Sardis

The old gym Sardes.

Location Sardes in Anatolia.

Sardes (Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 Sfard; Greek αἱ Σάρδεις, Ionic Σάρδιες, contracted form Σάρδῑς Sardis; Persian Sparda; Hebrew: ספרד‎ Sfarad) was an ancient city of Asia Minor founded by the Lydian king Gyges (680-644 BC) as the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia. It corresponds to present-day Sart, in the Turkish province of Manisa, on the northern slope of Mount Tmolo (present-day Boz Dag), in the middle valley of the Pactolo River (present-day Gediz), which flows into the Aegean Sea.

History

A temple of Aphrodite in Sardes.

The synagogue in Sardes.

The synagogue in Sardes.

Map of the revolts of the Jordanian cities prior to the medical wars, of which Sardes was one of the highlights.

Although during the 8th century B.C. C. Lydia remained eclipsed by neighboring Phrygia, with the coming to power of the Mermnada Dynasty (c. 687 BC) a period of expansion began, which is reflected in the growth of its capital, Sardis. Around 644 B.C. C., Cimmerian invaders sacked the lower city of Sardis. Despite this, it continued to function as the capital of Lydia, until the Persian conquest by Cyrus the Great, around 546 BC. C. The Persians gave the name of Sardis to the entire satrapy (Sparda in Persian). In Sardes began the royal road that led to the Persian capital of Susa.

It was burned by the Ionians, supported by the Athenians in 499 BC. C., during the Ionian revolt.

After the Macedonian conquest in the 4th century B.C. C., became part of the Seleucid kingdom. After the Battle of Magnesia, which pitted the Seleucid forces of Antiochus III against the army of Rome, the region became part of the Hellenistic kingdom of Pergamum, an ally of Rome. When King Attalus III of Pergamum died, he left his kingdom as an inheritance to the Roman Republic (133 BC), becoming the province of Asia in 129 BC. c.

Sardes was destroyed by an earthquake in AD 17, during the reign of Tiberius, although it was rebuilt. It later became the head of a conventus during the Roman Empire, and the capital of the province of Lydia during the last stage of the Empire and during the evolution of the Byzantine Empire.

It began to decline after the looting of the Sassanid King Chosroes II (617).

It was losing importance as it was far from the most important Byzantine communication routes. The Seljuk Turks invaded the region at the end of the 11th century, although the Byzantines were able to recapture it. The Seljuks devastated the area again, taking the citadel of Sardis for treason in 1306. Finally, the city would be definitively destroyed with the invasion of Tamerlane of Asia Minor in 1402.

Archaeological remains

Sardis is currently one of the most rewarding archaeological sites in Turkey, framed in a well-preserved environment, and is a great tourist spot.

The ruins of the city are bisected by a road. The northern area is occupied by a monumental path flanked by shops, a gymnasium and a synagogue, dating from the time of the Jewish settlements in Sardis. Following the path are the ruins of a Hellenic theater and a stadium.

Among the temples, that of Artemis stands out, in the vicinity of which the altar is preserved, a marble tower from the time of Antiochus III the Great (end of the 3rd century BC) and Byzantine ruins.

At some distance there is a necropolis, in which two large ancient burial mounds stand out.

Subsequent references

Temple of Artemis in Sardes.

Sardis and early Christianity

Sardis was one of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor in the book of Revelation. According to the Scriptures, the church in Sardis was dead, although it retains the name of when it was alive. According to Protestants and dispensationalists, this is applied to the spiritual state of the members of these Christian communities, since being dead biblically means "being or living in apostasy." Sardis as it is known means "the escaped ones" or "survivors", which gives an idea of what the meaning of Johns message is for that church.

The ruins of Sardis

The memory of the ancient name was never lost: its ruins were identified by Cyriacus of Ancona in 1426. When it was described during the first half of the 17th century by the French explorer and traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, they were still standing, crowned by the architrave, six columns of the great temple of Athena.