Colossae

Colossae (/kəˈlɒsi/; Greek: Κολοσσαί) was an ancient city of Phrygia in Asia Minor, and was the location of a Christian community to which the Apostle Paul addressed a canonically accepted epistle (letter), which is known for its content's exaltation of the supremacy of Christianity's namesake.[1] Writing in the 4th century BC, Xenophon refers to Colossae as one of six large cities of Phrygia. It was populated by peoples of Greek and Hebrew origin (Antiochus the Great having relocated there, two thousand Jewish families from Babylonia and Mesopotamia), as well as other cultures and ethnicities, as it was an early center of trade given its location on the Lycus (a tributary of the Maeander River) and its position near the great military and commercial road from Ephesus to the Euphrates. It was situated 10 miles southeast of Laodicea, 13 miles from the ancient city of Hierapolis, and 3 miles from Mount Cadmus, at the head of a gorge. Commerce of the city included trade in wool—the dyed wool collossinus was named for the place—and in the products of weaving and other trades. It was also known for its fusion of religious influences (syncretism), which included Jewish, Gnostic, and pagan influences that in the first century AD were described as an angel-cult (a matter addressed by the Pauline letter). The city was decimated by an earthquake in the 60s AD, rebuilt independent of the support of Rome, overrun by the Saracens in the 7th and 8th centuries AD, and then destroyed, ultimately, by the Turks in the 12th century, with the remnant of its population relocating, among other places, to nearby Chonae. As of 2015, it had never been excavated, though plans are reported for an Australian led expedition to the site.

Despite a treacherously ambiguous cartography and history, Colossae has been clearly distinguished in modern research from nearby Chonae (Χῶναι), now called Honaz, with what remains of the buried ruins of the mound associated with Colossae lying a few kilometers to the north of Chonae/Honaz.

Location and geography

Colossae was located in Phrygia, in Asia Minor. Writing in the 4th century BC, Xenophon refers to Colossae as one of six large cities of Phrygia. It was an early center of trade, given its location on the Lycus (a tributary of the Maeander River) and its position near the great military and commercial road from Ephesus to the Euphrates. It was situated 10 miles southeast of Laodicea, 13 miles from the ancient city of Heiropolis, and 3 miles rom Mount Cadmus, at the head of a gorge.

Despite a treacherously ambiguous cartography and history, Colossae has been clearly distinguished in modern research from nearby Chonae (Χῶναι), now called Honaz, with what remains of the buried ruins of Colossae ("the mound") lying 3 km to the north of Chonae/Honaz.[2][3][4]

Pre-Pauline and Pauline characteristics

Colossae was populated by peoples of Greek and Hebrew origin. Antiochus the Great is said to have relocated two thousand Jewish families from Babylonia and Mesopotamia to the city, and other cultures and ethnicities were present as well.

Commerce of the city included trade in wool—the dyed wool collossinus was named for the place—and in the products of weaving and other trades. It was also known for its fusion of religious influences (syncretism), which included Jewish, Gnostic, and pagan influences that in the first century AD were described as an angel-cult.[5]

History

Before the Pauline period

Some further highlights regarding the history of Colossae include:

The Pauline period

Colossae was the location of a Christian community to which the Apostle Paul addressed a canonically accepted epistle (letter), which is known for its content's exaltation of the supremacy of Christianity's namesake. One aim of the letter was to address the challenges that the community faced in its context of the syncretistic Gnostic religions that were developing in Asia minor.[5]

Judging from the Letter to the Colossians, Epaphras was a person of some importance in the Christian community there (Col. 1:7; 4:12), and tradition presents him as its first bishop. It does not appear from his Epistle to the Colossians that St. Paul had visited the city, for the epistle only speaks of him having heard of their faith (Col. 1:4) and since he tells Philemon of his hope to visit it upon being freed from prison (see Philemon 1:22). Tradition also gives Philemon as the second bishop of the see.

The first historically documented bishop is Epiphanius, who was not personally at the Council of Chalcedon, but whose metropolitan bishop Nunechius of Laodicea, the capital of the Roman province of Phrygia Pacatiana signed the acts on his behalf.

Decimation and destruction

The city was decimated by an earthquake in the 60s AD, and was rebuilt independent of the support of Rome. The city was later overrun by the Saracens in the 7th and 8th centuries AD. Colossae was destroyed, ultimately, by the Turks in the 12th century, with the remnant of its population relocating, among other places, to nearby Chonae.

Modern legacy and study

As of 2015, it had never been excavated, though plans are reported for an Australian led expedition to the site.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Colossians, Epistle to the." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
  2. ↑ Cadwallader, Alan H.; Trainor, Michael (2011). "Colossae in Space and Time: Overcoming Dislocation, Dismemberment and Anachronicity". In Cadwallader, Alan H. & Trainor, Michael. Colossae in Space and Time: Linking to an Ancient City. Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus/Studien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testaments (NTOA/StUNT), Vol. 94. Göttingen, GER: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 9–47. ISBN 3647533971. Retrieved 17 February 2016. The case is made exhaustively in this book, over pages 11-37, wherein it states—after dispensing with a further false association of the ancient city with the island of Rhodes the home of The Colossus of Rhodes, which resulted in its being misplaced for hundreds of years (by "almost 200 kilometers to the south-west," p. 18ff)—in summary, that: "Colossae's various positions on early maps confirmed the confusion over identity [opening section title]. Cartographers positioned Colossae to the west (rather than south-east) of Laodicea7 or, as 'Conos', between Laodicea to the north-west and Hieropolis to the north-east.8 [p. 11] … 'Chonos' or some other guesttimation of the spelling of Honaz12 sometimes subsumed Colossae. [p. 13] … The inhabitants of the immediate vicinity of the ancient site [Colossae, which had ceased to exist] were shackled in bureaucratic tabulation for tax purposes to the town of Honaz. [p. 14] … When Frances Arundell's sketch of Honaz appeared in 1834, the town had descended from the mountain heights [it was a mountain fortress, Honazdağ] but it was similarly labelled, albeit after the fashion of Nicetas Choniates: 'Chonas, … anciently Colossae'.98 [p. 32] … The question was whether Honaz and Colossae were to be equated or separated and whether the contemporary Honaz was the means to pinpoint the ancient… site. [p. 33] … William Hamilton became the one credited with the separation of Colossae from Chonai with the former's location at the mound three kilometers to the north of Honaz.108 [p. 35] … Two photographs of the 'Ruines de Colossae' and 'Chonas' by Henri Carmignac published toward the endif the nineteenth century finally eliminated the concordant visualisation of the places that had been the legacy of Arundell (Fig. 11).113 [p. 37]." For much earlier sources presenting the errant historical opinion, see the next two citations.
  3. ↑ Smith, William (1854). "Colossae". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography.
  4. ↑ Pétridès, Sophrone (1908). "Colossae". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York, NY, USA.
  5. 1 2 Bruce, F.F. [Frederick Fyvie] (1980) [1969]. New Testament History. New York, NY, USA: Galilee/Doubleday. pp. 415f. ISBN 0385025335. Retrieved 17 February 2016. [Quoting:] Those churches which claimed an apostolic foundation attached great importance to the maintenance of the teaching which they had originally received. There were powerful forces at work in many of them which militated against the maintenance of that teaching; chief among these were those tendencies which in a few decades blossomed forth in the elaborate systems of the various schools of Gnosticism. One form of incipient Gnosticism is the syncretistic angel-cult of nonconformist Jewish foundation and pagan superstructure attacked in the Epistle to the Colossians. A further, less stable online source with access to these pages is available at , accessed same date.

Further reading

External links

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