ P. R. Trebilco, The Early Chris-tians in Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius (WUNT 166; Tübingen2004).

Paul Trebilco

Asian DiasporaI. IntroductionII. Asian Bible TranslationsIII. Exegesis and Theological ReceptionIV. New Christian Churches and Movements

I. IntroductionAsians have migrated from their countries of originto other lands throughout history. Some moved be-cause of severe difficulties in their place of birth, toescape poverty, oppression and persecution, to findnew opportunities, to have better education fortheir children, or to seek better, freer and moreprosperous lives in nations such as the UnitedStates, Canada and Australia. Like the Jews of bibli-cal times who were scattered in many countries,Asians in their own diaspora often faced prejudiceand hardship, but many have survived and eventhrived in their new homelands.

Asian immigration to the New World has oc-curred in various waves. In the mid-19th century,a number of Chinese were brought to Hawaii towork on sugar plantations. During the same pe-riod, others migrated to the mainland US becauseof opportunities provided by the gold rush, miningand railroad building; to Canada to work on rail-road building; and to Australia because of the goldrush. Following the Chinese, Japanese were at-tracted to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations, andto the United States mainland to work as farmers.Then Filipinos were brought to Hawaii to work onsugar plantations, and later many moved to UnitedStates mainland to work in service industries.Southeast Asian refugees displaced by war, such asthe Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao, moved tovarious countries in Europe, the United States, andAustralia in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ko-rean’s migration to the United States peaked inthe 1980s.

The Chinese now constitute the largest Asianethnic group in the United States (over 2.7 million,according to the US Census 2000), and the largestvisible minority group in Canada (over 1 million,according to the Canada Census 2001). Filipinos arethe second largest Asian ethnic group in the UnitedStates (over 2.3 million).

Indians and South Asians have also contributedto the Asian diaspora. Germany, along with Franceand Italy, benefited from Indians and South Asiansas they provided labor in rebuilding postwar Eu-rope.

South Asians are now the largest immigrantgroup in Britain (over 2 million, according to the


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UK Census 2001). They run grocery shops, newsa-gents and eateries, and some have made it onto therichest resident list. Punjabis of India migrated tothe United States in the early 1900s to work onfarms and in lumber mills, and to Canada to workin the sawmill industry. More recently, skilled In-dians have moved to the United States to work inthe information technology industry, including thefamous Sabeer Bhatia, founder of Hotmail. TheSouth Asian population of the United States in2000 was over 2.1 million, including Indians, Paki-stanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans. In the 1980s,thousands of Tamils from Sri Lanka moved to Ca-nada to flee the civil war. Sri Lankan Tamils alsomoved to find refuge in Germany.

As Asians settled around the world, theybrought with them their favorite foods and clothes,as well as their Asian religio-cultural heritage.Asians had long been exposed to Hinduism, Bud-dhism, Daoism, Confucianism and Islam beforethey encountered Christianity. Although Christian-ity arrived earlier in some parts of Asia, it was onlyin the 19th century – along with the pressure ofEuropean colonization – that Christianity began toimpact on Asian societies.

II. Asian Bible TranslationsThe Malay translation of Matthew’s Gospel pre-pared by Albert Cornelisz Ruyl in 1629 is the earli-est attested translation of any book of the Bible intoan Asian language produced for evangelistic pur-poses. Bible translation into major languages ofAsia, as well as into indigenous regional and locallanguages, subsequently began to flourish. Thefirst translation of the full Bible into Malay wasprepared by a Dutchman, Melchior Leijdecker, in1733. The first Indian language Bible was in Tamil,translated by a German Lutheran missionary, Bar-tholomew Ziegenbalg, in 1725. Joshua Marshmanand Johannes Lassar published the first Chinese Bi-ble translation (Serampore, India, 1822), but it wasnot as widely used as Robert Morrison’s Chinesetranslation (Malacca, Malaya, 1823).

Although Bible translations in Asian languageswere at first dominated by expatriate translators,as time went by more and more mother tonguespeakers became involved in Bible translations intotheir own respective languages. Instead of retainingBible translation as an individual enterprise, to-day’s Asian Bible translators value collaborationand team effort in their Bible translation work.

Bible translations in Chinese, Japanese, Koreanand Indonesian serve the speakers in their home-lands as well as the speakers in diaspora.

However, there are special cases where a sepa-rate translation has been prepared for diasporapopulations. An example is the Javanese diasporain Suriname, South America. Although the de-scendants of these Javanese contract workers are


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