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Overview of Turkey

After Israel, Turkey has more biblical sites than any other country in the Middle East. For this reason Turkey is rightly called the Other Holy Land. Many Christians are unaware of Turkey’s unique role in the Bible because biblical reference works usually refer to this strategic peninsula, bounded by the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Seas, as Asia Minor or Anatolia. The land of Turkey is especially important in understanding the background of the New Testament, because approximately two-thirds of its books were written either to or from churches in Turkey. The three major apostle—Peter, Paul, and John—either ministered or lived in Turkey. Turkey’s rich spiritual heritage starts at the very beginning in the book of Genesis.

Turkey and the Old Testament
Two of the four rivers in the Creation account have their source in eastern Turkey. The Euphrates and Tigris Rivers flowed through the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:13). Some traditions suggest that this garden in which Adam and Eve lived was located in southeastern Turkey. After the great flood Noah’s ark rested on the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4). Mount Ararat, near the border of Armenia and Iran, is often identified as this site. The descendants of Noah’s son Japheth comprised the nations that settled Anatolia—Gomer, Magog, Javan, Tubal, and Meschech (Gen. 10:2). After Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees, he settled for a time in Haran (Gen. 11:31–32), continuing his journey to Canaan only after his father Terah died. Jacob later lived in the region of Haran (Gen. 28:10ff.) for fourteen years while completing his service to Laban for his marriages to Leah and Rachel.
One of the great nations that lived to the north of Israel was the Hittites (Josh. 1:4). This empire, whose capital was Bogazkale, or Hattusas, existed from 1800–1200 b.c. A related people lived in Palestine, and Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, was a Hittite mercenary (2 Sam. 11:3– 24). One of the most important battles in history occurred at Carchemish. Here in 605 b.c. the Babylonian commander Nebuchadnezzar II defeated the Egyptian army, which four years earlier had killed Judah’s last righteous king Josiah at Megiddo (2 Chron. 35:20–23). With the defeat of the Assyrians and their allies the Egyptians, the Babylonians now controlled the Near East. Two decades later Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews sent into exile (586 b.c.). The earliest references to Jewish exiles in Turkey is found in Obadiah 20. Here Sepharad is a likely reference to Sardis.

Turkey and the Intertestamental Period
The prophet Daniel saw a vision portraying four successive kingdoms, likened to four beasts, that would rule the ancient Near East (Dan. 7:2-12; cf. 2:31-43). The first beast, the lion, had already arrived with the Babylonians. Next to come were the Medo-Persians (the bear). The Persians completed their domination of Anatolia in 546 b.c. when Cyrus defeated the famous Lydian king Croesus. Sardis now became the capital of a Persian satrapy.

Alexander the Great was the Macedonian leopard who next appeared on the scene. He is also described as a one-horned goat in Daniel 8:5–8. Alexander’s first defeat of the Persians occurred at Granicus River in northeastern Turkey in 334 b.c. A year later at Issus Alexander routed the Persian king Darius III, thus securing Greek control of Anatolia.

Following Alexander's death (323 b.c.) his kingdom broke into four parts, each ruled by one of his generals (Dan 8:8; 11:3–4). Daniel 11 tells the prophetic history of this subsequent period, focusing on the two eastern dynasties-the Seleucids and the Ptolemies. The Ptolemaic kingdom, based in Egypt, had little subsequent bearing on Anatolian history except for its final ruler Cleopatra. In 41 b.c. she had a historic meeting with Mark Antony at Tarsus. Eleven years later, after the pair were defeated by Octavian (Augustus), Cleopatra committed suicide.

After Seleucus I defeated Antigonus at Ipsus in 301 b.c., he and his heirs began their domination of much of Anatolia for nearly 150 years. In 300 Seleucus founded Antioch, which became the capital of his western kingdom. Alexander’s legacy in the region cannot be overemphasized. Hellenistic religion and culture were introduced throughout Anatolia.  Greek became the common language of the eastern Mediterrean and the language in which the New Testament was written. the Seleucids built hundreds of cities across Anatolia, and in many of these established a Jewish population. Josephus records how in 210 b.c. Antiochus III resettled 2000 Jewish families in Phyrgia and Lydia. So by the 2nd  century b.c. Jews were dispersed throughout Anatolia (hence the term Diaspora or Dispersion; cf. 1 Peter 1:1). 1 Maccabees 15:23 records a decree issued by the Romans that countries including Myndos, Caria, Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Phaselis, and Side should guarantee the safety and rights for all Jews under their rule. During this period Paul’s family came to live in Tarsus.

Daniel's final kingdom was represented by Rome. In 190 b.c. the Romans defeated Antiochus III at Magnesia on the Meander (Dan 11:18); the iron beast with its ten horns had arrived. In 133 b.c. Attalus II bequeathed his kingdom of Pergamum to the Romans, and four years later Asia was established as the first Roman province in Anatolia. This political beast out of the sea (cf. Rev. 13:1–3) likewise had a religious component (cf Rev. 13:11–17). Although Alexander had been the first to receive worship as a living “god,” it was the Romans who institutionalized the practice through the imperial cult. In 29 b.c. Augustus authorized the construction of the first Anatolian temples for the imperial cult at Pergamum and Nicomedia. Smyrna became the temple keeper (Greek neokoros) for the second imperial cult temple in Asia (a.d. 26). Imperial cult temples were also established in the province of Galatia at Ancyra (a.d. 19/20), Pessinus (20s), and Pisidian Antioch (30s). Ephesus became “twice neokoros” (cf. Acts 19:35) when Domitian built a Flavian temple of the Sebastoi (“Revered Ones”) in the city in a.d. 89/90. The temple at Ankara is still standing and adjoins the famous Haci Bayram mosque. Its walls are inscribed in Latin and Greek with one of the most important inscriptions preserved from antiquity, the Res Gestae. These are the deeds of Augustus done during his reign as the first emperor of Rome. Roman rule in Anatolia extended as far east as the Euphrates River. There a series of forts was built at key fords along the river. Hence in the book of Revelation the enemy armies are always gathered on the east bank of the Euphrates (Rev. 9:14; 16:12).

Turkey and the New Testament
The origin of the church in Turkey goes back to the events immediately following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ in Judea. On the Day of Pentecost Jews from Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia were gathered in Jerusalem (Acts 2:9–10). Many of these became eyewitnesses to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Peter’s subsequent sermon. Some were undoubtedly among the three thousand who believed on Jesus that day (Acts 2:41). Returning home, these were the first Christians in Anatolia. One of the most interesting accounts recorded by the early church father Eusebius in his Church History (1.13) is a letter of Abgar V, king of Edessa. Abgar, dying of disease, wrote a letter, requesting Jesus to heal him. In his reply Jesus stated that he could not come but that a disciple would be sent later. After Pentecost Thaddeus was sent by the apostles. When he prayed for Abgar, the king was instantly healed. Abgar and his subjects believed in Jesus, and the kingdom converted to Christianity. Syriac Christianity, which persists in the region of Mardin, traces its historical origins to this tradition.

Although Jesus had commanded the early believers to preach the gospel outside of Jerusalem “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8), this did not happen until the martyrdom of Stephen. Jews from Cilicia and Asia found a willing accomplice to this murder in Saul (Acts 6:9ff.; 7:58–8:1). Although born a citizen of Tarsus, Saul had been brought to Jerusalem as a youth to receive formal training in Judaism (Acts 21:39; 22:3). On the road to Damascus Saul was dramatically converted, and after a time in Arabia and Jerusalem he returned to Tarsus (Acts 9:30; Gal.1:21). In the meantime those scattered by Stephen’s death traveled as far north as Antioch, preaching first to Jews and then to Gentiles. A church quickly formed with many believing in the Lord (Acts 11:19–24). Barnabas brought Saul from Tarsus to assist in discipling these new believers, and at Antioch these believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:25–26).

 

A Woman's Perspective:
Just before I left on my first trip to Turkey, a friend who had served in the U.S. Marines told me that back in the 1960s, marines were threatened with transfer to Turkey as punishment for bad behavior. Hm. I didn't know what to expect when I arrived on Turkish soil. As a woman traveling alone, I was apprehensive of what I perceived to be the male-dominated Muslim culture. Naturally I had watched Midnight Express the night before. But what I encountered took me by complete surprise.

There's a saying in Turkish, "A guest is God's gift," and although Turkish people are known for their hospitality, the depth and sincerity of this generosity is impossible to fathom until you've experienced it. A wrinkled old grandmother with little but the clothes on her back will invite you into her home and offer you the best of what she has: a bowl of white rice or a dish of sliced tomatoes from her garden.

Turkish people have an innate desire-no, a need-to help you. The tiniest hesitation on the street sparks the arrival of some guardian angel, and it's not always someone with an ulterior motive. In fact, a not-so-scientific study revealed that if you distract a carpet seller with a query on directions, he will drop his sales pitch and, in many cases, even show you the way.

The most unexpected revelation was that although Islam is central to Turkish society, in Turkey-or more accurately, in Istanbul-the presence of piety is silent (except for the müezzin!), a devotion to God that manifests itself in a generosity of spirit, a gentleness of heart, and the practice of good clean altruistic living. Most of the Turkish Muslims you will meet have found a way to adapt to the contradictions inherent in a changing world. One of my guides put it succinctly: "We're a new generation of sinners."

Even so, Turks continue to grapple for some kind of connection with the past. Are they Turks? Ottomans? Do they have an Eastern mentality or a Western one? This identity crisis lies barely beneath the surface as younger generations strive to be modern, hip, and in the latest fashions from Milan without forsaking tradition.

Turkey is such a vast land rich in archaeological, historical, and natural treasures that the most difficult decision will be what not to see. I found it difficult to write this without making it sound like a press release, because the country is so superlative, and the culture so contrary to what you'd expect. You'll soon see for yourselves why nobody leaves Turkey with a lukewarm impression. Face it; there's no way to see it all. So I attempt to sort through the absolute essentials of a first-time visit, providing an introduction to a country and culture you will surely want to revisit.
Güle, güle.