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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

SARDIS

Important city in the Roman province of Asia, once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia. It lay astride great highways linking it to the coastal regions to the west and to eastern Asia Minor. It was a cultural, religious, and commercial center. Under King Croesus (c. 560–547 BC), its wealth became legendary. In his day gold and silver coinage came into use. The geography and topography of Sardis were advantageous. The Pactolus River lay on its eastern side and flowed eventually into the Hermus River. The broad ridge of Mt Tmolus, springing from the central plateau, dominates the Hermus Valley to its north, and a series of steep spurs jut out into the plain, offering strongholds. Sardis lay on one of these. The site of Sardis proper lay 1,500 feet (457.2 meters) above the plain and assumed a position of great importance from the earliest days of the Lydian kingdom (13th century BC), although it was occupied in earlier times; the lower city spread to the valley floor. The king lived in the great acropolis, which became a place of refuge in time of war.

In 334 BC the city surrendered to Alexander the Great, who left a garrison on the acropolis. Following Alexander’s death, Sardis changed hands several times. It was controlled first by Antigonus, then by the Seleucid rulers, and then by Pergamum, which had broken away from the Seleucids. When Antiochus III (231–187 BC) sought to restore the city to his rule, the lower city was burned (216 BC) and the citadel entered (214 BC). After the defeat of Antiochus III by Pergamum and the Romans, Sardis was placed under Pergamum’s jurisdiction until 133 BC. Later it became a Roman administrative center and, although enjoying considerable prosperity during the first three centuries AD, it never again held the prominence of earlier centuries. It was overlooked in AD 26 when the cities of Asia Minor vied with one another for the honor of building a second temple for the Caesar cult. A great earthquake destroyed the city in AD 17, and Emperor Tiberius assisted in its rebuilding on the valley floor.

Christianity took root here before the end of the first century and later included a bishopric. The NT letter to “the angel of the church in Sardis” (Rv 1:11; 3:1-6) gives insight into the condition of the church at that time. After the Arab invasion of AD 716, the city declined. Today the small village of Sart preserves its name.

Extensive excavations in recent years have identified many Roman public buildings: a theater, a temple of Artemis, a gymnasium, and an impressive late-Jewish synagogue, suggesting that it became an important center for the Jewish Diaspora.