7-SARDIS (" Sart - Revelation 3:1-6 ")

The ruins of Sardis can be divided into four areas: the Acropolis on Bozdağ (Mount Tomolos), 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. Sardis was the capital of famous kingdom of Lydia. Lydians were powerful and creative leaders in the fields of commerce and economics. Sardis was ruled by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. and then by the Roman Empire in the 2nd century B.C. 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 temple of Artemis next to the Pactolus river (Sart çayı) dates from the 4th century B.C. There was a temple dedicated to goddess Kybele before that during the time of King Croesus. This one was destroyed by Athenians during the revolt of Ionians against the Persian rule. Then Alexander the Great ordered a new one, the temple of Artemis, on the same site. In fact, only the temple of Kybele was destroyed not the spirit of this important Anatolian goddess. She continued to live in the form of Artemis!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. The king Croesus was the wealthiest man of his time and Sardis became the richest city of antiquity. The famous wise man of Athens, also the reformer, Solon, came to see this great city and its famous king. It is thought that the famous story teller Aesop was a Phrygian who lived in Sardis during the reign of king Croesus. The empire fell to the hands of Persians in 546 B.C. Beside the temple a small Byzantine church and recently unearthed synagogue stood.

On his letter of revelation to the Christians of Sardis, St.John wrote :

(3:1) To the angel of the church in Sardis write :This is the message from the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know what you are doing; I know that you have the reputation of being alive, even though you are dead!

(3:2) So wake up, and strengthen what you still have before it dies completely. For I find that what you have done is not yet perfect in the sight of my God.

(3:3) Remember, then, what you were taught and what you heard; obey it and turn from your sins. If you do not wake up, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not even know the time when I will come.

(3:4) But a few of you there in Sardis have kept your cloths clean. You will walk with me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so.

(3:5) Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white, and I will not remove their names from the book of the living. In the presence of my Father and of his angels I will declare openly that they belong to me.

(3:6) If you have ears, then, listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches!