Bible Atlas: A Manual of Biblical Geography and History

by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut

THE PROVINCES OF ASIA MINOR.

As the first missionary journey was mainly in Asia Minor, a brief description of that peninsula is necessary. It embraces about 156,000 square miles, or about two-thirds the size of Texas, and was located between the Black, Ægean, and Mediterranean Seas on the north, west and south, and bounded on the east by the provinces of Armenia, Mesopotamia and Syria. The provinces which it contained at the New Testament epoch may be variously stated, since in their political, racial and geographical relations they were different. The map of the Roman Empire, on [page 98], gives them according to their political arrangement, which united two or more under one government, and gave to some new names. Thus there were four districts united under the name Asia, which in the New Testament never denotes the whole continent, nor yet the whole peninsula, but the seaboard provinces of Caria, Lydia, Mysia, and the interior land of Phrygia. So, too, Bithynia and Pontus formed one government, Lycaonia was included in Galatia, and Lycia and Pisidia in Pamphylia. We can best arrange these provinces of Asia Minor, according to territorial relations, in four groups. 1. The three northern provinces, on the Black Sea: Pontus, Paphlagonia, Bithynia. 2. The three western provinces, on the Ægean Sea: Mysia, Lydia, Caria. 3. The three southern provinces, on the Mediterranean Sea: Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia. 4. The five interior provinces: on the north, Galatia; on the east, Cappadocia; on the south, Lycaonia and Pisidia; and on the west, Phrygia. All of these fourteen provinces, except four, are named in the New Testament.

1. The Provinces on the Black Sea. (1.) Pontus (Acts 2:9; 18:2; 1 Pet. 1:1) was the northeastern province, between Paphlagonia and Armenia, and having Cappadocia on the south; now represented by Trebizond in the Turkish empire. Some of its Jewish inhabitants were present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost; Aquila, a helper of Paul, was a native of this region; and its Christian Jews were among those addressed in Peter's first Epistle. (2.) Paphlagonia, not mentioned in the New Testament, lay between Pontus and Bithynia, and north of Galatia. (3.) Bithynia (Acts 16:7; 1 Pet. 1:1) was the northwestern province, having the Propontis (now called the Sea of Marmora) on the west, and Mysia and Phrygia on the south, from which it was separated by Mount Olympus. Though the region is only incidentally named in the New Testament, two of its cities, Nicæa and Nicomedia, were prominent in the history of the Greek church.

2. The Provinces on the Ægean Sea. These are all included under the name Asia, by which the western portion of the peninsula was known to the Romans. (1.) Mysia (Acts 16:7, 8) was separated from Europe by the Hellespont and the Propontis, and had Bithynia on the north, Phrygia on the east, and Mysia on the west. It contained Troas, on the ruins of ancient Troy, whence Paul could dimly see the hills of Europe on the west, and where the vision of "the man of Macedonia" led to the voyage for the evangelization of Europe. (2.) Lydia, once the centre of the great empire of Crœsus, extended along the Ægean Sea from Mysia to Caria, and eastward to Phrygia. Its principal city was Ephesus, the metropolis of Asia Minor, and one of Paul's most important fields of labor; and Sardis, Thyatira and Philadelphia were also large places and seats of churches addressed in the Apocalypse. (3.) Caria was the southwestern province, not named in the New Testament, though its cities, Cnidus and Miletus, are referred to; the latter as the place where Paul parted from the Ephesian elders. (Acts 20:15.)

3. The Provinces on the Mediterranean. (1.) Lycia (Acts 27:5) lay south of Mount Taurus, and opposite to the island of Rhodes. Two of its cities, Patara and Myra, were visited by the apostle Paul. (Acts 21:1; 27:5.) (2.) Pamphylia (Acts 13:13) was a small province between Lycia and Cilicia, and also between Mount Taurus and the sea. Its capital, Perga, was the first city in Asia Minor visited by Paul on his first missionary journey. On his return, he preached in its seaport, Attalia. (Acts 13:13; 14:24, 25.) (3.) Cilicia (Acts 6:9) is a long and narrow province, also lying between Mount Taurus and the sea, and separated from Syria by the Syrian Gates, a pass in the mountains. Its capital, Tarsus, was one of the leading cities of the Roman empire, and the birthplace of Paul.

4. The Provinces in the Interior. (1.) On the north was Galatia, a land of uncertain and varying boundaries, but located between Bithynia, Cappadocia, Lycaonia and Phrygia. It received its name from a race of Gauls, who conquered it about 300 B.C., was twice visited by Paul, and its Christian population was addressed in the Epistle to the Galatians. (Acts 16:6; 18:23; Gal. 1:2.) (2.) Cappadocia lay on the southeast of Galatia, and south of Pontus. It was the largest province in Asia Minor. Some of its people were in Jerusalem at the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:9); and its churches were among those addressed in 1 Peter. (3.) Lycaonia (Acts 14:1-23) was not a political division, but a district in southern Galatia. It was west of Cappadocia and east of Phrygia, and separated by the Taurus range from Cilicia. Its principal places were Iconium, Derbe and Lystra, in all of which Paul preached the gospel and suffered persecution. (4.) Pisidia was politically connected with Pamphylia, but lay north of the Taurus, between Lycaonia and Phrygia. Its principal city was Antioch (to be distinguished from Antioch in Syria), twice, at least, visited by the apostle Paul. (Acts 13:14; 14:21.) (5.) Phrygia varied greatly at different periods, and in Paul's time had no separate existence as a province. In the earlier days, when Galatia was a part of it, it was said to touch in some way every other land in Asia Minor. In its southern section lay the three cities of Laodicea, Hierapolis and Colosse, all named in Paul's letters.