Day 3 in Turkey (Aphrodisias)
Well, not nearly as much to talk about today. Today was primarily a travel day.
After breakfast we had a morning teaching session with Dr. Weima on the sermon to the church Laodicea. It's always really interesting to study the biblical passages right after you finish visiting a place. We all had many questions. I enjoyed the session very much.
Once we were finished with the session, we hit the road of Aphrodisias. This city doesn't have any biblical significance. However, it is a great archeological site and it helps give us some insight into the Roman culture--particularly the Roman imperial cult. The city of Aphrodisias was located next to a high quality marble quarry. It was also dedicated to the Greek god Aprhodite. This means that there was a very large, impressive temple built to Aphrodite mainly out of marble. It also means that there were many marble structures in the city. We were able to see a Boularion--a small theater used by government officials for meetings--that was made all out of marble. Also, since this city was located next to a marble quarry, it had one of the top sculpture schools. This means that there were many, many marble sculptures throughout the city. Many of these sculptures were very well preserved. It was pretty amazing.
Another one of the highlights from this location was the stadium. This stadium has not been excavated yet but was still very impressive. It seated 30,000 people and was about 200 yards long and about 30 yards wide. It was designed for chariot racing. A group of seminary students raced each other around the stadium. I, however, decided to conserve my energy. I guess I'm getting old :-)
At the end of our time in Aphrodisias, we spent some time in the museum. This building was filled with marble sculptures from throughout the city. Many of them were very impressive. I saw sculptures of Nero, Agrippina, Pythagoreous, Socrates, and numerous people I didn't recognize. We also saw a sculpture by the Romans commemorating their defeat of the Jews in 70AD.
From there we were on the bus for the rest of the day, heading to Kusadasi. We will be staying at a hotel in this city for the next two nights. It's a beautiful hotel located on a shores of the Mediterranean Sea. As I'm writing this I can hear the waves crashing on the shoreline. It's a great way to wrap up the day and wrap up this post. Talk to you tomorrow.