![Guido_Reni_-_Saint_James_the_Greater_-_Google_Art_Project[1]](https://sevenchurches.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Guido_Reni_-_Saint_James_the_Greater_-_Google_Art_Project1-600x315.jpg)
James or Jacob in the Bible?
The problem of names surfaced at a recent Bible study at the St. Paul Union Church in Antalya, Turkey. Pastor Dennis Massaro was discussing the three men named “James” in the New Testament: Two were apostles, and the third was the leader of the Jerusalem ...
![Emperor-Domitian[1]](https://sevenchurches.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Emperor-Domitian1-598x336.jpg)
Alternative Facts: Domitian’s Persecution of Christians
Was Roman emperor Domitian really the great persecutor of Christians? As I revisited a critical biography of the Roman emperor Domitian by the scholar Brian W. Jones recently,1 I was reminded that “alternative facts” and “fake news” are not just ...
![zeugma-900[1]](https://sevenchurches.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/zeugma-9001-598x336.jpg)
Visiting Turkey: Museums of Archaeology Dazzle
Turkey museums boast mosaics, statues and more The business of archaeology is booming these days in Turkey. For some sites, there is no longer a “season” for excavations; they continue year round. With each new discovery, this mantra is repeated: “Mor ...
![mugs-900[1]](https://sevenchurches.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/mugs-9001-598x336.jpg)
The Starbucks Guide to Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology
Participants on my tours buy a variety of souvenirs—olive-wood crèches in Bethlehem, ceramics in Corinth, carpets in Ephesus and parchment in Pergamum. These days, however, I usually bring home only one thing—Starbucks mugs featuring archaeological sites ...
![Temple-of-Artemis-AC[1]](https://sevenchurches.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Temple-of-Artemis-AC1-448x336.jpg)
Destroying a Temple
The burning of the Ephesian Temple of Artemis by Herostratus The apostle Paul, writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth, warned: “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 C ...
![Inci-1[1]](https://sevenchurches.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Inci-11-scaled-555x336.jpg)
Money Talks through Ancient Coins
Usually I have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to attend a conference. But recently, one was held near my office here in Antalya, Turkey, at the Ramada Plaza Hotel. Sponsored by the local Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations, it wa ...
![pirates-and-virgins-1[1]](https://sevenchurches.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/pirates-and-virgins-11.jpg)
Of Pirates and Virgins: Greek and Turkish Scholars Colloquiating
The invitation to attend the Second Greek-Turkish Symposium on Epigraphy in May was one I couldn’t turn down. It had been extended by Mustafa Adak, the chairperson of the epigraphy and ancient history department of Antalya’s Akdeniz (“Mediterranean”) Un ...
![Pella-Odeion-Church[1]](https://sevenchurches.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Pella-Odeion-Church1.jpg)
Pella: A Window on Survival
Before writing my doctoral thesis two decades ago, the only Pella that I knew about was a small town in south central Iowa famous for its windows and doors. But in the course of my research, I discovered fascinating data about another Pella located in th ...
![antipatris-herodian-street[1]](https://sevenchurches.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/antipatris-herodian-street1.jpg)
Antipatris: Another Pauline Site Off My Bucket List
Mark Wilson Follows Paul’s Footsteps Several years ago Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson brought the subject of “bucket lists” to our attention via a movie by that name. In case you didn’t see it, Nicholson’s billionaire character assists Freeman’s in ...