The Mountains of Ararat

August 8, 2012

One of my all-time favorite photo opportunities occurred in June 2007, in eastern Turkey, in the mountains of Ararat. It was in this region that Noah’s ark came to rest as the flood waters receded: “In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4).

After Noah and his family exited the ark, God said:

“I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14 “It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth” (Genesis 9:11-16).

Mt. Ararat and Rainbow. The ark came to rest in this area. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Ararat is not just one peak, but a range of mountains. The highest is called Mt. Ararat, depicted on far left in photo. Note rainbow to the right.

Other biblical texts:

1. In the aftermath of the death of the Assyrian king Sennacherib: “It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place” (2 Kings 19:37).

2. In connection with Jeremiah’s prophecy of the destruction of Babylon he mentions the kingdom of Ararat: “Lift up a signal in the land, Blow a trumpet among the nations! Consecrate the nations against her, Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz; Appoint a marshal against her, Bring up the horses like bristly locusts” (Jer. 51:27).

Ararat is commonly designated as Urartu in Assyrian texts.

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

Antioch, on the Orontes River

August 7, 2012

In our post yesterday we mentioned that Antioch of Syria was located on the Orontes River.

Orontes River. Biblical Antioch was situated here. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary has this information:

Principal river of Syria which originates east of the Lebanon ridge (modern Asi [Turkish], Nahr el-’Asi [Arabic]), rises near Heliopolis (Bealbek) in the Beka Valley of Lebanon, and flows north some 250 miles through Syria and Turkey before turning southwest into the Mediterranean south of Antioch-on-the-Orontes (Antakya) to reach the coast just south of ancient Seleucia, the seaport of Antioch. This river is never actually mentioned in the Bible but was famous for its association with Antioch, which owed to the river the fertility of its district. Cities of the Orontes Valley include Antioch (Acts 11:19; 13:1), Hamath (2 Sam. 8:9; 2 Kings 17:24; 2 Chron. 8:4; Isa. 11:11), Qarqar, where King Ahab of Israel joined a coalition of Syrian kings warring against Shalmaneser III, and Riblah (2 Kings 23:33; 25:6, 21). Nahr el-’Asi (rebellious river) is the modern name of the Orontes (p.1231).

Bruce Metzer wrote:

Antioch was founded about 300 B.C. by Seleucus I. Nicator who named it either after his father or his son, both of whom bore the name Antiochus. It was situated about three hundred miles north of Jerusalem where the chain of Lebanon, running northward, and the chain of Taurus, running southward, are brought to an abrupt meeting. Here the Orontes breaks through the mountains, and Antioch was placed at a bend of the river, about twenty miles from the Mediterranean on the west. In the immediate neighborhood was Daphne, the celebrated sanctuary of Apollo (see II Maccabees 4:33), whence the city was sometimes called “Antioch-by-Daphne” to distinguish it from the fifteen other Asiatic cities built by Seleucus and named Antioch. Advantageously located for trade, being easily approached by caravans from the East and through its seaport, Seleucia, having maritime communications with the West, it grew under successive Seleucid kings until it became a city of great extent and of remarkable beauty. People would refer to it as “Antioch the Great,” “the Queen of the East,” and “the Beautiful.” One feature which seems to have been characteristic of the great Syrian cities—a vast street with colonnades, intersecting the whole from end to end—was added by Antiochus Epiphanes. Among ancient cities Antioch was distinctive in being the only one known to us to possess a regular system of street lighting. . . (Biblical Archaeologist: Volume 11:4).

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

The Disciples Were Called Christians First at Antioch

August 6, 2012

Luke narrates the preaching of the good news of salvation in the city of Antioch:

But some of them [disciples who scattered by the persecution in Jerusalem] were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord. 22 Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. 23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. 24 For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. 26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. (Acts 11:20-27).

This is a very instructive passage, helpful in defining who is a Christian. A Christian is:

1. one who has heard Jesus preached (v.20).

2. one who believes (v.21).

3. one who turns to the Lord (v.21). This would include repentance from sins (Acts 2:38), confession of faith (Rom. 10:9,10), and baptism (Acts 22:16).

4. one who has been added to the Lord (v.24).

5. one who continues with the Lord (v.23).

Antioch (modern Antakya) was located in Syria in biblical days, but today is within the territory of Turkey.  Antioch is twelve miles east of the Mediterranean, on the southern bank of the Orontes river and near the slopes of Mt. Silpius.

Antioch of Syria. BibleAtlas.com.

Antioch turned out to be the beginning point for Paul’s preaching journeys (Acts 13:1ff).

Antioch of Syria. Modern Antakya, Turkey. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary has this info re: Antioch:

Built by Seleucus I Nicator (300 B.C.) as the capital of the Seleucid kingdom, it became the third most important city of the Roman Empire (after Rome and Alexandria). The layout of the city was a marvel. It was traversed from west to east by a colonnade of four rows of marble pillars between which lay three roads, a central road for the traffic of heavy vehicles and two outer ones for pedestrians, horses, and luxury carriages. A second colonnade began in the north at an island in the Orontes river and ran southward, and the city was thus divided into four districts by a gigantic, glittering, white-marble cross. North of the winding Orontes was the royal Seleucid palace, and on the northeast side of the city was the wall of Tiberius. The enchanting nature paradise of Daphne, where worshippers frequented the temple of Apollo, was to the south; its springs supplied ample water to the city. Archaeological excavations have uncovered mosaic floors of villas, an altar to unknown deities, a temple of Demeter, and numerous sculptures and images of deities (pp.60–61).

 

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

“We Remember the Fish” (in good ole Egypt)

August 5, 2012

Memory is an amazing thing. I view it as a gift from God. One of the saddest events imaginable is for one to lose his memory, his ability to remember and recall life’s experiences, what one has learned, etc.

The ability to learn God’s word and apply it to life’s circumstances is a blessing. For that reason I encourage especially young people to spend much time in memorization of God’s word.

If one does not incline his heart Godward, memory can be amazingly quirky. When the nation of Israel was yet in Egypt, all they could think about was their harsh treatment meted out by cruel taskmasters. In their affliction they cried out to God.

God brought them out of Egypt after a mighty display of His power with the 10 plagues, referenced by God Himself as judgments against the gods of Egypt (Exodus 6:6; 12:12). They crossed the Red Sea, and made their way to Sinai, where they encamped for 11 months. During this time they received the Ten Commandments (along with its other laws), built the tabernacle, and consecrated the Aaronic priesthood (Ex. 19-Num. 10).

God was mindful of His covenant with Abraham; at that point it was time to grant Israel possession of the promised land of Canaan. At His command and direction Israel began to march (Num. 10:11ff). But immediately they lost sight of God’s lofty purpose with them and began to murmur (Num. 11:1).

One such instance of murmuring is related:

Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? 5 “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 “but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”

Talk about selective memory! Talk about rewriting history! The New Testament identified the problem as a lack of faith (Heb. 3-4). Stephen showed that the heart of the problem was a problem of the heart: “in their hearts they turned back to Egypt” (Acts 7:39).

Fish in Alexandria, Egypt. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

I photographed these fresh fish at a local restaurant in Alexandria. My daughter and I dined there.

Israel remembered the fish, but forgot God’s purpose for them. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Click images for larger view.

 

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

Court of Amenhotep III at Thebes

July 6, 2012

In the oracle against Egypt, God said, “I will make Pathros desolate, Set a fire in Zoan and execute judgments on Thebes” (Ezekiel 30:14). “The phenomenal city [Thebes]was the center of Upper Egypt, and the seat of government during most of the time of Egyptian world power” (Bible and Spade, Vol. 7, p. 33).

This shot of the Luxor temple at Thebes shows the court of Amenhotep III (reigned 1390-1352 BC), with its double rows of massive columns.

Court of Amenhotep III, at Luxor, biblical Thebes. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

An article in Biblical Archaeological Review entitled “Egyptian Finds Uncovered in Jaffa,” by Judith Sudilovsky contained an interesting reference to Amenhotep III. The mention of Jaffa (biblical Joppa) in this excavation report illustrates the fact that Egyptian rule/influence often included the land of Canaan (and far beyond):

. . . The team also found a 3.5-inch Egyptian scarab, dating to the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1390–1352 B.C.). The eight lines, engraved in hieroglyphs, enumerate the pharaoh’s achievements, proclaiming his prowess as a hunter and declaring that he had killed 102 lions during the first ten years of his reign. According to the team’s Egyptologist, Deborah Sweeney, such seals were typically sent to the edges of the Egyptian kingdom to praise and glorify the king (BAR 26:02 March/April 2000).

Click image for larger view.

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

Daniel’s Babylon

July 5, 2012

This lion in glazed brick from the Processional Way, Babylon, dates back to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon 605-562 BC. This lion (among other animals) is now in the Archaeology museum in Istanbul. Perhaps this can help us visualize the challenge to Daniel’s faith as he was cast into a den of lions by the Medo-Persian king, Darius.

Lion from Processional Way, Babylon. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

A beautiful painting of ancient Babylon, built by Nebuchadnezzar, is displayed in the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago.

Artist conception of ancient Babylon. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

 

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

Stele of Nabonidus

June 29, 2012

The king reigning at the time of Daniel 5 is Belshazzar. Actually he had a co-regency with his father, Nabonidus (556–539 B.C.). In the context of Daniel 5, the 70 years of captivity which began in 605 B.C. are almost complete. Daniel, who was a youth as the book begins in ch. 1, now would have been an old man. When Belshazzar made a drinking feast for a thousand of his nobles, they were drinking wine out of the gold vessels taken from the Solomonic temple in Jerusalem (at the 586 B.C. destruction by Nebuchadnezzar). This is when the fingers of a man’s hand emerged, writing on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The terrorized king, at the suggestion of the queen, called for Daniel to interpret the writing on the wall. He offered Daniel clothing of purple, a chain of gold and third place in the kingdom, if Daniel would give the interpretation.

This stele of Nabonidus, was discovered in Haran. He holds the scepter, while worshipping three deities, represented by the moon, the sun, and Venus. The deities represented are Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar. Nabonidus spent much of his time outside of Babylon and was out of touch with his administrative duties.

Nabonidus Stele. Discovered at Haran. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

 

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

Colossi of Memnon

June 13, 2012

Jesuit Claude Sicard (1677-1726) was commissioned by the French regent Philippe d’Orléans to investigate and identify ancient monuments in Egypt. Sicard visited Upper Egypt four times and was the first in modern times to identify the site of Thebes as well as the colossi of Memnon and the Valley of the Kings.

The Memnon Colossi mark the site of the temple of Pharaoh Amenophis III (reigned 1391-1353 BC, Baines & Malek, p. 36). These two massive stone statues depict the Pharaoh, and are positioned in the Theban necropolis, on the west side of the Nile across from Luxor.

Colossi of Memnon. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

This statue is 55 feet tall, on a base of about 5 feet in height. See people on ground for scale. Nebuchadnezzar’s image (Daniel 3) towered 30 feet higher than this!

Colossi of Memnon. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

In his commentary on Daniel, Albert Barnes makes an interesting point regarding the great image Nebuchadnezzar made (Daniel 3) and the possible relation of that to the colossi of Memnon:

It is not impossible that Nebuchadnezzar was led, as the editor of Calmet’s Dictionary has remarked (Taylor, vol. iii. p. 194), to the construction of this image by what he had seen in Egypt. He had conquered and ravaged Egypt but a few years before this, and had doubtless been struck with the wonders of art which he had seen there. Colossal statues in honour of the gods abounded, and nothing would be more natural than that Nebuchadnezzar should wish to make his capital rival everything which he had seen in Thebes. Nor is it improbable that, while he sought to make his image more magnificent and costly than even those in Egypt were, the views of sculpture would be about the same, and the figure of the statue might be borrowed from what had been seen in Egypt.

It is not impossible that Nebuchadnezzar was led, as the editor of Calmet’s Dictionary has remarked (Taylor, vol. iii. p. 194), to the construction of this image by what he had seen in Egypt. He had conquered and ravaged Egypt but a few years before this, and had doubtless been struck with the wonders of art which he had seen there. Colossal statues in honour of the gods abounded, and nothing would be more natural than that Nebuchadnezzar should wish to make his capital rival everything which he had seen in Thebes. Nor is it improbable that, while he sought to make his image more magnificent and costly than even those in Egypt were, the views of sculpture would be about the same, and the figure of the statue might be borrowed from what had been seen in Egypt. An illustration of the subject before us is furnished by the preceding engraving, from a photograph, of the two celebrated colossal figures of Amunoph III. standing in the plains of Goorneh, Thebes, one of which is known as the Vocal Memnon. (Barnes, A.,  Notes on the Old Testament: Daniel, Volume 1, p.204).

Regarding the meaning of the word Memnon,

Memnon was a hero of the Trojan War, a King of Ethiopia who led his armies from Africa into Asia Minor to help defend the beleaguered city but was ultimately slain by Achilles. The name Memnon means “Ruler of the Dawn”, and was probably applied to the colossi because of the reported cry at dawn of one of the statues. Eventually, the entire Theban Necropolis became generally referred to as the Memnonium (Wikipedia).

Click images for larger view.

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

Monastery of St. Barnabas at Salamis

May 25, 2012

BAS has this information re: the island of Cyprus:

Cyprus served as a stepping stone on the trade routes that crossed the eastern Mediterranean. Archaeological remains from as early as the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium B.C.E.) show it to have been a cultural meeting ground and “melting pot” for the successive cultures that flourished on all sides of it.

Salamis was the main port and principal city of the island in the Roman age. Located about five miles north of modern Famagusta, on its great bay, the city has yielded extensive Roman remains, including a theater, gymnasium, baths and a forum (BAS Biblical World in Pictures).

Our photo features the Monastery of St. Barnabas at Salamis.

Monastery of St. Barnabas at Salamis, Cyprus. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

We are introduced to Barnabas as a “Levite of Cyprian birth” (Acts 4:36). He, along with Paul, preached at Cyprus on the 1st Missionary Journey (Acts 13:1-5). Then when it was time for the 2nd Journey, Paul traveled with Silas, revisiting Galatia and going onward to Macedonia and Greece, and Barnabas took John Mark back to Cyprus (Acts 15:39).

The earliest buildings of the monastery  date to AD 477.

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

Attalia, Modern Antalya, Setting for Acts 14

May 23, 2012

Narrating the return portion of Paul’s 1st Missionary Journey, Luke writes, “Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia” (Acts 14:25). There is no record of preaching at Attalia, but it was there that Paul and Barnabas boarded a ship: “From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed” (v.26).

Biblical Attalia is now Antalya, and

is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. It was the world’s third most visited city by number of international arrivals in 2011, displacing New York, and had a population of 1,001,318.[1] Antalya is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country’s biggest international sea resort. (Wikipedia)

Our interest of course is in the relation of the places to the biblical text as this site provides the setting for Acts 14:25-26. At Antalya you have a view of the Lycian Mountains, which is a portion of the Taurus range.

At Biblical Attalia. View of Mediterranean Sea and Lycian Mountains. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

Click image for larger view.

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Posted by Leon Mauldin

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