Background on Sardis

Background on Sardis

A. Had a history of glory

1. It was the capital of the Ancient Kingdom of Lydia (560 BCE)

2. King Croesus minted the first official government coinage

B. Had a history of confidence

1. The original city sat on top of a 1500 foot spur with

perpendicular sides

2. The only access was a narrow causeway which could easily be

defended against enemies

3. Cyrus offered a reward to anyone who could find a way in

a. A Persian soldier noticed a helmet falling down the cliff

b. Later, he noticed a Sardian soldier appear at the bottom

to retrieve his helmet

c. So there was a way up after all. The Persian marked the

spot and informed Cyrus

d. At night, Cyrus and his army went up the trail and caught

the city by surprise        

4. It could be said Sardis had a history of overconfidence

C. After the Persian conquest, Sardis no longer allowed to make weapons

D. Ancient Worship

A large temple dedicated to the Asiatic goddess Cybele stood at Sardis:

Excavations . . . unearthed . . . an exceptionally large (160 by 300 feet) temple dedicated to Artemis. Its seventy-eight Ionic columns (of which two are still standing) are each fifty-eight feet in height. . . . It was dedicated to a local Asiatic goddess usually referred to as Cybele, who was identified with the Greek Artemis. This patron deity was believed to possess the special power of restoring the dead to life

E. Earthquake-Prone

Being situated in a mountainous region, the city was earthquake-prone:  Sardis, like neighboring Philadelphia, suffered a catastrophic earthquake in AD 17. . . . this was nothing less than the sudden collapse of a great part of the mountain and the consequent disappearance of much of the very site of the original fortress-city