Sardis, Turkey
Tourism

... More >

(ancient Paktolos). The Lydian and Greek city lay on the west side of a steeply scarped acropolis some 200m/650ft high, while the later Roman town laid out in the form of a semi-circle occupied a lower terrace below the north side of the hill. The oldest part of the town can be found on the acropolis. Excavations and restoration work have been carried out by a team of American archeologists.

History

The development of Sardis (Sardeis) was closely dependent on the emergence and growth of the Lydian Empire. It is not yet established, however, whether the Lydians, a Semitic people whose rulers claimed descent from the Assyrian sun god, founded the town themselves or whether they conquered and incorporated an already existing Maeonian settlement. The town enjoyed great prosperity from the reign of King Gyges (ca. 685 B.C.) to that of Kroisos (Croesus; 560-546 B.C.) thanks to its location at the end of an ancient trade route, exploitation of gold deposits from the River Paktolos and busy trade with the Orient. In 546 B.C. Sardis was conquered by the Persians under Cyrus and until 499 B.C. was the seat of a Persian satrap. From here the great Royal Road of the Persian kings ran from Ankyra (Ankara) to Susa with posting stations at four-hourly intervals.

The city enjoyed a further period of prosperity under Roman rule. It was ravaged by an earthquake in A.D. 17 but was rebuilt by Tiberius. Christianity came to Sardis at an early stage, no doubt through the missionary activity of Paul. It is mentioned in Revelations (1:11 and 3:4) as one of the Seven Churches of Asia.