Bible Encyclopedia: Assos

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ASSOS

as'-os (Assos): An ancient city of Mysia in the Roman province of Asia, at which, according to Acts 20:13, Paul and Luke rested while on their way from Troas to Mitylene. Standing upon a conical-shaped rock on the southern coast of the Troad, it occupied one of the finest sites in Asia. The rock is about 700 ft. high; its sides are covered with terraces, both natural and artificial, and so steep is it that Stratoricus wrote of it: "If you wish to hasten your death, try and climb Assos." The view from the summit is extensive and magnificent.

The city, which is very ancient, is said to have been rounded by the Aeolians, and to have always been singularly Greek. As early as the 5th century B.C. it struck its own coins, and its coinage system continued until 235 A.D. One of its early rulers or tyrants was Hermeas, a eunuch, once a slave, who gave his niece in marriage to Aristotle. There the great Greek philosopher lived three years, from 348 to 345 B.C. During the time of the kings of Pergamus, the city bore the name of Apollonia. To the Byzantines it was known as Machramion, and at present the town, which has dwindled in importance under Turkish rule, is called Bekhram, a Turkish corruption of the Byzantine name.

The ruins of Assos are among the most imposing in Asia Minor, and yet they have long served as a quarry; from its public buildings the stones for the Constantinople docks were taken. The Turkish sultan Murad II presented the many beautiful bas-reliefs of the Doric temple of Athene to the French government, which are now preserved in the Louvre. The ruins were carefully explored and partially excavated in 1882-83 by Mr. Clarke for the Archaeological Institute of America, and the entire plan of the ancient city is clear. Upon the very summit of the hill stood the temple of Athena which is said to have been erected about 470 B.C. Among its ruins Clarke found eight other bas-reliefs which are now in the Boston Museum and which possess a special interest because of their connection between the art of the Orient and of Greece.

Upon the several natural terraces of the hill which have been enlarged by artificial means, stood the many public buildings, as the gymnasium, the public treasury, the baths, the market place and theater, of which but little now remains. The city was surrounded by a double wall which in places is still well preserved. The inner wall of dressed stones laid without mortar, and filled with loose stones, is 8 ft. thick, and the larger outer wall was protected with towers at intervals of 60 ft. The ancient road leading to Troas was well paved. The harbor from which Paul sailed has now been filled up and is covered with gardens, but at its side is the modern harbor protected by an artificial mole, about which are clustered the few houses bearing the name of Bekhram. Upon the summit of the hill, by the ruins of the temple, are cisterns, a Turkish fortress and a Byzantine church which has been converted into a mosque. Without the city walls is a necropolis. Its many sarcophagi of all ages and sizes and shapes are made of the native trachyte stone which, so the ancients believed, possessed the quality of consuming the bodies buried in it. The stone is the famous "Lapis Assius," or the flesh-eating, hence the word sarcophagus. In former times wheat was raised extensively in the fields about Assos, but now valonia, or acorn cups, form the chief article for export.

E. J. Banks

Greek

789. Assos -- Assos, a city on the W. coast of Asia Minor
... 788, 789. Assos. 790 . Assos, a city on the W. coast of Asia Minor. Part
of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: Assos Phonetic ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/789.htm - 6k

Library

Paul's Journeys Acts 13:1-38:31
... Paul's company went by ship first to Assos, where Paul met them; he having
covered the distance of about twenty miles on foot. At ...
/.../sell/bible studies in the life of paul/ii pauls journeys acts 13 1-38 31.htm

Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem
... The apostle himself, however, chose to take the nearer route by land between
Troas and Assos, meeting his companions at the latter city. ...
/.../white/the acts of the apostles/lesson 37 pauls last journey.htm

Acts XX
... (13) "We went forward to the ship, and sailed for Assos, intending there to take ...
(14) "And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. ...
/.../mcgarvey/a commentary on acts of the apostles/acts xx.htm

In the Beginning God Made the Heaven and the Earth.
... i. 14, "Cleanthes" (of Assos, c. 264 bc, a disciple of Zeno) "autem tum ipsum mundum
Deum dicit esse; tum totius naturæ menti atque animo tribuit hoc nomen ...
/.../basil/basil letters and select works/homily i in the beginning.htm

The Iranian Conquest
History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 9. <. ...
/.../chapter ithe iranian conquest.htm

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Assos

approaching; coming near

ATS Bible Dictionary

Assos

A seaport in Mysia, opposite to the island of Lesbos on the north. Here Paul took ship for Mitylene, Acts 20:13. It is now a poor village, called Beiram.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A sea-port town of Proconsular Asia, in the district of Mysia, on the north shore of the Gulf of Adramyttium. Paul came hither on foot along the Roman road from Troas (Acts 20:13, 14), a distance of 20 miles. It was about 30 miles distant from Troas by sea. The island of Lesbos lay opposite it, about 7 miles distant.

Thesaurus

Assos (2 Occurrences)
... It was about 30 miles distant from Troas by sea. The island of Lesbos lay opposite
it, about 7 miles distant. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. ASSOS. ...
/a/assos.htm - 10k

Mitylene (1 Occurrence)
... It lies between Assos and Chios. ... Mitylene (1 Occurrence). Acts 20:14 When he
met us at Assos, we took him aboard, and came to Mitylene. ...
/m/mitylene.htm - 9k

Afoot (3 Occurrences)
... a-foot' (pezeuo, "to go on foot"): By walking from Troas to Assos Paul avoided the
tedious voyage round Cape Lectum (Acts 20:13 the King James Version; compare ...
/a/afoot.htm - 7k

Aboard (10 Occurrences)
... Acts 20:13 But we who went ahead to the ship set sail for Assos, intending to take
Paul aboard there, for he had so arranged, intending himself to go by land. ...
/a/aboard.htm - 9k

Board (47 Occurrences)
... Acts 20:13 But we who went ahead to the ship set sail for Assos, intending to take
Paul aboard there, for he had so arranged, intending himself to go by land. ...
/b/board.htm - 23k

Ass's (7 Occurrences)

/a/ass's.htm - 8k

Ship (122 Occurrences)
... Acts 20:13 But we who went ahead to the ship set sail for Assos, intending to take
Paul aboard there, for he had so arranged, intending himself to go by land. ...
/s/ship.htm - 36k

Intending (24 Occurrences)
... Acts 20:13 But we who went ahead to the ship set sail for Assos, intending to take
Paul aboard there, for he had so arranged, intending himself to go by land. ...
/i/intending.htm - 13k

Trogyllium (1 Occurrence)
... A town on the western coast of Asia Minor, where Paul "tarried" when on his way
from Assos to Miletus, on his third missionary journey (Acts 20:15). Int. ...
/t/trogyllium.htm - 8k

Directed (75 Occurrences)
... Acts 20:13 And we, having gone before on board ship, sailed off to Assos, going
to take in Paul there; for so he had directed, he himself being about to go on ...
/d/directed.htm - 26k

Bible Concordance

Assos (2 Occurrences)

Acts 20:13 But we who went ahead to the ship set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for he had so arranged, intending himself to go by land.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 20:14 When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard, and came to Mitylene.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Subtopics

Assos

Assos or Assus

Assos: A Seaport in Mysia

Related Terms

Mitylene (1 Occurrence)

Afoot (3 Occurrences)

Aboard (10 Occurrences)

Board (47 Occurrences)

Ass's (7 Occurrences)

Ship (122 Occurrences)