Higher in Hierapolis

Where is Luther? What has springs but doesn’t bounce? What leaves a ton of deposits in its banks? Why do many come to retire at this hot spot? Is it possible to have a graveyard for a graveyard? You can get your fill of Philip here too. If your guess is as high as this place, you’ll have it.

Pure white rock holds pools of bright blue water. The castle of white strikes the eye before finding the ruins of Hierapolis.

Carbon dioxide rich hot springs flow from the ground. As the water pours out it leaves white deposits that build up over time. Some of the ruins of the city are covered by the deposits as well as the face of a cliff. The reliable hot springs still runs, pouring into a rich tourist’s haven for swimming with crystal clear water over submerged columns. From that pool it is channeled to the white outcroppings for cost free swimming (except for the price of admission) and to keep the white stuff white. The rock hurts underfoot but the reddish places were smooth. That reddish algae with hundreds of feet trampling daily causes damage to the pristine color. Much is off limits.

The real beauty of this place (for me) lies in its history. When we got there we discussed a couple of options. We could swim in the cool water or we could walk for miles while beaten by the sun’s heat to look at rocks. (Luther muttered something about it’s not the size of the cranial cavity that counts but how one uses it. Whatever that meant, it persuaded most of our party to go with him.)

Security was nowhere to be found in the ruins and the heat. Since there was no one to tell me to stay out of the tombs, I explored. Imagine what it would be like to be a Greek or Roman citizen in these ancient times in an ancient graveyard. However, I found lying in a tomb as a Christian Roman corpse was no fun so I went through the main gates and traveled down the street that would be lined with shops, fountains and expensive memorials to patrons of the city. All of which are foundations and a few columns. In the surrounding hills would be (now silted over fields) filled with housing for hundreds of thousands citizens. Pipes, cannels run around like webs through the city.

We know the Jews were first sent by Antiochus the Great to Phrygia and Lydia who then took on more forced movement from Judea. Many also settled in nearby Hierapolis. By 62 BCE that Jewish population grew to 50,000. What’s important about having Jewish congregations outside of Jerusalem is that the Apostle Paul traveled to the major cities with synagogues to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Way of God as Jesus lived and taught influence many. Although Paul didn’t preach in Hierapolis his influence from Ephesus spread there. Perhaps he didn’t need to preach there as a disciple of Jesus, Philip, and Nathan (Bartholomew) already did. Philip was said to have traveled to Greece, Syria, and Phrygia. In Hierapolis legend has it that Philip converted the wife of a Proconsul. It so enraged the Proconsul that he had Philip and Nathan tortured and then crucified (possibly upside down around 80 AD). But Philip’s ability to preach persuaded the authorities to release Nathan. As Nathan was released, Philip was martyred (another legend said he was beheaded). Since then the site was used by pilgrims for centuries until the Turks controlled the area. The church once built on the spot lays in ruins. On July 27, 2011 the modern Turkish authorities said they found Philip’s tomb according to the writing on the wall. It will take a few years of cross checking and professor type critics before it will be confirmed. (I later told Luther I didn’t see, “Philip was here,” anywhere or even a, “Philip loves Nancy in a heart,” so I’m skeptical.)

(Luther said something about the library at Nag Hammadi where the gnostic “Gospel of Philip” was found. I told him I’d be suspicious of anyone named Hammadi who has to nag to get people to read that gospel. Luther pointed to his head, muttering, “What a waste of cranial space.”)

As most cities began there would be something about the site that made it special and sacred. Usually it would be a spring as in this case. (In this heat I’d learn to love a spring that throws up white stuff.) We know Pyrygians built a temple [in the 300-400 BCE range] that was frequented by the Laodean citizens. The springs were used as a spa since the 200s BCE. (The only spa there today is the swimming pools of water and a place that has an aquarium with some tiny fish that nibbled on the dead skin cells. Some in our group paid people for the chance to stick their feet in it! Luther’s fur prevented the fish from getting to his skin but he was lucky to get one stuck in his fur for a bite of his own when no one was looking.) The activity attracted commerce and a swelling population. The city grew into a major Greek city which was bequeathed to the Romans in 133 BCE. An earthquake in Tiberius’s reign in 17 AD destroyed the city. It was rebuilt by the Romans. (They love their baths as they built lots of those. I told Luther the Romans must have been part fish. Luther told me to scale back my thoughts as they’re sounding like a fish tale to him). The city became Byzantium, and in the 700s ruled by the sultans in the Turkish (Persian Empire) until the Crusade of 1190. The city was finished off by an earthquake in 1354 AD. Much of it was covered by a thick layer of white limestone deposits.

After most waded in the pools of water, the Roman Theater attracted a few visitors (It’s easy to identify and relatively close.) The museum (Authorities had to figure out where the blocks go and use a crane to replace them with mortar and modern supports.) was inside a rebuilt portion of a Roman bath building. It’s cooler inside. The rest of the place is a hike through grasses, a few trees and over lots of rocks. The couple of people who were out there used the old Roman roads. I took a shortcut and found myself in the middle of an active archeology site with picks, wheel barrels, and umbrellas for shade except no workers. It was roped off at the other ends. Oops. (In talking with Luther afterwards he said not even the archeologists would work in this heat. Shouldn’t that say something to you? Then he talked about taking an hour long cool limp chimp float. I said, “Whatever floats your boat.”)

Although I’m writing this in Athens, my head is still in Turkey. I’ve got three more places to write about before the Greek Island of Naxos and a ton of stuff in Athens and Corinth.