SART (SARDIS)  

Sardis was an ancient political and cultural center of Anatolia, and the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia. The King of Lydia was Croesus and he was very rich. He is even referred to in the saying "as rich as Croesus". Much of the wealth of Sardis is thought to have come from a gold-bearing stream that ran through the city called the Pactolos River (Sartcay).

History of Sardis;
Sardis was the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia. After prosperous days of Lydian period, Sardis fell to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 546 BC. The city continued to flourish through the periods of Alexander the Great, Romans and Byzantines until it was inhabited by the Turks and then deserted. It was here at Sardis that one of the "Seven Churches" had been founded. Investigations begun in 1910 by an American expedition exposed a well-preserved temple of Artemis along with a series of Lydian tombs dating from the 7C BC and later. Since 1958 ongoing archaeological research at the site has uncovered, in addition to important Lydian-period finds, several later monuments, notably a gymnasium and synagogue of the 2-3C AD and several Byzantine shops. Sardis also became the westernmost terminus of the Royal Road from Susa.

Sardis, One of the Seven Churches of Revelation

(Revelation 3:1-6)
(1) "To the leader of the church in Sardis write this letter:
"This message is sent to you by the one who has the seven-fold Spirit of God and the seven stars.
"I know your reputation as a live and active church, but you are dead.
(2) Now wake up! Strengthen what little remains—for even what is left is at the point of death. Your deeds are far from right in the sight of God.
(3) Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly and turn to me again. Unless you do, I will come suddenly upon you, unexpected as a thief and punish you.
(4) "Yet even there is Sardis some haven’t soiled their garments with the world’s filth; they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
(5) Everyone who conquers will be clothed in white and I will not erase his name from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that he is mine.
(6) "Let all who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The Site

The ruins of Sardis can be divided into four areas: the Acropolis on Bozdag (Mount Tmolos), the Pactolos Valley where the Artemis Temple was built, the city located on both sides of the modern highway between Ankara and Izmir and finally Bintepeler (the Thousand Hills) consisting of hundreds of Lydian tombs.

The ruins to the north of the highway are what were then public toilets, gymnasium and a synagogue. To the south of the synagogue was the main road of the city which had various shops, including a hardware store and a paint shop. The road once formed the westernmost stretch of the Royal Road. These ruins are of Byzantine period and have been dated to the 4C AD.

The Synagogue is from the 3C AD and once was a part of the gymnasium and restored to be a synagogue. Sardis has the largest known ancient synagogue. Its size and grandeur are a testimony to the prosperity of the Jews in Sardis during Roman times and to their eminent position in the city. It was probably not originally planned to be a synagogue as it has a very different layout. It faces the direction of Jerusalem and the entrance is also from the same side through three gates, which open from the courtyard into the main assembly hall. After entering, one has to turn back to see the two shrines between the gates. At the opposite end of the hall there is a semicircular apse with three rows of marble seats which were thought to be for the elders. The floors were mostly covered with mosaics.

The Gymnasium is a large complex consisting of a palaestra next to the synagogue, colonnades on three sides and the main building with the recently-restored ornate facade. According to its inscription, it was dedicated by the people of Sardis to Geta and Caracalla, the sons of Septimus Severus and to their mother Julia Domna.

It was a complex of symmetrically arranged rooms.

The Artemis Temple is located in the Pactolos Valley and was one of the seven largest ancient temples with eight columns at each end and twenty along each side. It was believed that an altar dedicated to Artemis had existed there as early as the 5C BC. The temple was built in stages, the first part being constructed in 300 BC. Later further construction took place in the 2C BC. Again only part of the project was completed. The third stage started in the 2C AD. At this stage the cella was divided into two halves by an internal cross-wall, the western half dedicated to Artemis and the other half to the Empress Faustina, who was deified after her death.

The fact that many Artemis temples in the Aegean region face west is testimony to Ekrem Akurgal’s conclusion that all these temples were connected to each other by an earlier Anatolian religious cult.

Ruins of a small building at the southeastern corner of the temple belong to a 4C AD church. According to some sources it is referred to as one of the Seven Churches of the Revelation. However, this cannot be correct as congregations not the actual buildings were meant by churches at that time.

Home  |  Contact Us  |  Terms & Conditions  |  Make a Reservation