Sardis

Sardis Gymnasium viewed from the Jewish Synagogue.
Photo © David E. Graves

Sardis (Mod. Sart)

Liberty Excavation Reports Requirements

INDEX of Sites

Sardis (Modern name is Sart) is an interesting and large site so you may need to narrow your survey a bit. I’ve spent several days there and still did not see everything. You will want to mention the synagogue and relevance to the NT. Ramsay, Hemer and Graves have identified several local references in the text of Revelation which you should point out. Remember to provide "the historical background of the site (including history of previous archaeological excavations, if any), objectives of the current excavation, progress at the site, and significance of discoveries to biblical study." Make sure to choose a good encyclopedia, journal articles, and books that specialize in the subject. This will give you a cross section of material. 

Online material: I highly recommend my books and articles. LINK

• Graves, David E. “Sardis.” Biblical Archaeology Vol. 1: An Introduction with Recent Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible (Moncton, N.B.: Electronic Christian Media, 2014), 245–48. Google Look Inside
• Graves, David E. Key Themes of the New Testament: A Survey of Major Theological Themes. Moncton, N.B.: Electronic Christian Media, 2013. pages 89–92. LINK
• Graves, David E. “Appendix B – The Graeco–Roman Literary Context For The Seven Messages Of Revelation.” In Key Themes of the New Testament: A Survey of Major Theological Themes, 335–48. Moncton, N.B.: Graves, 2013. Sardis is page 345. PDF or LINK
• Graves, David E.“ Jesus Speaks to Seven of His Churches, Part 2.” Bible and Spade 23, no. 3 (Summer 2010): 66–74. Sardis is pages 66–69.PDF or LINK
• Graves, David E. The Seven Messages of Revelation and Vassal Treaties: Literary Genre, Structure, and Function. Gorgias Dissertations Biblical Studies 41. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias, 2009. Amazon Look Inside
• Greenewalt Jr., Crawford H., Donald G. Sullivan, Christopher Ratté and Thomas N. Howe. “The Sardis Campaigns of 1981 and 1982.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Supplementary Studies. No. 23 (1985): 53–92. JSTOR
• Greenewalt Jr., Crawford H., Marcus L. Rautman and Recep Meric. “The Sardis Campaign of 1983.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Supplementary Studies. No. 24 (1986): 1–30. JSTOR
• Greenewalt Jr., Crawford H., Nicholas Cahill, Philip Stinson, and Fikret Yegül. The City of Sardis: Approaches in Graphic Recording, 2003.
• Mitten, David Gordon. “A New Look at Ancient Sardis.” Biblical Archaeologist 29, no. 3 (1966): 38–68. JSTOR
• Ramage, A., Craddock, P. (Eds.), Examination of the Sardis gold and the replication experiments, Monograph Volume 11, Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, in association with the British Museum Press, Cambridge, 2000.
• Ramsay, William M. St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel, 1896. LINK
• Ramsay, William M. The Letters to Seven Churches. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1904. LINK There is an newer edition with few differences but not online. Ramsay, William M. The Letters to Seven Churches: Updated Edition. Edited by Mark W. Wilson. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994, pages 259-85.
• Royalty, Robert M. “Etched or Sketched? Inscriptions and Erasures in the Messages to Sardis and Philadelphia (Rev. 3.1–13).” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 27, no. 4 (June 2005): 447–463. LINK

Available through Inter–Library Loan:

• Bonz, Marianne Palmer. “The Jewish Community of Ancient Sardis: A Reassessment of Its Rise to Prominence.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 93 (1990): 343–59.
• Foss, C. 1976. Byzantine and Turkish Sardis. Archaeological Exploration of Sardis. Monograph 4. Cambridge, MA
• Graves, David E.“ Sardis.” Biblical Archaeology Vol. 1: An Introduction with Recent Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible (Moncton, N.B.: Electronic Christian Media, 2014), 245–48. Google Look Inside
• Hanfmann, George M. A. Letters from Sardis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972.
• Hanfmann, G. M. A., and Ramage, N. H. Sculpture from Sardis. The Finds through 1975. Archaeological Exploration of Sardis. Report 2. Cambridge, MA, 1978.
• Hanfmann, George M. A., Nelson Glueck, and Jane C. Waldbaum. New Excavations at Sardis and Some Problems of Western Anatolian Archaeoogy. High Wycomb: University Microfilms, 1975.
• Hanfmann, George M. A., William E. Mierse, and Clive Foss, eds. Sardis from Prehistoric to Roman Times: Results of the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, 1958–1975. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983.
• Hanfmann, George M. A., and Jane C Waldbaum. A Survey of Sardis and the Major Monuments Outside the City Walls. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,, 1975.
• Hemer, Colin J. “The Sardis Letter and the Croesus Tradition.” New Testament Studies 19 (1972): 94–97.
• Hemer, Colin J. The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting. The Biblical Resource Series. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2001.
• Kraabel, A. T. “Impact of the Discovery of the Sardis Synagogue.” In Sardis from Prehistoric to Roman Times: Results of the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, 1958–1975, edited by George Maxim Anossov Hanfmann, William E. Mierse, and Clive Foss, 178–90. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983.
• Kraabel, A. T.  “Melito the Bishop and the Synagogue at Sardis: Text and Context.” Pp. 77–85 in Studies Presented to George M. A. Hanfmann, ed. D. G. Mitten, J. G. Pedley, and J. A. Scott. Monographs in Art and Archaeology 2. Mainz, 1971.Kraabel, A. T. “Hypsistos and the Synagogue at Sardis.” Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 10 (1969): 81–93.
• Kroll, John H. “The Greek Inscriptions of the Sardis Synagogue,” Harvard Theological Review 94 (2001): 5– 55.
• Mitten, David G. et  al., Sardis: Twenty-seven Years of Discovery. University of Chicago, 1987. See table of contents below:
• • “Prehistoric Sardis : a summary and forecast.” / David Gordon Mitten 
  • “Lydian Sardis.” / Andrew Ramage 
  • “Lydia and Sardis in Anatolian context.” / Machteld J. Mellink 
  • “The arts at Sardis.” / Nancy H. Ramage 
  • “Metalwork and metalworking at Sardis.” / Jane C. Waldbaum 
  • “Roman architecture at Sardis.” / Fikret K. Yegül 
  • “The synagogue at Sardis : Jews and Christians.” / A. Thomas Kraabel 
  • “Sardis in the Byzantine and Turkish eras.” / Jane Ayer Scott
• Pedley, J. G.  Ancient Literary Sources on Sardis. Archaeological Exploration of Sardis. Monograph 2. Cambridge, MA, 1972.
• Ramsay, William M. Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia. 2 vols. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1895.
•  Seager, A. R. 1972. “The Building History of the Sardis Synagogue.” American Journal of Archaeology 76:425–35.
• Yamauchi, Edwin M. “Sardis.” pages 68-76 in New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor: Light from Archaeology on Cities of Paul and the Seven Churches of Revelation. Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf & Stock, 2003.
• Yegul, F. K. 1986. The Bath-Gymnasium Complex at Sardis. Archaeological Exploration of Sardis. Report 3. Cambridge, MA.

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias:

The list of abbreviations can be found here. LINK

• Bonz, Marianne Palmer. “Sardis.” Pages 1194–96 in The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism, edited by John J. Collins and Daniel C. Harlow. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2010.
• Blaiklock, E. M. “Sardis.” Pages  328–30 in vol. 5 of The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 4, edited by Merrill C. Tenney. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 2009. 
• Burge, Gary M. “Sardis.” Pages 1168-69 in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible,  edited by Freedman, David Noel, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2000. 
• Pedley, John Griffiths. “Sardis (Place).” Pages 982-84 in vol. 5 of The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. 6 vols. Edited by David Noel Freedman, Gary A. Herion, David F. Graf, and John David Pleins. New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1992. 
• Kraabel A. T.  “Synagogues: Sardis synagogue (Turkey).”  Pages 678 in vol. 13 of New Catholic Encyclopedia. Edited by Thomas Carson. Detroit, Mich.: Gale, 2003. LINK
• Pfeiffer, Charles F., ed. “Sardis.”  Pages 497–99 in Wycliffe Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2000.
• Vailhé, Siméon. “Sardes.” Page 472 in vol. 13 of The Catholic Encyclopedia. 16 vols. Edited by  Condé Bénoist Pallen, Charles George Herbermann, and Edward Aloysius Pace. New York, N.Y.: Appleton Company, 1913. LINK. 

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Modified Feb 14, 2016. Copyright © 2016 Electronic Christian Media.