Day 04 - Aphrodisias, Ephesus Museum

HAPPY TURKEY DAY FROM TURKEY! We are so thankful for the opportunity to be here and to see and 

experience this beautiful country. Our morning started early with breakfast at 6 and departure at 7am.
We had a bit of a drive south by southeast to Aphrodisias, the city named for Aphrodite – goddess of
love, lust, passion, pleasure, beauty, and procreation.
This was the sculpture center of the ancient world, with some of the best marble quarries nearby. The
sculpture school operated until the 4th century AD. Walking through the ruins, we could see the
sculpture ruins all over the property. In late 1st century BC, Aphrodisias came under favored status of
Caesar Augustus (Octavian): "Aphrodisias is the one city of all of Asia I have called my own." There was
a population of 10-15,000.
The highlight of the site was the massive stadium, the largest and best-preserved of the ancient world. It
held 30,000 people and was so large (270m x 50m or 885 ft x 164 ft), the 200m dash could be run on the
straightaway!
Dr. Hill spoke to all of us as we sat on the stadium stone seats. As you may know, there is so much
athletic imagery in the Bible (see list below). He spoke about our spiritual lives being marathons, not
sprints and how the “great cloud of witnesses” is cheering us on. We must lay aside the weight that
hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run the race marked out for us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning
its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such
opposition from evil men so you do not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1-3). Christ traded
shame for joy in his obedient death, and we were the joy that pushed him through his suffering.
I Cor. 9:24-27
Acts 20.24 finish the race
Gal. 2.2 running my race
2 Tim. 4.7 fought the fight, finished the race
Gal. 5:7 boxing and running, getting prize, being disciplined
Heb. 12.1 - In classical literature, cloud of witnesses meant crowd of witnesses. Running surrounded by
crowd meant in a stadium. Witness meant active participation in addition to just watching. If you have
run your race, you get to sit in the stands and cheer the others on.
Our guides gave us 20 minutes to explore the stadium and the gladiators’ area. Then we finished seeing
the rest of the site. The sun had come out by this point and the temperatures were climbing to mid-60’s.
We sat at the little café and enjoyed some coffee, tea, and snacks before driving to the restaurant for
lunch.
Lunch was another interesting cultural experience. We were greeted by the entertainment: an older
gentleman playing a mandolin with a colorful little parrot next to him. As he progressed in his playing,
the parrot started bobbing up and down and dancing! Then he jumped up on the neck of the
instrument. Our choices included lentil soup, fresh homemade bread, chicken kabob, meatballs, fish or
mushrooms with fresh fruit for dessert.
We drove for a good while west toward Ephesus and visited the museum. The history of the city is
fascinating and goes as far back as the Chalcolithic period (late 7th millennium BC). Since then,
Ephesus was inhabited by Amazons Carians, Lelegians, Lydians, Ionians, Romans, and Turks.

After a brief stop at the local Turkish ice cream stand, we drove to our last stop of the day – a
traditional Turkish pottery shop. We were greeted with apple tea and enjoyed watching the
Master Potter demonstrate how quickly he could fashion a vase with no imperfections. Our
group wandered around and looked at the vast variety of mugs, cups, plates, bowls, pitchers,
etc. anywhere from $5 to $30,000, all handmade and hand-painted on the premises!
Our gracious Turkish guide and hotel hosts had a little surprise in store for us this evening for
dinner: roasted turkey and mashed potatoes! What a fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving 2023,
eating turkey in Turkey! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.