Category:Smyrna (subject)
Smyrna (modern Izmis, Turkey) was a city in Asia Minor.
Overview
Smyrna is one of the Seven Churches mentioned in the Revelation of John.
Acts 19:10 may suggest that the church there was founded during Paul's Third Missionary Journey.
Located 35 miles north of Ephesus, Smyrna was built as a Hellenistic town in the 3rd cent. BCE. It became an important Roman commercial center with a port on the Aegean Sea and a population of around 100,000.
Little remains of the ancient city. The site has never been abandoned and the port city of Izmir houses the third largest population in Turkey today. The first excavations were carried out by German and Turkish archaeologists in 1932-41. Only some remains of the agora and the theater, and sections of the Roman aqueduct are visible.
Smyrna in ancient sources
Revelation of John
Rev 1:10-11 -- 10 I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."
Rev 2:8-11 -- 8 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life: 9 "I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death.
Smyrna in scholarship
Smyrna in literature and the arts
References
External links
Pictures form the Web
- Gymnasium-Bathhouse (2nd cent. CE):
- Synagogue (3rd cent. CE):
This category currently contains no pages or media.