City of Akhisar Hides Ancient Thyatira

1964

Calkins Concludes Tour

[ORIGINAL] EDITOR'S NOTE: Today's report by the Reverend Harold Calkins, pastor of the Temple City Seventh-day Adventist Church, concludes an exclusive series on his visit this summer to the sites of the seven ancient cities addressed in the New Testament Book of Revelations. Continuing his studies toward a doctorate in New Testament, Pastor Calkins and his wife this summer joined 18 other members of an extension class conducted in Europe by Andrews University, Michigan.

Thyatira, the last of the seven churches of Revelation which we visited, is still a living city, known today as Akhisar. Because the old city is buried under modern residences, there has been almost no excavation of the area. A few years ago when the hospital was built, they discovered an old sarcophagus with the name "Thyatira" in the epitaph.

At another location some walls and foundations of Roman and Greek buildings have been unearthed showing that the town does date back before Christ. Some of the stones from the ancient buildings have been used to build the walls of houses found there today.

The vessels of a potter mentioned in Revelations 2:27 are a well-known item here since many potters still make clay pots and water jugs in and near the city.

As a commercial city Thyatira seems to have been prominent, judging from the Greek inscriptions which speak of many trade guilds to which every skilled worker belonged. There were woolworkers, linemakers, tailors, tanners, potters, bakers, slave-dealers and bronze workers. These labor organizations were incorporated, owned property, made contracts and had sales representatives in other cities. Lydia of Thyatira (Acts 16:14) the seller of purple, represented the dyers guild at the Greek city of Philippi. It can readily be seen that business and labor in this city was more highly organized 1900 years ago than it is today.

The countryside around Thyatira is much like Southern California. The land is flat and fertile. Unlike most important cities of ancient times, there is no acropolis, or fortified hill, at this town. In early times the city was a fortress town controlled by either Pergamum or Sardis, to protect them from invaders from the East or North. Hence it was controlled first by one power, then another, until the Roman peace prevailed and removed its importance as a military base.

The raising of grapes, tobacco, grain and other agricultural products provides a livelihood for the people. If there were technical know-how and ambition, this region could produce more than enough for their own needs. But most of the work is still done by hand with the burro and camel working side by side with the women and men as burden-bearers. Some of these people carry unbelievably large loads on their bent backs, from furniture to large bundles of weeds which almost hide the person carrying them. The weeds are used to make a little hut for shelter from the sun. Later when dry, they are fed to the goats or used for kindling to build a little fire. Agriculture and much of the daily routine differs little from the customs of 1900 years ago.

—Arcadia Tribune, Arcadia, CA, Dec. 24, 1964, p. 22.