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SARDIS

(Gk. Sárdeis)

A city in Asia Minor listed among the seven churches of Rev. 1:11 (cf. 3:1-6). Founded as early as 1200 b.c., Sardis was an ancient capital of the kingdom of Lydia which was conquered by the Persians in the 6th century. Alexander’s defeat of the Persians in 334 brought independence, but it was once again conquered and made a provincial capital by the Seleucids. Roman occupation began in 189, and for two centuries Sardis lived under the government of Pergamum.

Excavations at Sardis have uncovered the acropolis, impressive monumental buildings, a gymnasium, and a temple dedicated to Artemis (which imitated that of Diana in Ephesus). The most important find is a basilica that was transformed into a synagogue in the 3rd century a.d.; its monumental size and decor suggest that the Jewish community enjoyed considerable wealth and prestige — and may have lived in some competition with the young church growing in the city (cf. Rev. 3:9). This discovery puts in question the assumption that the Jewish (and Jewish-Christian) communities lived in some seclusion or in their own religious enclave.

Sardis and Laodicea receive the harshest criticism in the letters of Revelation. Even though the church was in severe spiritual jeopardy, some of its members were faithful and had not “soiled their clothes” (Rev. 3:4).

The church of Sardis continued to grow in the Patristic period. Melito was bishop of Sardis in the 2nd century and wrote prolifically — especially criticizing the rival Jewish community. By the 4th century Christianity was growing rapidly in the empire, and at Sardis a large basilica complex was built. Bishops are recorded for Sardis till the 14th century, but the subsequent Turkish conquests put an end to the city’s ecclesiastical leadership.

Bibliography. C. Foss, Byzantine and Turkish Sardis (Cambridge, Mass., 1976); G. M. A. Hanfmann, Sardis from Prehistoric to Roman Times (Cambridge, Mass., 1975); J. G. Pedley, Ancient Literary Sources on Sardis (Cambridge, Mass., 1972); A. R. Seager, “The Building History of the Sardis Synagogue,” AJA 76 (1972): 425-35.

Gary M. Burge

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SARDIS

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)