We arrived late last night in Konya, the site of ancient Iconium. It is one of the oldest cities of Anatolia. Paul and Barnabas encountered much opposition in this city (Acts 14:1-6), but today, it is best known today as the home of the Whirling Dervishes. More on that another time, because we have a lot of ground to cover. The city is affluent, modern, with a lot of new construction. Our hotel was wonderful and we hated to leave after only one night. On our way out of town we made a quick stop at the Konya Archaeology Museum. There are three stones that mention the places we saw yesterday: Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium. Two are especially important. The one mentioning Lystra Is a Latin inscription. The one that mentions Derbe is in Greek, but is in poor condition from exposure to the elements. Inscriptions such as these help confirm the authenticity of events and people we read about in the bible.
We have traveled through the Pamphylian plain surrounded by beautiful mountains, some snow covered again, on our way to Yalvaç. We have taken countless pictures of the beautiful green waters of the lakes in the area.
There are several lake-side towns with new construction since Ferrell was here seven years ago.
The scenery is breathtaking but we can only imagine what is must have been like on Paul's journeys. In 2 Corinthians 11:26, Paul talks about facing "dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers." It is beautiful and pastoral today, with lush, green, irrigated fields of barley shimmering in the wind, rolling hills, and herds of sheep. As serene as it is now, it is easy to see how vulnerable and unprotected travelers would have been in Paul's day. Most think because of the direction of the wind, he would have walked west and sailed east.
Our next stop is excavated ruins near Yalvaç. This is the ancient city of Pisidian Antioch. We know that there would have been a number of Jews had settled in Phrygia because Paul visited the synagogue there.
The site has been somewhat excavated in the area of the roads and temple, but the residential areas are still untouched. The ruins are Roman, Greek, adm Byzantine. We walked along the ancient Main Street and cross road, saw the amphitheater, Roman baths, the Augustus temple, a Byzantine era church foundation and off in the distance, remains of an aqueduct. There is a beautiful view from the temple region of the mountains and valleys. I know I've said it before, but the concept of how far Paul and his companions walked and the nature of the terrain will make me read the books of Acts and Galations with a completely new perspective. We could learn a lot from their fervor for spreading the gospel.
A view of Lake Egridir from the bus. The third largest lake in Turkey.
After a long drive through some of the most beautiful mountains and valleys I've ever seen, and a beautiful sunset, we arrived at Antalya (Antalia of old) at 8:30 pm. I'll post pictures when I can. The internet here is very slow.
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