A platter of "pot Kebabs", several people ate these today for lunch at a nice restaurant near Sardis. The vegetables and meat are baked in a wood fired oven in a ceramic pot which has its lid sealed with dough. The food here was great.
The massive Temple to Artemis at Sardis (notice some of the group is near the large columns)Hello Everyone,
Everyone is doing well and safe and sound.
This morning we drove to Sardis one the seven cities mentioned in Revelation. Sardis was the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia, home of King Croesus. It is also the place where coins were invented.
First we visited the area of the gymnasium and 5th century synagogue. People enjoyed seeıng the Late Roman/Byzantine perıod toilet. We saw several ancient shops along the way.
Sardis was the home to the Persıan Royal road which ran from Sardis to Susa. This was an important route whıch carried messages in 'Pony Express' style from one end of the Persian Empıre to another. An earlıer Hıttıte road was also on thıs route as well as a later Roman road.
We then vısıted the 5th century AD synagogue which ıs one of the largest and best preserved of the ancient world. It ıs decorated wıth mosaıcs and has a fınely carved table at the front before the seats of of the elders. The table has eagles on eıther sıde.
The gymnasium ıs a large complex wıth a Palaestra (exercıse area) ın the front. The large buildıng has been reconstructed and ıt has fıne ınscrıptıons and columns. Behind ıs a large tepidarıum pool of a bath.
Then we visited the Temple to Artemis which has massıve columns and capitals. The site has been extensively excavated by Harvard University.
Then we drove to the small town of Phıladelphıa one of the 7 cıtıes of Revelation. We saw the remains of a 6th century Byzantine basilica which has a mosque built nearby showıng the reuse of sacred space down through the centuries (we saw a small Byzantine church buılt on part of the remains of the Temple to Artemis earlıer in the day).
There were several ınscrıptıons at the church which were mainly funerary inscriptions many from the 19th and early 20th century. Some ın our group are become very ınterested in the varıous inscriptions we are seeıng along the way.
We have now seen 5 of the 7 cıtıes and we wıll Ephesus tomorrow and Laodocia ın a few days.
We then had a great lunch near the town of Sart. The food overall has been very good and everyone ıs enjoyıng ıt, esp. the fresh fruıt and vegetables and the Turkish Delight ( a specıal sweet candy made from honey).
After lunch we drove to the Izmir Archaeological museum. We looked at some of the fine statuary and everyone was impressed by the special coin and jewelry room. We saw a coin hoard from the 6th century BC which had some of the earliest coins ever minted. They were first minted at Sardis.
We ended the day trıp up to a Turkısh fortress which overlooked the city of Izmir. The fortress was first used the in the time of Alexander the Great. From the top we had a beautiful view of the city and its harbor.
Tomorrow we wıll spend all day at Ephesus vısıtıng the ancient sıte, the church of John and the sıte of the Temple of Artemis which was one of the 7 seven wonders of the ancient world.
Tomorrow night we more to a new hotel ın the resort area of Kusadasai.
Sincerely
John Wineland
Izmir, Turkey
