Smyrna
(Myrrh)
Background
Smyrna was a city in western Asia
Minor, which was located on the gulf of the Aegean Sea, whose superb natural
harbor made the city an important commercial center. After being destroyed by
the Lydians in 600 B.C. Smyrna lay in ruins for more than three centuries. It
was rebuilt by two of Alexander the Great’s successors in 290 B.C. It was that
rebuilt city that was the Smyrna of John’s day. The
commercial center of Asia Minor, it was on the direct trade route from India
and Persia to Rome.
In 195 B.C. a pagan temple was built
for Roman worship. In 23 B.C. Smyrna was given the honor of building a temple
to the Emperor Tiberius because of its years of faithfulness to Rome. The city
became a center for the cult of emperor worship – a fanatical “religion” that
later, under such emperors as Nero (A.D. 54-68) and Domitian (A.D. 81-96)
brought on severe persecution for the early church.
Smyrna’s most famous street, the
“Street of Gold,” curved around the slopes of the Pagos. At one end was the
temple of Cybele, and at the other the temple of Zeus. In between were the
temples of Apollo, Asklepios, and Aphrodite.
Smyrna was also a noted center of
science and medicine.
©2012 Kenute
P. Curry. All rights reserved.
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