Smyrna

myrrh

Smyrna

(myrrh), a city of Asia Minor, situated on the AEgean Sea, 40 miles north of Ephesus. Allusion is made to it in (Revelation 2:8-11) It was founded by Alexander the Great, and was situated twenty shades (2 1/2 miles) from the city of the same name, which after a long series of wars with the Lydians had been finally taken and sacked by Halyattes. The ancient city was built by some piratical Greeks 1500 years before Christ. It seems not impossible that the message to the church in Smyrna contains allusions to the ritual of the pagan mysteries which prevailed in that city. In the time of Strabo the ruins of the old Smyrna still existed, and were partially inhabited, but the new city was one of the most beautiful in all Asia. The streets were laid out as near as might be at right angles. There was a large public library there, and also a handsome building surrounded with porticos which served as a museum. It was consecrated as a heroum to Homer, whom the Smyrnaeans claimed as a countryman. Olympian games were celebrated here, and excited great interest. (Smyrna is still a large city of 180,000 to 200,000 inhabitants, of which a larger proportion are Franks than in any other town in Turkey; 20,000 are Greeks, 9000 Jews, 8000 Armenians, 1000 Europeans, and the rest are Moslems. --ED.)

Smyrna

A celebrated Ionian city situated at the head of a deep gulf on the western coast of Asia Minor, forty miles north by west of Ephesus. It was one of the richest and most powerful cities of that region, and was frequented by great numbers of Jews. A Christian church was established there at an early day, and was one of the seven churches addressed by Christ in the Revelation of John 1:11 2:8-11. It is still a prosperous commercial city, being visited by many foreign ships and by numerous caravans of camels from the interior.

It's population is nearly 150,000; of whom one-half are Turks, one-forth Greeks, and the remainder chiefly Armenians, Jews, and Franks. So many of its inhabitants are not Mohammedan, that it is called by the Turks Giaour Izmir, or Infidel Smyrna. It has a deep and capacious harbor, well protected except towards the west by the hills, which rise to a great height in the rear of the city, inclosing it on three sides. On these hills lie the scanty remains of the ancient city; among which is the ground-plot of the stadium, where is said to have occurred the martyrdom of Polycarp-the pupil of the apostle John, and very probably "the angel of the church in Ephesus," Revelation 2:8. Smyrna has been often devastated by earthquakes and conflagrations; multitudes perished there of the cholera in 1831, and 60,000 died of the plague in 1824; yet its fine situation secures a prompt recovery from every disaster. It is now the seat of important missionary efforts, and enjoys the ordinances of a Protestant church.

SMYRNA

smur'-na (Smurna):

1. Ancient:

Smyrna, a large ancient city on the western coast of Asia Minor, at the head of a gulf which reaches 30 miles inland, was originally peopled by the Asiatics known as the Lelages. The city seems to have been taken from the Lelages by the Aeolian Greeks about 1100 B.C.; there still remain traces of the cyclopean masonry of that early time. In 688 B.C. it passed into the possession of the Ionian Greeks and was made one of the cities of the Ionian confederacy, but in 627 B.C. it was taken by the Lydians. During the years 301 to 281 B.C., Lysimachus entirely rebuilt it on a new site to the Southwest of the earlier cities, and surrounded it by a wall. Standing, as it did, upon a good harbor, at the head of one of the chief highways to the interior, it early became a great trading-center and the chief port for the export trade. In Roman times, Smyrna was considered the most brilliant city of Asia Minor, successfully rivaling Pergamos and Ephesus. Its streets were wide and paved. Its system of coinage was old, and now about the city coins of every period are found. It was celebrated for its schools of science and medicine, and for its handsome buildings. Among them was the Homerium, for Smyrna was one of several places which claimed to be the birthplace of the poet. On the slope of Mt. Pagus was a theater which seated 20,000 spectators. In the 23 A.D. year a temple was built in honor of Tiberius and his mother Julia, and the Golden Street, connecting the temples of Zeus and Cybele, is said to have been the best in any ancient city. Smyrna early became a Christian city, for there was one of the Seven Churches of the Book of Revelation (2:8-11). There Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, was martyred, though without the sanction of the Roman government. It seems that the Jews of Smyrna were more antagonistic than were the Romans to the spread of Christianity, for it is said that even on Saturday, their sacred day, they brought wood for the fire in which Polycarp was burned. His grave is still shown in a cemetery there. Like many other cities of Asia Minor, Smyrna suffered frequently, especially during the years 178-80 A.D., from earthquakes, but it always escaped entire destruction. During the Middle Ages the city was the scene of many struggles, the most fierce of which was directed by Timur against the Christians. Tradition relates that there he built a tower, using as stones the heads of a thousand captives which he put to death, yet Smyrna was the last of the Christian cities to hold out against the Mohammedans; in 1424 it fell into the hands of the Turks. It was the discovery of America and the resulting discovery of a sea route to India which ruined the Smyrna trade.

2. Modern:

Modern Smyrna is still the largest city in Asia Minor, with a population of about 250,000, of whom half are Greek and less than one-fourth are Mohammedans. Its modern name, Ismir, is but a Turkish corruption of the ancient name. Even under the Turkish government the city is progressive, and is the capital of the Aidin vilayet, and therefore the home of a governor. Several railroads follow the courses of the ancient routes into the distant interior. In its harbor ships from all parts of the world may be seen. The ancient harbor of Paul's time has been filled in, and there the modern bazaars stand. The old stadium has been destroyed to make room for modern buildings, and a large part of the ancient city lies buried beneath the modern houses and the 40 mosques of which the city boasts. The better of the modern buildings, belonging to the government and occupied by the foreign consuls, stand along the modern quay. Traces of the ancient walls are still to be found. West of Mt. Pagus is the Ephesian gate, and the Black-gate, as the Turks call it, is near the railroad station. The castle upon Mt. Pagus, 460 ft. above the sea, dates from Byzantine times. The prosperity of Smyrna is due, not only to the harbor and the port of entry to the interior, but partly to the perfect climate of spring and autumn-the winters are cold and the summers are hot; and also to the fertility of the surrounding country. Figs, grapes, valonia, opium, sponges, cotton and liquorice root are among the chief articles of trade.

See also CHURCHES, SEVEN.

E. J. Banks

Myrrh, an ancient city of Ionia, on the western coast of Asia Minor, about 40 miles to the north of Ephesus. It is now the chief city of Anatolia, having a mixed population of about 200,000, of whom about one-third are professed Christians. The church founded here was one of the seven addressed by our Lord (Revelation 2:8-11). The celebrated Polycarp, a pupil of the apostle John, was in the second century a prominent leader in the church of Smyrna. Here he suffered martyrdom, A.D. 155.