PAUL'S MISSIONARY JOURNEYS: ASSOS

(Message by Tanny Keng)

Ruins of Ancient Theater

1. Paul, in Troas, agrees to meet with friends in Assos in order to board a ship. Why did he WALK the entire journey from Troas to Assos?

a) Assos, known today as Behramkale or Behram, is a small Aegean coastal city in Turkey. It was begun about a thousand years before the birth of Christ by residents who lived on Lesbos island. Philosophers of all types were encouraged to move to Assos by Hermias of Atarneus (the father-in-law of Aristotle), who ruled the city in the mid 350s B.C. Aristotle, after he left Athens, came to the city and opened a school of philosophy in 348 B.C. Assos experienced its greatest prosperity under the rule of Hermias.

b) The Persians attacked and gained controlled of Assos a few years after Aristotle's school opened. They killed Hermias and caused Aristotle to flee to Macedonia, where he ending up tutoring a young Alexander the Great. When Alexander was just 22 years old he freed Assos from Persian rule. In 133 B.C. the Romans took control of the city.

c) During his third missionary journey the apostle Paul and his traveling companions visited Troas for several days. Paul, wanting to stay in the city a few more hours to teach, sent his friends (which include Luke) ahead of him to Assos by boat. The sea journey was about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers). d) After teaching for a few more precious hours Paul walked from Troas to Assos, a land trip of about 21 miles (33.8 kilometers). He met up with his traveling companions in Assos where they then boarded a ship to Mitylene (Mytilene), which was (and still is) the chief city of the island of Lesbos.

Distance to the city from Troas by boat and over land

e) The residents of Lesbos were called Lesbians. The association of the word Lesbian to refer to female homosexuality is mostly derived from an early 7th century B.C. female poet named Sappho. A resident of the island, Sappho wrote passionately about her relationships with other women.

The End ...