Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LYCIA

(Gk. Lykía; Akk. Lukki)

A wooded, mountainous country on the southwest coast of Asia Minor. Lycia is bordered on the west by Caria, on the east by Pamphylia, and on the north by Phrygia and Pisidia. The coastal region is enriched by the fertile Xanthus Valley. The region was colonized early by the Greeks, whose cultural influence is evident in the presence of Greek theaters in most of the towns. The Lycians are mentioned in the Iliad (2.876-7; cf. 6.184) as a brave, warlike people who produced such heroes as Glaucus and Sarpedon, and who sided with the Trojans in the Trojan War. Lycia was successively dominated by the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, and Seleucids. When the Romans seized control in 188 b.c.e., they gave Lycia to Rhodes, which the Lycians opposed bitterly. Consequently, the Romans granted Lycia her freedom in 169. The consul Lucius Calpurnius Piso is said to have written a letter confirming an alliance with the Jews of Lycia (1 Macc. 15:23). Lycia was made a Roman province in 43 c.e. and was joined to Pamphylia as a double province in 74. The country’s most important cities were the ports of Patara and Myra, where Paul changed ships on his missionary journeys (Acts 21:1; 27:5). From there a thriving commerce was carried on with Alexandria. Lycia was renowned for worship of Apollo, who spent his winters there, according to Greek mythology.

Bibliography. C. B. Avery, “Lycia,” in The New Century Handbook of Classical Geography (New York, 1972), 187; L. Schmitz, “Lycia,” in A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, ed. W. Smith (1870, repr. New York, 1966), 2:223-26.

Richard A. Spencer

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LYCIA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)