Corpus-Paul

[Warren Fulton <warren AT inlingua.at>]

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