Paphos
VIEW:29 DATA:01-04-2020
which boils, or is very hot
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
PAPHOS was the name of two cities in the W. of Cyprus, Old Paphos about a mile from the sea, New Paphos (now Baffo) about seven miles N.W. of this. The Phnician origin of the former need not be doubted; the latter was by tradition a Greek settlement, but in both the chief object of worship was the Papbian goddess, undoubtedly of Syrian origin, and worshipped under the form of a conical stone, though identified by the Greeks with Aphrodite. Old Paphos was desolate in the time of Jerome. New Paphos was the centre of the Roman administration in Cyprus. It was here that St. Paul encountered the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus in his first missionary journeythe first presentation of Christianity before Roman authorities (Act_13:6-12).
A. B. Hillard.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
A town in the western end of Cyprus, as Salamis was in the E. Paul passed through the isle from Salamis to Paphos (Act_13:6-13.) Here Barnabas and Saul were instrumental in converting Sergius Paulus the proconsul, in spite of Elymas' opposition. (See ELYMAS.) Saul is here called Paul when "filled with the Holy Spirit" he inflicted blindness from "the hand of the Lord" upon the sorcerer, and thenceforth became more prominent than Barnabas. Here Aphrodite or Venus was said to have risen from the foam of the sea. The harbor and town were at new Paphos, her temple at old Paphos.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Pa'phos. (boiling or hot). A town at the west end of Cyprus, connected by a tract with Salamis at the east end. It was founded B.C. 1184, (during the period of the judges in Israel). Paul and Barnabas travelled, on their first missionary expedition, "through the isle," from the latter place to the former. Act_13:6.
The great characteristic of Paphos was the worship of Aphrodite or Venus, who was fabled to have here risen from the sea. Her temple, however, was at "Old Paphos" now called Kuklia. The harbor and the chief town were at "New Paphos," ten miles to the northwest. The place is still called Baffa.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
a celebrated city of Cyprus, lying on the western coast of the island, where Venus (who from thence took the name of Paphia) had her most ancient and most famous temple; and here the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus, resided, whom St. Paul converted to Christianity, Act_13:6.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
pā?fos:
1. Site:
The name of two towns, Old (Παλαιὰ Πάφος, Palaiá Páphos, or Παλαίπαφος, Palaı́paphos) and New Paphos Νέα Πάφος, Néa Páphos), situated at the southwestern extremity of Cyprus. Considerable confusion is caused by the use of the single name Paphos in ancient writers to denote now one, now the other, of these cities. That referred to in Act_13:6, Act_13:13 is strictly called New Paphos (modern Baffa), and lay on the coast about a mile South of the modern Ktima and some 10 miles Northwest of the old city. The latter (modern Kouklia) is situated on an eminence more than a mile from the sea, on the left bank of the Diárrizo, probably the ancient Bocarus.
2. History of Old Paphos:
It was founded by Cinyras, the father of Adonis, or, according to another legend, by Aerias, and formed the capital of the most important kingdom in Cyprus except that of Salamis. Its territory embraced a considerable portion of Western Cyprus, extending northward to that of Soli, southward to that of Curium and eastward to the range of Troodus. Among its last kings was Nicocles, who ruled shortly after the death of Alexander the Great. In 310 BC Nicocreon of Salamis, who had been set over the whole of Cyprus by Ptolemy I of Egypt, was forced to put an end to his life at Paphos for plotting with Antigonus (Diodorus xx. 21, who wrongly gives the name as Nicocles; see Athenische Mitteilungen, XXII, 203 ff), and from that time Paphos remained under Egyptian rule until the Roman annexation of Cyprus in 58 BC. The growth of New Paphos brought with it the decline of the old city, which was also ruined by successive earthquakes. Yet its temple still retained much of its old fame, and in 69 AD Titus, the future emperor of Rome, turned aside on his journey to Jerusalem, which he was to capture in the following year, to visit the sacred shrine and to inquire of the priests into the fortune which awaited him (Tacitus History ii. 2-4; Suetonius Titus 5).
3. History of New Paphos:
New Paphos, originally the seaport of the old town, was founded, according to tradition, by Agapenor of Arcadia (Iliad ii. 609; Pausan. viii. 5, 2). Its possession of a good harbor secured its prosperity, and it had several rich temples. According to Dio Cassius (liv. 23) it was restored by Augustus in 15 BC after a destructive earthquake and received the name Augusta (Greek Sebaste). Under the Roman Empire it was the administrative capital of the island and the seat of the governor. The extant remains all date from this period and include those of public buildings, private houses, city walls and the moles of the harbor.
4. The Temple and Cult:
But the chief glory of Paphos and the source of its fame was the local cult, of which the kings and their descendants remained hereditary priests down to the Roman seizure of Cyprus. The goddess, identified with the Greek Aphrodite, who was said to have risen from the sea at Paphos, was in reality a Nature-goddess, closely resembling the Babylonian Ishtar and the Phoenician Astarte, a native deity of Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands. Her cult can be traced back at Paphos to Homeric times (Odyssey viii. 362) and was repeatedly celebrated by Greek and Latin poets (Aeschylus Suppl. 555; Aristoph. Lys. 833; Virgil Aen. i. 415; Horace Odes i. 19 and 30; iii. 26; Statius Silvae i. 2, 101, etc.). The goddess was represented, not by a statue in human form, but by a white conical stone (Max. Tyr. viii. 8; Tacitus History ii. 3; Servius Ad Aen. i. 724), of which models were on sale for the benefit of pilgrims (Athenaeus xv. 18); her worship was sensuous in character and she is referred to by Athanasius as the deification of lust (Contra Genres 9). Excavation has brought to light at Old Paphos a complex of buildings belonging to Roman times and consisting of an open court with chambers or colonnades on three sides and an entrance on the East only, the whole forming a quadrilateral enclosure with sides about 210 ft. long. In this court may have stood the altar, or altars, of incense (Homer speaks of a single altar, Virgil of ?a hundred altars warm with Sabean frankincense?); no blood might be shed thereon, and although it stood in the open it was ?wet by no rain? (Tacitus, loc. cit.; Pliny, NH, ii. 210). On the south side are the ruins of another building, possibly an earlier temple, now almost destroyed save for the western wall (Journal of Hellenic Studies, IX, 193-224). But the fact that no remains or inscriptions have been found here earlier than the Roman occupation of Cyprus militates against the view that the sanctuary stood at this spot from prehistoric times. Its site may be sought at Xylino, a short distance to the North of Kouklia (D.G. Hogarth, Times, August 5, 1910), or possibly on the plateau of Rhantidi, some 3 miles Southeast of the village, where numerous inscriptions in the old Cyprian syllabic script were found in the summer of 1910 (M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Times, July 29, 1910).
5. The Apostles' Visit:
After visiting Salamis and passing through the whole island, about 100 miles in length, Barnabas, Paul and Mark reached Paphos, the residence of the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus (for the title see CYPRUS). Here too they would doubtless begin by preaching in the synagogue, but the governor - who is probably the same Paulus whose name appears as proconsul in an inscription of Soli (D.G. Hogarth, Devia Cypria, 114) - hearing of their mission, sent for them and questioned them on the subject of their preaching. A Jew named Bar-Jesus or Elymas, who, as a Magian or soothsayer, ?was with the proconsul,? presumably as a member of his suite, used all his powers of persuasion to prevent his patron from giving his adherence to the new faith, and was met by Paul (it is at this point that the name is first introduced) with a scathing denunciation and a sentence of temporary loss of sight. The blindness which at once fell on him produced a deep impression on the mind of the proconsul, who professed his faith in the apostolic teaching. From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed in a northwesterly direction to Perga in Pamphylia (Act_13:6-13).
Paul did not revisit Paphos, but we may feel confident that Barnabas and Mark would return there on their 2nd missionary journey (Act_15:39). Of the later history of the Paphian church we know little. Tychicus, Paul's companion, is said to have been marryred there, and Jerome tells us that Hilarion sought in the neighborhood of the decayed and almost deserted town the quiet and retirement which he craved (Vita Hilar. 42). The Acta Barnabae speak of a certain Rhodon, who was attached to the temple service at Old Paphos, as having accepted the Christian faith.
Literature.
Besides the works already referred to, see Journal of Hellenic Studies, IX, 175-92 (citation of passages from ancient authors relating to Old Paphos, together with a list of medieval and modern authorities), 225-271 (inscriptions and tombs), and the bibliography appended to article CYPRUS.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Pa?phos, a city of Cyprus, at the western extremity of the island, and the seat of the Roman governor. That officer, when Paul visited the place, was named Sergius Paulus, who was converted through the preaching of the apostle and the miracle performed on Elymas (Act_13:6-11). Paphos was celebrated for a temple of Venus, whose infamous rites were still practiced here 400 years afterwards, notwithstanding the success of Paul, Barnabas, and others, in preaching the Gospel. Paphos is now a poor and inconsiderable place, but gives its name to a Greek bishopric.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Paphos
(Πάφος, of unknown etymology), a city of Cyprus, at the western extremity of the island, of which it was the chief city during the time of the Roman dominion, and there the governor resided. This functionary is called in the Acts of the Apostles (Act_13:7) deputy, and his name is said to have been Sergius Paulus. The word deputy signifies proconsul, and implies that the province administered by such an officer was under the especial rule of the senate. SEE DEPUTY.
Cyprus had originally been reserved by the emperor to himself, and governed accordingly by a propragator; but finding the island peaceful; and troops wanted in other parts of the empire, Augustus exchanged it with the senate for a more distant and troubled province, and the governor is therefore correctly styled in the Acts deputy or proconsul. At this time Cyprus was in a state of considerable prosperity; it possessed good roads, especially one running from east to west through the whole length of the island, from Salamis to Paphos, along which Paul and Barnabas traveled; an extensive commerce, and it was the resort of pilgrims to the Paphian shrine from all parts of the world (Fairbairn). The two missionaries found Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of the island, residing here, and were enabled to produce a considerable effect on his intelligent and candid mind. This influence was resisted by Elymas (or Bar-Jesus), one of those Oriental sorcerers whose mischievous power was so great at this period, even among the educated classes. Miraculous sanction was given to the apostles, and Elymas was struck with blindness. The proconsul's faith having been thus confirmed, and doubtless a Christian Church having been founded in Paphos, Barnabas and Saul crossed over to the continent and landed in Pamphylia (Act_13:13). It is observable that it is at this point that the latter becomes the more prominent of the two, and that his name henceforward is Paul, and not Saul (Σαῦλος ὁ καὶ Παῦλος, Act_13:9) (Smith). SEE PAUL.
The name of Paphos, without any adjunct, is used by poets and by writers of prose to denote both Old and New Paphos, but with this distinction, that in prose writers. it commonly means New Paphos, while in the poets, on the contrary for whom the name Palae-Paphos would have been unwieldy it generally signifies Old Paphos, the more peculiar seat of the worship of Aphrodite. In inscriptions also both towns are called Paphos. This indiscriminate use is sometimes productive of ambiguity, especially in the Latin prose authors.
1. Old Paphos (Παλαίπαφος), now Kuk'a or Konuklia (Engel, Kypros, 1:125), was said to have been founded by Cinyras, the father of Adonis (Apollod. iii 14); though, according to another legend preserved by Strabo (11:505) whose text, however, varies it was founded by the Amazons. It was seated on an eminence (celsa Paphos, Virgil, AEn. 10:51), at the distance of about ten stadia, or 11 miles, from the sea, on which, however, it had a roadstead. It was not far distant from the promontory of Lephyrium (Strabo, 14:683) and the mouth of the little river Bocarus (Hesych. s.v. Βώκαρος). The fable ran that Venus had landed there when she rose from out thesea (Tacit. Hist. 2:3; Mela, 2:7; Lucan, 8:456). According to Pausanias (i 14), her worship was introduced at Paphos from Assyria; but it is much more probable that it was of Phoenician origin. SEE PHOENICIA. It had been very anciently established, and before the time of Homer, as the grove and altar of Aphrodite at Paphos are mentioned in the Odyssey (8:362). Here the worship of the goddess centred, not for Cyprus alone, but for the whole earth. The Cinyradae, or descendants of Cinyras Greek by name, but of Phoenician origin were the chief priests. Their power and authority were very great; but it may be inferred from certain inscriptions that they were controlled by a senate and an assembly of the people. There was also an oracle here (Engel, I, 483). Few cities have ever been so much sung and glorified by the poets (comp. AEschylus, Suppl. 525; Virgil, AEn. 1:415; Horace, Od. 1:19, 30; 3:26; Stat: Silv. 1:2, 101; Aristoph. Lysis. 833, etc.). The remains of the vast temple of Aphrodite are still discernible, its circumference being marked by huge foundation-walls. After its overthrow by an earthquake, it was rebuilt by Vespasian, on whose coins it is represented, as well as on early and later ones, and especially in the most perfect style on those of Septimius Severus (Engel, 1:130). From these representations, and from the existing remains, Hetsch, an architect of Copenhagen, has attempted to restore the building (Miiller's Archaol. § 239, p. 261; Eckhel, 3:86). SEE VENUS.
2. New Paphos
(Πάφος Νέα), now Baffa, was seated on the sea, near the western extremity of the island, and possessed a good harbor. It lay about sixty stadia, or between seven and eight miles, northwest of the ancient city (Strabo, 14:683). It was said to have been founded by Agapenor, chief of the Arcadians at the siege of Troy (Homer, II. 2:609), who, after the capture of that town, was driven by the storm which separated the Grecian fleet on the coast of Cyprus (Pausan. viii, , § 3). We find Agapenor mentioned as king of the Paphians in a Greek distich preserved in the Analecta: (I, 181, Brunk); and Herodotus (vii- 90) alludes to an Arcadian colony in Cyprus. Like its ancient namesake, Nea Paphos was also distinguished for the worship of Venus, and contained several magnificent temples dedicated to that goddess. Yet in this respect the old city seems to have always retained the pre-eminence; and Strabo tells us, in the passage before cited, that the road leading to it from Nea Paphos was annually crowded with male and female votaries resorting to the more ancient shrine, and coming not only from the latter place itself, but also from the other towns of Cyprus. When Seneca says (Nat. Quest. 6:26, ep. 91) that Paphos was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, it is difficult to say to which of the towns he refers. Dion Cassius (54:23) relates that it was restored by Augustus, and called Augusta in his honor; but though this name has been preserved in inscriptions, it never supplanted the ancient one in popular use. Tacitus (Hist. 2:2,3) records a visit of the youthful Titus to Paphos before he acceded to the empire, who inquired with much curiosity into its history and antiquities (comp. Suetonius, Titus c. 5). Under this name the historian doubtless included the ancient as well as the more modern city; and among other traits of the worship of the temple, he records with something like surprise that the only image of the goddess was a pyramidal stone a relic, doubtless, of Phoenician origin. There are still considerable ruins of New Paphos a mile or two from the sea, among which are particularly remarkable the remains of three temples which had been erected on artificial eminences (Engel, Kypros, Berlin, 1841, 2 vols.). See Pococke, Disc. of the East, 2:325-328; Ross, Reise nach Kos, lalikarnasssos, Rhodos, u. Cyprus, p. 180192; Conybare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul (2d ed.), 1:190, 191; Lewin, St. Paul, 1:130 sq.; and the works cited above. SEE CYPRUS.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
PAPHOS was the name of two cities in the W. of Cyprus, Old Paphos about a mile from the sea, New Paphos (now Baffo) about seven miles N.W. of this. The Phnician origin of the former need not be doubted; the latter was by tradition a Greek settlement, but in both the chief object of worship was the Papbian goddess, undoubtedly of Syrian origin, and worshipped under the form of a conical stone, though identified by the Greeks with Aphrodite. Old Paphos was desolate in the time of Jerome. New Paphos was the centre of the Roman administration in Cyprus. It was here that St. Paul encountered the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus in his first missionary journeythe first presentation of Christianity before Roman authorities (Act_13:6-12).
A. B. Hillard.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
A town in the western end of Cyprus, as Salamis was in the E. Paul passed through the isle from Salamis to Paphos (Act_13:6-13.) Here Barnabas and Saul were instrumental in converting Sergius Paulus the proconsul, in spite of Elymas' opposition. (See ELYMAS.) Saul is here called Paul when "filled with the Holy Spirit" he inflicted blindness from "the hand of the Lord" upon the sorcerer, and thenceforth became more prominent than Barnabas. Here Aphrodite or Venus was said to have risen from the foam of the sea. The harbor and town were at new Paphos, her temple at old Paphos.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Pa'phos. (boiling or hot). A town at the west end of Cyprus, connected by a tract with Salamis at the east end. It was founded B.C. 1184, (during the period of the judges in Israel). Paul and Barnabas travelled, on their first missionary expedition, "through the isle," from the latter place to the former. Act_13:6.
The great characteristic of Paphos was the worship of Aphrodite or Venus, who was fabled to have here risen from the sea. Her temple, however, was at "Old Paphos" now called Kuklia. The harbor and the chief town were at "New Paphos," ten miles to the northwest. The place is still called Baffa.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
a celebrated city of Cyprus, lying on the western coast of the island, where Venus (who from thence took the name of Paphia) had her most ancient and most famous temple; and here the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus, resided, whom St. Paul converted to Christianity, Act_13:6.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
pā?fos:
1. Site:
The name of two towns, Old (Παλαιὰ Πάφος, Palaiá Páphos, or Παλαίπαφος, Palaı́paphos) and New Paphos Νέα Πάφος, Néa Páphos), situated at the southwestern extremity of Cyprus. Considerable confusion is caused by the use of the single name Paphos in ancient writers to denote now one, now the other, of these cities. That referred to in Act_13:6, Act_13:13 is strictly called New Paphos (modern Baffa), and lay on the coast about a mile South of the modern Ktima and some 10 miles Northwest of the old city. The latter (modern Kouklia) is situated on an eminence more than a mile from the sea, on the left bank of the Diárrizo, probably the ancient Bocarus.
2. History of Old Paphos:
It was founded by Cinyras, the father of Adonis, or, according to another legend, by Aerias, and formed the capital of the most important kingdom in Cyprus except that of Salamis. Its territory embraced a considerable portion of Western Cyprus, extending northward to that of Soli, southward to that of Curium and eastward to the range of Troodus. Among its last kings was Nicocles, who ruled shortly after the death of Alexander the Great. In 310 BC Nicocreon of Salamis, who had been set over the whole of Cyprus by Ptolemy I of Egypt, was forced to put an end to his life at Paphos for plotting with Antigonus (Diodorus xx. 21, who wrongly gives the name as Nicocles; see Athenische Mitteilungen, XXII, 203 ff), and from that time Paphos remained under Egyptian rule until the Roman annexation of Cyprus in 58 BC. The growth of New Paphos brought with it the decline of the old city, which was also ruined by successive earthquakes. Yet its temple still retained much of its old fame, and in 69 AD Titus, the future emperor of Rome, turned aside on his journey to Jerusalem, which he was to capture in the following year, to visit the sacred shrine and to inquire of the priests into the fortune which awaited him (Tacitus History ii. 2-4; Suetonius Titus 5).
3. History of New Paphos:
New Paphos, originally the seaport of the old town, was founded, according to tradition, by Agapenor of Arcadia (Iliad ii. 609; Pausan. viii. 5, 2). Its possession of a good harbor secured its prosperity, and it had several rich temples. According to Dio Cassius (liv. 23) it was restored by Augustus in 15 BC after a destructive earthquake and received the name Augusta (Greek Sebaste). Under the Roman Empire it was the administrative capital of the island and the seat of the governor. The extant remains all date from this period and include those of public buildings, private houses, city walls and the moles of the harbor.
4. The Temple and Cult:
But the chief glory of Paphos and the source of its fame was the local cult, of which the kings and their descendants remained hereditary priests down to the Roman seizure of Cyprus. The goddess, identified with the Greek Aphrodite, who was said to have risen from the sea at Paphos, was in reality a Nature-goddess, closely resembling the Babylonian Ishtar and the Phoenician Astarte, a native deity of Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands. Her cult can be traced back at Paphos to Homeric times (Odyssey viii. 362) and was repeatedly celebrated by Greek and Latin poets (Aeschylus Suppl. 555; Aristoph. Lys. 833; Virgil Aen. i. 415; Horace Odes i. 19 and 30; iii. 26; Statius Silvae i. 2, 101, etc.). The goddess was represented, not by a statue in human form, but by a white conical stone (Max. Tyr. viii. 8; Tacitus History ii. 3; Servius Ad Aen. i. 724), of which models were on sale for the benefit of pilgrims (Athenaeus xv. 18); her worship was sensuous in character and she is referred to by Athanasius as the deification of lust (Contra Genres 9). Excavation has brought to light at Old Paphos a complex of buildings belonging to Roman times and consisting of an open court with chambers or colonnades on three sides and an entrance on the East only, the whole forming a quadrilateral enclosure with sides about 210 ft. long. In this court may have stood the altar, or altars, of incense (Homer speaks of a single altar, Virgil of ?a hundred altars warm with Sabean frankincense?); no blood might be shed thereon, and although it stood in the open it was ?wet by no rain? (Tacitus, loc. cit.; Pliny, NH, ii. 210). On the south side are the ruins of another building, possibly an earlier temple, now almost destroyed save for the western wall (Journal of Hellenic Studies, IX, 193-224). But the fact that no remains or inscriptions have been found here earlier than the Roman occupation of Cyprus militates against the view that the sanctuary stood at this spot from prehistoric times. Its site may be sought at Xylino, a short distance to the North of Kouklia (D.G. Hogarth, Times, August 5, 1910), or possibly on the plateau of Rhantidi, some 3 miles Southeast of the village, where numerous inscriptions in the old Cyprian syllabic script were found in the summer of 1910 (M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Times, July 29, 1910).
5. The Apostles' Visit:
After visiting Salamis and passing through the whole island, about 100 miles in length, Barnabas, Paul and Mark reached Paphos, the residence of the Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus (for the title see CYPRUS). Here too they would doubtless begin by preaching in the synagogue, but the governor - who is probably the same Paulus whose name appears as proconsul in an inscription of Soli (D.G. Hogarth, Devia Cypria, 114) - hearing of their mission, sent for them and questioned them on the subject of their preaching. A Jew named Bar-Jesus or Elymas, who, as a Magian or soothsayer, ?was with the proconsul,? presumably as a member of his suite, used all his powers of persuasion to prevent his patron from giving his adherence to the new faith, and was met by Paul (it is at this point that the name is first introduced) with a scathing denunciation and a sentence of temporary loss of sight. The blindness which at once fell on him produced a deep impression on the mind of the proconsul, who professed his faith in the apostolic teaching. From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed in a northwesterly direction to Perga in Pamphylia (Act_13:6-13).
Paul did not revisit Paphos, but we may feel confident that Barnabas and Mark would return there on their 2nd missionary journey (Act_15:39). Of the later history of the Paphian church we know little. Tychicus, Paul's companion, is said to have been marryred there, and Jerome tells us that Hilarion sought in the neighborhood of the decayed and almost deserted town the quiet and retirement which he craved (Vita Hilar. 42). The Acta Barnabae speak of a certain Rhodon, who was attached to the temple service at Old Paphos, as having accepted the Christian faith.
Literature.
Besides the works already referred to, see Journal of Hellenic Studies, IX, 175-92 (citation of passages from ancient authors relating to Old Paphos, together with a list of medieval and modern authorities), 225-271 (inscriptions and tombs), and the bibliography appended to article CYPRUS.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Pa?phos, a city of Cyprus, at the western extremity of the island, and the seat of the Roman governor. That officer, when Paul visited the place, was named Sergius Paulus, who was converted through the preaching of the apostle and the miracle performed on Elymas (Act_13:6-11). Paphos was celebrated for a temple of Venus, whose infamous rites were still practiced here 400 years afterwards, notwithstanding the success of Paul, Barnabas, and others, in preaching the Gospel. Paphos is now a poor and inconsiderable place, but gives its name to a Greek bishopric.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
Paphos
(Πάφος, of unknown etymology), a city of Cyprus, at the western extremity of the island, of which it was the chief city during the time of the Roman dominion, and there the governor resided. This functionary is called in the Acts of the Apostles (Act_13:7) deputy, and his name is said to have been Sergius Paulus. The word deputy signifies proconsul, and implies that the province administered by such an officer was under the especial rule of the senate. SEE DEPUTY.
Cyprus had originally been reserved by the emperor to himself, and governed accordingly by a propragator; but finding the island peaceful; and troops wanted in other parts of the empire, Augustus exchanged it with the senate for a more distant and troubled province, and the governor is therefore correctly styled in the Acts deputy or proconsul. At this time Cyprus was in a state of considerable prosperity; it possessed good roads, especially one running from east to west through the whole length of the island, from Salamis to Paphos, along which Paul and Barnabas traveled; an extensive commerce, and it was the resort of pilgrims to the Paphian shrine from all parts of the world (Fairbairn). The two missionaries found Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of the island, residing here, and were enabled to produce a considerable effect on his intelligent and candid mind. This influence was resisted by Elymas (or Bar-Jesus), one of those Oriental sorcerers whose mischievous power was so great at this period, even among the educated classes. Miraculous sanction was given to the apostles, and Elymas was struck with blindness. The proconsul's faith having been thus confirmed, and doubtless a Christian Church having been founded in Paphos, Barnabas and Saul crossed over to the continent and landed in Pamphylia (Act_13:13). It is observable that it is at this point that the latter becomes the more prominent of the two, and that his name henceforward is Paul, and not Saul (Σαῦλος ὁ καὶ Παῦλος, Act_13:9) (Smith). SEE PAUL.
The name of Paphos, without any adjunct, is used by poets and by writers of prose to denote both Old and New Paphos, but with this distinction, that in prose writers. it commonly means New Paphos, while in the poets, on the contrary for whom the name Palae-Paphos would have been unwieldy it generally signifies Old Paphos, the more peculiar seat of the worship of Aphrodite. In inscriptions also both towns are called Paphos. This indiscriminate use is sometimes productive of ambiguity, especially in the Latin prose authors.
1. Old Paphos (Παλαίπαφος), now Kuk'a or Konuklia (Engel, Kypros, 1:125), was said to have been founded by Cinyras, the father of Adonis (Apollod. iii 14); though, according to another legend preserved by Strabo (11:505) whose text, however, varies it was founded by the Amazons. It was seated on an eminence (celsa Paphos, Virgil, AEn. 10:51), at the distance of about ten stadia, or 11 miles, from the sea, on which, however, it had a roadstead. It was not far distant from the promontory of Lephyrium (Strabo, 14:683) and the mouth of the little river Bocarus (Hesych. s.v. Βώκαρος). The fable ran that Venus had landed there when she rose from out thesea (Tacit. Hist. 2:3; Mela, 2:7; Lucan, 8:456). According to Pausanias (i 14), her worship was introduced at Paphos from Assyria; but it is much more probable that it was of Phoenician origin. SEE PHOENICIA. It had been very anciently established, and before the time of Homer, as the grove and altar of Aphrodite at Paphos are mentioned in the Odyssey (8:362). Here the worship of the goddess centred, not for Cyprus alone, but for the whole earth. The Cinyradae, or descendants of Cinyras Greek by name, but of Phoenician origin were the chief priests. Their power and authority were very great; but it may be inferred from certain inscriptions that they were controlled by a senate and an assembly of the people. There was also an oracle here (Engel, I, 483). Few cities have ever been so much sung and glorified by the poets (comp. AEschylus, Suppl. 525; Virgil, AEn. 1:415; Horace, Od. 1:19, 30; 3:26; Stat: Silv. 1:2, 101; Aristoph. Lysis. 833, etc.). The remains of the vast temple of Aphrodite are still discernible, its circumference being marked by huge foundation-walls. After its overthrow by an earthquake, it was rebuilt by Vespasian, on whose coins it is represented, as well as on early and later ones, and especially in the most perfect style on those of Septimius Severus (Engel, 1:130). From these representations, and from the existing remains, Hetsch, an architect of Copenhagen, has attempted to restore the building (Miiller's Archaol. § 239, p. 261; Eckhel, 3:86). SEE VENUS.
2. New Paphos
(Πάφος Νέα), now Baffa, was seated on the sea, near the western extremity of the island, and possessed a good harbor. It lay about sixty stadia, or between seven and eight miles, northwest of the ancient city (Strabo, 14:683). It was said to have been founded by Agapenor, chief of the Arcadians at the siege of Troy (Homer, II. 2:609), who, after the capture of that town, was driven by the storm which separated the Grecian fleet on the coast of Cyprus (Pausan. viii, , § 3). We find Agapenor mentioned as king of the Paphians in a Greek distich preserved in the Analecta: (I, 181, Brunk); and Herodotus (vii- 90) alludes to an Arcadian colony in Cyprus. Like its ancient namesake, Nea Paphos was also distinguished for the worship of Venus, and contained several magnificent temples dedicated to that goddess. Yet in this respect the old city seems to have always retained the pre-eminence; and Strabo tells us, in the passage before cited, that the road leading to it from Nea Paphos was annually crowded with male and female votaries resorting to the more ancient shrine, and coming not only from the latter place itself, but also from the other towns of Cyprus. When Seneca says (Nat. Quest. 6:26, ep. 91) that Paphos was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, it is difficult to say to which of the towns he refers. Dion Cassius (54:23) relates that it was restored by Augustus, and called Augusta in his honor; but though this name has been preserved in inscriptions, it never supplanted the ancient one in popular use. Tacitus (Hist. 2:2,3) records a visit of the youthful Titus to Paphos before he acceded to the empire, who inquired with much curiosity into its history and antiquities (comp. Suetonius, Titus c. 5). Under this name the historian doubtless included the ancient as well as the more modern city; and among other traits of the worship of the temple, he records with something like surprise that the only image of the goddess was a pyramidal stone a relic, doubtless, of Phoenician origin. There are still considerable ruins of New Paphos a mile or two from the sea, among which are particularly remarkable the remains of three temples which had been erected on artificial eminences (Engel, Kypros, Berlin, 1841, 2 vols.). See Pococke, Disc. of the East, 2:325-328; Ross, Reise nach Kos, lalikarnasssos, Rhodos, u. Cyprus, p. 180192; Conybare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul (2d ed.), 1:190, 191; Lewin, St. Paul, 1:130 sq.; and the works cited above. SEE CYPRUS.
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