Our special interest in our recent trip to Malta was the biblical record of Paul’s shipwreck there. (Paul was a prisoner on his way to Rome for trial). They wintered on the island (there were 276 passengers on the ship) and then from there went on to Rome (Acts 28). See our previous post here, “Saint Paul’s Bay at Malta.”
There are many other historical and archaeological sites to visit at Malta (which consists of three islands: Malta, the largest, Comino, and Gozo). At Gozo we visited the Ġgantija temples, two temples enclosed within one boundary wall. One is composed of five apses (the southern temple), the other has four. Here is the view as one approaches (note the Mediterranean Sea in the distance):
The Ġgantija temples, as well as other Maltese temples, date back to the Bronze Age (with some scholars dating the older building phase at c. 3500 BC). They are considered to be the oldest free-standing stone buildings in the world, predating the pyramids!
There is the inner left apse of the south temple. It has one of the most complex altars, consisting of three trilithons between four uprights.
We are looking forward to again touring Sicily/Italy in March 2024, the Lord willing. I was recently reviewing some photos from previous trips and wanted to share a few of these. Pompeii was covered with volcanic ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (August AD 79).
In this post we will look at the Odeum at Pompeii. Here is the view of Pompeii just inside the entrance (Mt. Vesuvius is in the background):
The city had two theaters, the large theater, which seated about 5,000 spectators, and the small theater, the odeon. The seating capacity of this small theater was about 1,000 people. A pyramid-shaped roof would have covered it. It would have been used for musical performances and mime.
An inscription at the site states that the duumviri C. Quintius Valgus and M. Porcius, two leading citizens of Pompeii, financed the construction of the theater. In 80 BC Pompeii became a Roman colony with the name of Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompei.
Acts 27:39-Acts 28:1 describes the shipwreck on which the Apostle Paul was a prisoner en route to Rome:
When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible. And they let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves. And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape. But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land. Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.
Acts 27:39-Acts 28:1
Here is the site proposed by many scholars of that area, known as St. Paul’s Bay:
Having just returned from a personal study trip to Malta, I hope to share some of the sites and artifacts we were able to photograph in upcoming posts.
We are currently enjoying a study of 2 Timothy in our local congregation. 2 Timothy was the last of Paul’s thirteen New Testament epistles. At the time of writing he was in prison in Rome, facing certain death by execution. In this post I wish to share some visuals which may be helpful to you.
This is the traditional site of Paul’s prison (also Peter):
Some biblical texts are especially illuminated by archaeological finds. For example, Acts 21:28 records the false charge against Paul, “He also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place” (v.28). The next verse shows this they “supposed” (NET “assumed). Ephesians 2:14 speaks of Jesus’ death breaking down “the middle wall of separation” between Jews and Gentiles.
Temple Inscription Fragment. Israel Museum. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
Our photo shows one of the warnings posted marking the boundary within the temple complex beyond which no Gentile could proceed. The inscription read, “NO FOREIGNER IS TO GO BEYOND THE BALUSTRADE AND THE PLAZA OF THE TEMPLE ZONE. WHOEVER IS CAUGHT DOING SO WILL HAVE HIMSELF TO BLAME FOR HIS DEATH WHICH WILL FOLLOW.” I took this photo earlier this month in the Israel Museum.
A complete tablet is housed in the Istanbul Museum, as seen in our photo here:
Complete Temple Inscription. Istanbul Archaeology Museum. Photo by Leon Mauldin.
So the Acts 21 text means that Paul was charged with taking a Gentile beyond the balustrade marked off by signs just like thsee.
The Ephesians 2 text shows that with Jesus’ death on the cross, reconciliation is made possible between men (Jew and Gentile) and God, and those reconciled unto God are reconciled to each other. The reconciled are in one body (the church, Eph. 1:22-23). That distinction epitomized by the wall of separation, and reflected by these warning signs, has been removed!
The Roman Emperor Hadrian (r. 117-138 AD) built a temple devoted to Jupiter over the site venerated as Jesus’ tomb. Later Constantine (r. 306-337 AD) ordered Hadrian’s temple to be destroyed and ordered that a church be built over Jesus’ tomb. Despite the years of destruction and rebuilding, enough remains from earlier structures to provide a plan of Constantine’s buildings.
The site of the crucifixion itself is thought to be very near the place of Jesus’ entombment. Previously Hadrian had erected a Venus statue over Golgotha, ironically marking the spot! Constantine constructed the Martyrium Church over the site of the crucifixion itself.
After the Apostle Paul left the younger evangelist Titus at Crete, he wrote, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you” (Titus 1:5). There were many cities (Greek polis) on the island of Crete, as can be seen from this map by bibleatlas.org:
In each of these cities where congregations of Christians were established, qualified men were to be appointed to serve as elders (bishops, pastors are biblically interchangeable terms). The list of qualifications was given as follows:
if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.
Titus 1:6-9
The archaeological excavations of Arthur Evans at Knossos got underway in 1900. He is credited with inventing the term “Minoan,” naming the civilization after King Minos, who ruled the island of Crete, according to legend.
A deity worshiped by the Minoans was the bull. In the Biblical Archaeology Society publication (2008), Island Jewels: Understanding Ancient Cyprus and Crete, we read:
Again, we rely on the evidence of frescoes and gems that show how the Minoans practiced an astonishing ritual that consisted of grasping a bull by its horns and leaping over its back. When we add this to the ubiquity of stylized bulls’ horns, so-called “horns of consecration,” as well as the bull’s head rhyta (drinking vessels; singular, rhyton) and vivid portraits of individual beasts, there can be no doubt that the Minoans treated the bull with deep reverence…The bull may well have represented the young male consort of the goddess of love, a pattern that recurs throughout the ancient near east from Tammuz and Ishtar to Venus and Adonis, although if this is the case we cannot even give names to the Cretan versions of the divine couple (pp. 49-59).
BAS
In keeping with this information, note our photo of the gigantic bull’s horns below:
It is thought by many that these restored horns symbolized the sacred bull, and that they once adorned the top of the palace at Knossos, Crete.
The palace at Knossos was the largest of the Minoan palaces and served as the home of the legendary king Minos. This palace complex was named and excavated in 1900 by the Englishman Arthur Evans. Arthur Evans is also responsible for naming this sculpture-like object which resembles the horns of a bull, as “”horns of consecration.”” The horns in this slide, which are located outside the South Propylaea at the Knossos complex, are a 20th century reconstruction. Different depictions of horns of consecration can be found throughout Minoan culture, such as on Minoan sarcophagi. Overall, the bull was considered to be a sacred animal in ancient Crete, playing a large role in religious rituals. Since Evans, scholars and archaeologists have debated the true function and meaning of the horns of consecration. One scholar has suggested that these horns were used as seats of honor for nobility or gods. Other scholars have thought that the horns originally served as a pot-support in a hearth. Today, there is still a lack of consensus among scholars as to the function of these horns.
2 Kings 23 records the zealous reforms of good king Josiah (r. 640-609 BC), who had been the object of prophecy some 300 years earlier (1 Kings 13). Josiah destroyed/defiled the sites and objects of idolatry both in Jerusalem as well as throughout the land of Israel. This included the desecration of the site Solomon had constructed for the worship of foreign gods (which had resulted from the influence of the pagan wives he accumulated, cf. 1 Kings 11).
The text states: “Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon” (2 Kings 23:13).
Here is the location of har hammašḥı̂t (הַר הַמַּשְׁחִית
The “Mount of Corruption” is a “derogatory name for the Mount of Olives, where Solomon had built shrines to Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molech. Josiah, king of Judah is described as defiling and destroying these temples in 2 Kgs 23:13” (The Lexham Bible Dictionary).
This site also came to be known as the “Mount of Offense” as well as the “Mount of Scandal.”
Our last couple of posts have dealt with Pharaoh Tirhakah, the Cushite (Ethiopian) king of Egypt’s 25th dynasty, and mentioned by name in 2 Kings 19:9, in correction with Judah’s good King Hezekiah, and the Assyrian King Sennacherib. We noted, “In some translations (i.e., NKJV) Tirhakah is said to be king of Ethiopia. “Ethiopia” here refers to southern Egypt, and is rendered Cush in CSB, ESV, NASB (Hebrew is כּוּשׁ, transliterated kûš).” Cush is also called the land of Nubia, with Nubia being the more modern name.
On our recent tour of Egypt (Oct. ’22) we had the opportunity to go south of Aswan (positioned “First Cataract” here on map below), where the ancient border separated Egypt from Cush.
Map of Egypt and Cush. Cush, to the south of Egypt, is biblical Ethiopia.
Earlier when our group stopped for a visit at Kitchener Island in the Nile, we saw trees and plants from many locations. It is used as a research station called the Botanical Research Institute. While there we saw a sycamore tree, which is referenced many times in the scripture. Unlike the sycamore tree of my home in Alabama, the biblical sycamore produced figs (see Amos 7:14-17). I was explaining to some of our group nearby as to the significance of the tree, when a gentleman who also was listening (apparently an employee) approached. He picked up a fig, broke it open, to let our folks better see. This was very helpful. He also very emphatically said, “I am Nubian.”
Here is a sycamore tree in Israel at Neot Kedumim, the Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel. (Located near Modi’in, midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel).
In our present post we further consider Tirhakah, the Cushite (Ethiopian) Pharaoh mentioned in 2 Kings 19:9: “Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt, was marching out to fight against him.
It is fascinating (and illuminating) when there are other historical records, inscriptions, and artifacts which coincide with biblical persons and events. The battle between the Assyrians and Egyptians mentioned in our text above was of no great or decisive consequence. The biblical text shows that Assyria’s King Sennacherib was primarily interested in conquering Judah, and Tirhakah lived to fight another day. As was seen in yesterday’s post, Sennacherib conquered many Judean cities, but Yahweh delivered Jerusalem from his hands (701 BC), and Sennacherib fled back to Nineveh.
But there would be further conflict and fighting between Egypt and Assyria. Sennacherib was succeeded by his son Esarhaddon (2 Kings 19:37). The Lexham Bible Dictionary has the following info which references additional contact/conflict with Assyria and Egypt’s Pharaoh Tirhakah:
In 677 BC, Esarhaddon invaded Egypt after settling a revolt in Ashkelon, but was held back and retreated. In 671 BC he invaded again, this time capturing and sacking Memphis. He also took several members of the royal family captive, including Tirhakah’s son, Ushankhuru. Tirhakah fled to the south while Esarhaddon established Necho I as king of Sais. After Esarhaddon left, Tirhakah attempted to destabilize Necho I. On his way back to deal with the trouble Tirhakah was causing, Esarhaddon died. His son Ashurbanipal defeated Tirhakah, causing him to flee to Thebes, where he died in 664 BC.
Nettelhorst, R. P. (2016). Tirhakah. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, L. Wentz, E. Ritzema, & W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Lexham Press.
The Victory stele of Esarhaddon commemorated his 671 BC victory over Pharaoh Tirhakah (Taharqa/Taharka). Esarhaddon holds a mace club in his left hand, with a rope that passes through the lips of the two conquered kings, thought to be Pharaoh Tirharkah (lower left) and King Baal of Sidon (lower right). Esarhaddon’s right hand is addressing the gods. The script on the bottom half is in Akkadian Cuneiform.
Posted by Leon Mauldin 
leonmauldin.blog 