When Paul and Silas traveled on the “Second Missionary Journey” (Acts 15:36-18:23), they had to pass through the Taurus Mountain range as they made their way westward through Cilicia to Galatia. There is consensus that they would have used the mountain pass known as the Cilician Gates.
The Cilician Gates were the narrow pass through which the travelers, traders, and armies of many ages funneled through the Taurus Mountains. About 35 miles north of Tarsus, this short defile saw the passage of the Hittite forces, the hosts of Persia, the 10,000 of Xenophon, and the armies of Alexander the Great on their way to defeat Darius at Issus. (In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 2, p. 2037).
Here is a photo showing the direction from which Paul and Silas would have come.
Acts 11 narrates the spread of the Gospel to Antioch of Syria. It was here that the disciples were first called Christians (v.26). One site of interest there (Antaka, Turkey) today is “St. Peter’s Grotto Church.”
Tradition holds that early Christians met here in the cave behind the façade (the façade is a Crusader Period addition, 12-13th centuries). The Byzantine Period (AD 330ff.) likely added interior plastering, an apse, a stone altar and mosaic flooring.
The three doorways, round windows, star-shaped tracery are Crusader. The concrete platform, steps and iron gates are modern.
Pip: Leon Mauldin’s blog takes you to the places the Gospel narratives actually name — not as metaphor, but as geography you can stand in.
Mara: Today we’re following that thread to Capernaum, the town the Gospels call Jesus’ own city, and what the archaeological record there still shows.
Pip: Let’s start with the city itself.
Capernaum: Jesus’ Home Base During His Galilean Ministry
Pip: The Gospels are specific about where Jesus lived during his public ministry — and it is not the town most people probably picture first. The question is what “his own city” actually means, and why it matters that the answer is Capernaum and not Nazareth.
Mara: Matthew 9:1 sets it up directly: “Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.” And Matthew 4:13 fills in the backstory — “He left Nazareth behind and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.”
Pip: So this is not a visit. Multiple translations land on the same word: settled, made his home. Mark’s version is even more domestic — “it was heard that He was at home.” Capernaum is a residence, not a stop on a tour.
Mara: The location made it strategically significant. Aubrey Taylor, writing in the Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, describes it this way: “Capernaum, located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, was a busy town along one of the branches of the international road that connected the Jezreel Valley, Phoenicia, and Damascus.”
Pip: A crossroads town. Which means the teaching that happened there — and the miracles — reached people who were already moving through, not just locals.
Mara: Mark 1:21 records the synagogue as a specific teaching site: “And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.” The post includes photographs of that synagogue as it stands today.
Pip: And here is where the archaeology gets layered in an interesting way.
Mara: The white limestone structure visible now postdates Jesus. But it sits directly on a first-century basalt foundation — so the site is continuous even if the building above it is not. The photographs show both layers clearly.
Pip: The stones underneath are doing the work the stones on top get the credit for.
Mara: That distinction — visible monument versus original foundation — is exactly what the post is drawing attention to with those images.
Pip: Geography as evidence. The text names a place, the place still exists, and the layers underneath confirm the story.
Mara: That’s the thread worth following. More from leonmauldin.blog next time.
As the Gospel records narrate the Galilean ministry of Jesus, we read, “Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city” (Matt. 9:1, NASB). The parallel passage in Mark states, “When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home” (Mark 2:1). Clearly “His own city” during the Galilean ministry is not Nazareth, (where Jesus grew up and lived prior to His public teaching), but Capernaum.
The wording of Matthew 4:13 is: “He left Nazareth behind and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali” (CSB). The NASB renders the text, “He came and settled in Capernaum.” The NET Bible reads, “While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum by the sea” (also NRS).
In a chapter entitled, “Capernaum: a Strategic Home for the Messiah,” Aubrey Taylor states, “Capernaum, located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, was a busy town along one of the branches of the international road that connected the Jezreel Valley, Phoenicia, and Damascus” (Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, p. 88).
Much of Jesus’ teaching, and many of His miracles, were done in Capernaum. The synagogue there was the setting of his teaching as recorded in Mark 1:21: “And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching” (ESV).
The imported white limestone material you see here postdates the time of Jesus. But it is built upon the foundation of the 1st century structure, as can be seen here:
The ancient city Ancyra in central Anatolia, today is Ankara, the capital of Turkey. The Lexham Geographic Commentary has the following info:
Ancyra (modern Ankara) was the second metropolis of Phrygia after Gordium, and both the Persians and the Seleucids sought to control it. It was situated at the junction of seven key trade routes in northern Asia Minor. Anycra is the caput viae for a group of milestones found around the city that date from the reigns of Titus, Domitian, and Trajan. Around 265 BC the Galatian tribe, Tectosages, made Ancyra its capital after receiving the site from the Pontic kingdom. In the early first century BC Mithradates VI Eupator took control the city until Pompey defeated him in 65 BC. After the Romans annexed Galatia in 25 BC, Augustus made Ancyra the capital of the new province also named Galatia. He founded a colony there around 22–21 BC called Sebasteni Tectosages Ancyrani. (Wilson, M. (2019). Peter’s Christian Communities in Asia Minor (1 Peter 1:1). In B. J. Beitzel, J. Parks, & D. Mangum (Eds.), Lexham Geographic Commentary on Acts through Revelation (p. 612). Lexham Press.
As mentioned above, the Emperor Augustus made Ancyra the capital of the province of Galatia. He built an imperial cult temple there (completed by his successor Tiberius).
The New Testament letters of 1 & 2 Peter were written to Christians (likely primarily Jewish) scattered across five Roman Provinces: “To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Pet. 1:1). All of these provinces were today’s Turkey. Earlier, in Acts 2, on the day the church was established, there were residents of Cappadocia there present in Jerusalem to attend the feast of Pentecost (v. 9).
The landscape of Cappadocia is fascinating. Ancient volcanic matter covered the area. When wind and rain eroded away the softer elements, the harder material was left behind, causing some really unusual formations.
We are indebted to the Gospel of John for our record of the early ministry of Christ. Standard works on the harmony of the Gospels, such as that of A.T. Robertson, depict the events of John 1:18-4:45 as occurring prior to the Great Galilean Ministry. There was a period of overlapping with the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. The point was reached that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (John 4:1-2). It was at this point that Jesus left Judea and departed again to Galilee (v.3).
Jews traveling from Judea to Galilee often skirted around Samaria, due to the mutual racial prejudice. But instead of avoiding Samaria, Jesus “needed to go through Samaria” (v.4). This is when John narrates the beautiful account of Jesus (at Jacob’s well) leading a Samaritan woman, step by step, to a point of faith in Him as the Messiah. This had a rippling effect, as many others there (near Sychar) believed on Him (John 4:5-42).
It was from there that Jesus then made His way to Galilee (vv. 43-45).
Here below is a view that would be familiar to travelers in the Galilee. Note the Sea of Galilee at center.
An international highway, the Via Maris passed through this area. Here is a closer view of the Arbel cliffs:
This morning while studying Revelation 8 for our Bible study tonight, I was giving attention to verses 10-11: “The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.” Every passage has a context. Previously John saw the protection and care of those who have “the seal of the living God” (Rev. 7). Their prayers ascend “before God” and are heard (8:1-5). Here in our text (ch. 8) the imagery of trumpets sounding warning of judgments from God against those (rebellious) who “dwell on the earth” (8:13).
What does this imagery of wormwood portray? The text itself is helpful: “because they were made bitter” (8:11). Here is punishment/divine judgment which would be very bitter to those experiencing it. Further, the book will show that these warnings were the prelude of more (and worse) to come.
“Several plants in Palestine within the genus Artemisia, all of which are bitter in taste. Several species and varieties grow in Palestine, but those mentioned in the Bible are most likely Artemisia herba alba Asso, A. Judaica L., or A. absinthium” (ISBE, Vol. 4, p. 1117).
“Several species of artemisia grow in Palestine. The common wormwood is Artemisia Absinthium. The name always implies wormwood or something more bitter than gall. The genus artemisia belongs to the natural order Compositæ.” (Balfour, J. H. The Plants of the Bible, p. 246).
Consider the biblical references to wormwood, where its bitter, unpleasant character is alluded to.
Deut. 29:18: Moses warned Israel about a root bearing bitterness (see NIV: “bitter poison”): “Deuteronomy 29:18 “so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.
The young man is warned against the adulterous woman in Prov. 5:4: “But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.”
Jeremiah warned God’s apostate people in Jerusalem, “therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink” (Jer. 9:15).
Later, Jeremiah wrote about his personal struggle as he witnessed the wrath of God upon Jerusalem by Babylon: “He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood” (Lam. 3:15). And he implores God, “Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness” (Lam. 3:19).
The prophet Amos rebuked the northern kingdom of Israel, describing them with the words, “For those who turn justice into wormwood And cast righteousness down to the earth” (Amos 5:7). And again, “Do horses run on rocks? Or does one plow them with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood” (Amos 6:12).
The book of Revelation is filled with Old Testament allusions. These verses help provide the background for the imagery of wormwood in Revelation 8:11.
Foundational to the Gospel message is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Luke writes:
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? “He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, “saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” And they remembered His words. (Luke 24:1-8).
This tomb was discovered during road construction. It so well illustrates the biblical texts that narrate the burial of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea had a new tomb (one which had not been previously used, John 19:38-42). Assisted by Nicodemus, Joseph wrapped Jesus’ body in a clean linen cloth, “and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed” (Mt. 27:59-60). The tomb in our photo was hewn out of the rock, and you can see the large stone positioned to the left of the opening.
On Sunday, the 1st day of the week when Jesus was raised from the dead, the text says this about Peter and “the other disciple:”
So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. (John 20:4-8).
Note the record says the disciple stooped down to look in. The tomb in our photo shows how this would of necessity be true.
Rolling Stone Tomb. Stooping to Look Inside. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
Note that we are not suggesting that this is the tomb in which Jesus was buried; it does however illustrate the type of tomb that would have been used.
For New Testament Christians, each first day of the week is significant. Christians assemble in the name of Jesus Christ to partake of His memorial feast, the Lord’s Supper. That Supper points back to His death, His body and His blood. But we serve a risen Savior! We proclaim His death till He comes (1 Cor. 11:26).
Click herefor an excellent post detailing “The Week of the Death and Resurrection,” by Ferrell Jenkins.
In doing some study in the prophet Malachi this morning I came across one of the many biblical references to Esau (from whom descended the Edomites). Malachi 1:2-3 illustrates the necessity of contextual biblical study: “Jacob I have loved, But Esau I have hated.” In short, this had nothing to do with the salvation of individual Edomites, or God’s personal like or dislike of Jacob or Esau, but rather underscores God’s sovereignty in choosing to provide salvation in that descendant of Jacob, Jesus the Christ.
The territory occupied by Edom included Petra. By Roman Times the Edomites had been displaced by a people known as the Nabateans. Petra was the capital of the Roman Province of Arabia.
One of the many interesting archaeological finds at Petra is the High Place, including the altar for sacrifice. The photo here was taken in 2019 by tour member David Deason.
High Place at Petra. Altar at center (and slight right). Photo by David Deason.
The High Place at Petra is one of the best preserved of all such sacred installations in the ancient Near East. Its location is imposing, approximately 3,400 feet above sea level and 625 feet above the temenos. The altar platform was approached by three steps. It is situated about 3 feet above the level of an adjoining courtyard area and is equipped with drains and basins for sacrifices and ablutions.
The Biblical World in Pictures; BAS Biblical World in Pictures. (2003). Biblical Archaeology Society.
Posted by Leon Mauldin 
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