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  • From: Warren Fulton <warren AT inlingua.at>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>, math.bl AT vienna.at, Tombivins AT aol.com, BobandMyra AT compuserve.com, tfulton AT truxton.com
  • Subject: Yalvac
  • Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 07:34:02 +0200


I have just returned from a visit to Turkey which included a stop at Antioch
in Pisidia,
modern Yalvac. I thought corpus-paul subscribers might be interested to know
that on April
26th the city's new archeological park was inaugurated, with high-ranking
delegates from
Israel in attendance, Bethlehem being Yalvac's partner city. At the same
time, I would
appreciate any light that can be shed on the curious fact that this
out-of-the-way Roman
frontier town seemed to be a strategic point for Paul's crusade to evangelize
the empire.

The mayor of Yalvac, the hon. Mr. Tekin Bayram, has taken the archeological
project
personally in hand and, with his unbounded energy and inside-track
connections to the
Ministry of Tourism, promises to put his town on the list of must-sees for
the biblically
interested traveller. Unfortunately, Yalvac is barely given a serious mention
in most
current guides. This is surprising, as the town is situated in the middle of
the cool
Turkish highland lake district, which easily matches the spectacular
landscapes of the
Austrian Salzkammergut or England's Central Cumbria, minus all the
commercialism that has
infested these more established resorts.

Besides building a four-star hotel to raise the comfort level of a stay in
Yalvac, Mr.
Bayram is pressing ahead with excavations. Both decumanus and cardo have now
been half
laid free, forming an L-shape walk up to the temple precinct. An extensive
tunnel system
has been discovered in the massive city walls. The elaborately decorated
triple-arched
city gate is being reconstructed piece by piece as a monumental entrance to
the park.

Of more interest to Pauline scholars is the synagogue, a basilica-plan
structure located
near the west wall about 250 m. from the city gate. According to a sign on
site, the
church that was built over the synagogue was the first one dedicated to Paul.

The city museum houses an inscription bearing the name of one Iulius Sergius
Paulus, who
local guides claim is related to Paul's prominent convert in Cyprus, the
proconsul Sergius
Paulus. If this family link can be substantiated, it might help explain why
Paul, having
sailed from Cyprus on his first missionary journey, with all the ripe
opportunities for
mass audiences awaiting him westward along the Asian coast, instead struck
out north into
the mountains. Did Paul perhaps carry a letter from his namesake? Is there
anything more
than speculation behind this intriguing scenario? Or is there a better
explanation for why
Paul's path repeatedly intersected Yalvac?

Warren Fulton
Inlingua School of Languages
Vienna, Austria








  • Yalvac, Warren Fulton, 05/08/2000

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