The 4th Church of the Chapter of Revelation, Thyatira.
In the Roman period, Pergamum (Bergama) played an important role in the early history of Christianity. It was also numbered among the Seven Churches of Revelation.
Pergamum, One of the Seven Churches of Revelation (Revelation 2:12-17)
(12) “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Pergamos:
“This message is from him who wields the sharp and double-bladed sword. (13) I am fully aware that you live in the city where Satan’s throne is, at the center of satanic worship; and yet you have remained loyal to me and refused to deny me, even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan’s devotees.
(14) “And yet I have a few things against you. You tolerate some among you who do as Balaam did when he taught Balak how to ruin the people of Israel by involving them in sexual sin and encouraging them to go to idol feasts. (15) Yes, you have some of these very same followers of Balaam among you!
(16) “Change your mind and attitude, or else I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
(17) “Let everyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: Everyone who is victorious shall eat of the hidden manna, the secret nourishment from heaven; and I will give to each a white stone and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one else knows except the one receiving it.
The “Apsidal Hall” was probably the last building on the north belonging to the palace. Assuming this, the boundary of the complex is identifiable with the wall preserved today at the northern edge of the archaeological site. The hall was built on a notional north-south axis, with another magnificent building, the basilica, at its southern end. Remains of this building are visible in the eastern section of the archaeological site in Navarinou Square. The “Apsidal Hall” had a southern orientation and its exterior initially had the form of a basilica, i.e. a rectangular hall with an apse on its northern side.
Its interior was divided into two rooms which opened onto one another: a rectangular vestibule and a large hall with two niches on its south side. On the north, it ended in a raised apse. The hall was heated by means of hypocaust channels still preserved below its flooring. In the middle of the masonry of the apse, there was a vaulted opening (a furnace, praefurnium) where wood was burned to produce warm air. Parts of the two vertical clay pipes used to draw off smoke are preserved encased in the apse’s masonry. Both of its rooms carried rich decoration which is fragmentarily preserved. Their walls had white and colored marble revetments, and their floors were covered in marble laid in the opus sectile technique (marble tiles of different colors fitted together to form geometric patterns).
In a later building phase, probably in the 6th century, another hall was added south of the vestibule. Given that a large part of it is buried beneath the paving of A. Svolou Street, its length is not known.
This hall, which probably led to a peristyle courtyard had a mosaic floor and luxurious interior decoration. Its north wall bore mural painting to the height of the doorway. Fragments of the mural painting found in the excavation of the monument featured representations of delicate wavy tendrils and red florets. Above the wall painting, the wall was covered with a mosaic that carried a Latin inscription, fragments of which are preserved.
In 1939, east of the new hall at the site of the modern building located at 25 Dimitriou Gounari Street, the remains of a room (10.4 x 10 m) with marble decoration were found. According to E. Dyggve, this room, the existence of which is confirmed by an excavation drawing preserved in the Ephorate’s Archives, was part of the Hippodrome’s imperial viewing box (kathisma).
Modern scholarly opinion maintains that the “Apsidal Hall” was a triclinium, that is, it was used for banquets and other ceremonies connected with the presence of the emperor and his retinue in the Hippodrome.
AKHISAR (THYATIRA)
The ancient city of Thyatira is occupied by the modern town of Akhisar meaning in Turkish “white castle” named from the ruins of an old castle. Because of modern occupation, not much from its ancient archeological remains are seen.
Thyatira was an insignificant town until it was refounded by Seleucus Nicator at the beginning of the 3C BC. It was originally a military fort but lost this purpose with the Pax Romana and became a wealthy commercial city. The city had a number of trade guilds. Every skilled worker was a member of a union some of which could be listed as tailors, wool workers, tanners, potters, bakers, etc.
Commercial guilds in Thyatira were connected with the pagan religions of the city and involved participation in pagan rituals, feasts, and celebrations.
Thyatira, One of the Seven Churches of Revelation
(Revelation 2:18-29)
(18) “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Thyatira:
” This is a message from the Son of God, whose eyes penetrate like flames of fire, whose feet are like glowing brass.
(19) “I am aware of all your good deeds—your kindness to the poor, your gifts and service to them; also I know your love and faith and patience and I can see your constant improvement in all these things.
(20) “Yet I have this against you: You are permitting that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach my servants that sex sin is not a serious matter; she urges them to practice immorality and to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols. (21) I gave her time to change her mind and attitude, but she refused. (22) Pay attention now to what I am saying: I will lay her upon a sickbed of intense affliction, along with all her immoral flowers, unless they turn again to me, repenting of their sin with her; (23) and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches deep within me
n’s hearts and minds; I will give to each of you whatever you deserve. (24, 25) “As for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (“deeper truths,” as they call them—depths of Satan, really), I will ask nothing further of you; only hold tightly to what you have until I come.
(26) “To everyone who overcomes—who to the very end keeps on doing things that please me— I will give power over the nations. (27) “You will rule them with a rod of iron just as my Father gave me the authority to rule them; they will be shattered like a pot of clay that is broken into tiny pieces. (28) And I will give you the Morning Star!
“Let all who can hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Pergamum – Thyatira, Turkey (September 2019)
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