About St. Paul Tarsus-Birthplace of St. Paul
Journeys of St. Paul Tarsus-Birthplace of St. Paul
At the of St. Paul's birth and
upbringing, Tarsus was the most important city in the Cilician plain
(Cukurova) which was then know as Smooth Cilicia.
When St. Paul was born, Tarsus was already very ancient. Excavations
at Gozlu Kule tumulus near the present city have shown that this
site was occupied since the Neolithic period, from about the seventh
millennium BCE. During its later Bronze Age history the tumulus is
thought to have been the capital of the kingdom of Kizzuwatna. The
famous Hittite queen Puduhepa, before she moved to the Hittite
capital Hattusas, was a priestess in Kizzuwatna, whose capital was '
Tarsa'. The first Greek elements in the settlement's culture date
from the beginning of the twelfth century BCE, the time of upheavals
created by the Sea People.
In the Assyrian annals the tumulus appears as Tarzi, and the capital
of the kingdom of Que. The reference to Coa (Que or Cilicia) in the
Second Book of Chronicles is related approximately to this period of
the city' s history in the tenth century BCE: 'Solomon also imported
horses from Egypt and Coa (Cilicia). The agents would acquire them
by purchase from Cilicia, and would then bring up chariots from
Egypt and export them at six hundred silver shekels, with the horses
going for a hundred and fifty shekels. At these rates they served as
middlemen for all the Hittite and Aramean kings (2 Chr 1: 16-17).
King Sennacherid (705-651) of Assyria, is know to have moved the
city from the tumulus to its present location on the Cydnus river
(Tarsus Cayi) to a point some 15 km from the sea. Before reaching
the Mediterranean Cydnus flowed into a large lagoon, which was know
as the lake of Rhegma in roman times, and was navigable up to the
city. At present the area where this lake existed is a fertile
cotton field. In the Old Testament, Tarsis is used as a place- name
in the Mediterranean after the sixth-fifth centuries, from which
metals like silver, iron or lead came to Tyre in Phoenicia.
Some scholars regard this place as being Tarsus, the major port in
Cilicia having connections with inland states of Anatolia rich in
metals, horses and slaves: ' Tarsish traded with you, so great was
your wealth, exchanging silver, iron, tin, and lead for your wares'
(Ez 27: 12). All of what was built in ancient Tarsus after its
re-foundation on the plain lies under the silt of the Cydnus River
and the citys apartment houses, some six meters deep.
Following the collapse of the Assyrian kingdom, Cilicia seems to
have survived as an independent state until Anatolia was captured by
Cyrus the Great (555-530 BCE) of the Persian Empire. Tarsus was the
first urban center with the amenities of civilization after crossing
the Cilician Gates to the south, and thus an indispensable stage to
recover before traveling on to Syria and the countries beyond.
According to Xenophon, Cyrus the Younger, and to Arrian, Alexander
the Great did not miss the chance of enjoying the opportunities the
city offered.
In Anabasis Cyrus, after crossing the ' impassable' Cilician Gates
(401 BCE) found himself in large and well- watered Cilician plain '
full of an kinds of trees and of vines, which' produces quantities
of sesame and millet and wheat and barley, its capital ' a large and
prosperous city ' with a river called the Cydnus running ' through
the middle of the city. Strabo in Geography says that an immersion
in the Cydnus was ' beneficial both to beasts and to men who suffer
from sinews '.
It is know if Alexander knew this when he plunged into the river
some four hundred years before Strabo, a venture that ended up
immediately with acute pneumonia and almost cost him his life.
Sometime after it came under Roman rule in 50 BCE the Roman
statesman Cicero is know to have served as the first Roman governor
of Cilicia, staying at Tarsus. One of the most memorable events of
the city's early Roman history, which was later commemorated by
Shakespeare, was the love story of Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius) and
Cleopatra (41 BCE), which began here.
Some eight years before Cleopatra had had herself delivered to
Caesar in Alexandria by a merchant, wrapped in a carpet. This time
she arranged a parade, which was exaggerated by later writes, but
still appropriate to the vulgar and ambitious character of Antony.
She had built for herself a barge with fittings in gold and silver
and equipped with purple silk sails. The vessel 's crew, young boys
and girls, were dressed as Erotes and Nereids. The sound of music
and scent of rich perfumes reached across the water to the Tarsians
who had flocked to the Cydnus ' banks. ' Cleopatra herself reclined
beneath a canopy of cloth of gold.
This was beginning of a love story, which lasted about a decade,
with the well - know fatal end. Among many things, which Antony
would bestow on his beloved after a few years, was the cedar - rich
mountains of Rough Cilicia, which was a major timber source of the
Roman world for ship - building.
Recent excavations have shown that Tarsus was a smaller flourishing
copy of Antioch on Orontes during the Roman period. A prosperous
city in the first century, St. Pauls pride in his home is evident
when he says I am a Jew, of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean
city' (Acts 21: 39). Acts mentions St. Paul's Tarsus citizenship
only twice (Acts 21: 39; Heb 22: 3) and does not give any
information about it. The ancient street which has recently been
excavated, the remains of the Via Tauris connecting the city to the
Cilician Gates and the large floor mosaic which was brought to light
in the city give us an idea about the Tarsus of St. Paul 's time.
When he begins his defense before the king Herod Agrippa II
(150-100), St. Paul makes it clear that he spent all hiss youth
among Jews in Jerusalem (Acts 26: 4) having been sent there to study
under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Although ancient literature refers to
Tarsus as a seat of Greek philosophy, famous for its Stoic school,
it is known that St. Paul, having spent most of his youth in
Jerusalem, did not have the chance to make use of this opportunity.
St. Paul returned to his native city to teach the gospel, before
joining St. Barnabas in Antioch. Though not explicitly stated in
acts it likely that he visited his city again when he traveled to
Galatia and Pisidia during his Second Journey and third
journey.
Journeys of St. Paul
About St. Paul
Traveling in St. Pauls Time
City of St. Paul
Antioch on the Orontes
Seleucia Pieria
First Journey
Ministry in Antioch - Orontes
Second Journey
Third Journey
Arrest and Imprisonment
Journey to Rome
Story of Paul and Thecla
St. Paul's Letters
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