Patara

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trodden under foot
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


PATARA.—A great seaport on the coast of Lycia, a few miles E. of the mouth of the Xanthus. The valley of this river is the best part of Lycia, and doubtless from early times Patara had a local trade, but its importance depended on its convenient position for the trade between the West and the Levant. The prevailing winds in this part of the Mediterranean are from the west (especially in the autumn), and ships sailing from the Ægean or from Italy to Phœnicia or Egypt would often risk the voyage straight across the sea from Patara. Thus we find St. Paul on his last journey to Jerusalem (Act_21:2), after coasting in a slow vessel along the Ægæan, taking a vessel that was sailing straight from Patara to Tyre. Cf. Myra.
Lycia was never definitely colonized by Greeks, and the Lycians spoke a non-Aryan language. But Patara had an early culture,—its coins date from b.c. 440, and the chief Lycian god was identified with Apollo, whose celebrated oracle at Patara gave him the title Patareus (Hor. Od. iii. lv., 64).
A. E. Hillard.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


A city on the S.W. shore of Lycia, near the left bank of the Xanthus and opposite Rhodes (Act_21:1-2). Paul coming from Rhodes at the end of his third missionary journey here found a ship going to Phoenicia, and in it completed his voyage. The seat of a bishopric subsequently. The river and harbor are now becoming choked with sand.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Pat'ara. (city of Patarus). A Lycian city, situated on the southwestern shore of Lycia, not far from the left bank of the river Xanthus. The coast, here, is very mountainous and bold. Immediately opposite is the island of Rhodes. Patara was, practically, the seaport of the city of Xanthus, which was ten miles distant. These notices of its position and maritime importance introduce us to the single mention of the place in the Bible ? Act_21:1-2.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


pat?a-ra (τὰ Πάταρα, tá Pátara): A coast city of ancient Lycia, from which, according to Act_21:1, Paul took a ship for Phoenicia. Because of its excellent harbor, many of the coast trading ships stopped at Patara, which therefore became an important and wealthy port of entry to the towns of the interior. As early as 440 BC autonomous coins were struck there; during the 4th and the 3rd centuries the coinage was interrupted, but was again resumed in 168 BC when Patara joined the Lycian league. Ptolemy Philadelphus enlarged the city, and changed its name to Arsinoe in honor of his wife. The city was celebrated not only as a trading center, but especially for its celebrated oracle of Apollo which is said to have spoken only during the six winter months of the year. Among the ruins there is still to be seen a deep pit with circular steps leading to a seat at the bottom; it is supposed that the pit is the place of the oracle. In the history of early Christianity, Patara took but little part, but it was the home of a bishop, and the birthplace of Nicholas, the patron saint of the sailors of the East. Though born at Patara, Nicholas was a bishop and saint of Myra, a neighboring Lycian city, and there he is said to have been buried. Gelemish is the modern name of the ruin. The walls of the ancient city may still be traced, and the foundations of the temple and castle and other public buildings are visible. The most imposing of the ruins is a triumphal arch bearing the inscription: ?Patara the Metropolis of the Lycian Nation.? Outside the city walls many sarcophagi may be seen, but the harbor, long ago choked by sand, has been converted into a useless swamp. See also MYRA.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


Pat?ara, a port of Lycia in Asia Minor, where Paul, on his voyage to Jerusalem, changed his ship for one bound to Phoenicia (Act_21:1-2). Patara was at the mouth of the river Xanthus, and had a famous temple and oracle of Apollo.




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


Patara
(Πάταρα, neut. plur.), a considerable town of Lycia, in Asia Minor, opposite the island of Rhodes. Patara was a very ancient city, and is said to have been founded by Patarus (Strabo, 14:3, p. 665), a son of Apollo (Steph. Byz. s.v.). It was already celebrated in the time of Herodotus for a temple and oracle of this deity (1:182), who is called by Horace on this account Patareus (lib. 3, ode 4:1. 64), and the coins of Patara bear the representation of his temple. In fact, the worship of this divinity prevailed in Lycia to an extent nearly equal to that of Diana in the neighboring province of Lydia. It appears to have been colonized by the Dorians. Strabo tells us that Ptolemy Philadelphus repaired it, and called it the Lycian Arsinoi, but its old name was retained (l.c.). Patara was situated on the south-western shore of Lycia, not far from the left bank of the river Xanthus. The coast here is very mountainous and bold. Patara was practically the seaport of the city of Xanthus, which was ten miles distant (Appian, B.C. 4:81). Its inhabitants availed themselves. of the great commercial advantages of their situation, and carried on an extensive trade with Egypt, Syria, and Cyprus. The river Xanthus was navigable beyond the city of that name for vessels of large tonnage, and the whole valley was thickly peopled by a cultivated and luxurious race. The beauty of the scenery, the fertility of the soil, and the healthiness of the climate, all tended to make the valley of the Xanthus a favorite residence, and the magnificent ideas and taste of its inhabitants are proved by the extensive remains of antiquity found along the whole course of the river. Patara derived great benefit from the independence of the country of which it was the chief seaport, and it was not reduced to the ordinary condition of a Roman province till the reign of the emperor Claudius. The coast of Lycia about this city is rocky and picturesque, and the rugged spurs of the Taurian chain terminate here in the abrupt promontories of Cragus and Anticragus, the one on the east and the other on the west of the river Xanthus. Patara preserved its importance as a seaport through all the revolutions which affected Lycia. It furnished a considerable fleet in that memorable war waged against the Greeks by Persia, of which empire Lycia formed a part. In later and more anarchical times its inhabitants addicted themselves to piracy, and acquired an unenviable reputation by their depredations. These notices of its position and maritime importance introduce us to the single mention of the place in the Bible (Act_21:1-2). Paul was on his way to Jerusalem at the close of his third missionary journey. He had just come from Rhodes (Act_21:1); and at Patara hefound a ship, Which was on the point of going to Phoenicia (Act_21:2), and in which he completed his voyage (Act_21:3). This illustrates the mercantile connection of Patara with both the eastern and western parts of the Levant. A good parallel to the apostle's voyage is to be found in Livy (Livy 37:16). The commercial dealings of Lycia and Phaenicia made it extremely probable that Patara would be the place from whence such a passage could be made with the most certainty, and from hence the apostle sailed to Tyre. At the time of Paul's visit it must have been a splendid as well as an influential and populous city. Some of its ruins are of great extent and beauty; and Livy, speaking of Lycia, calls Patara “caput gentis” (37:15; comp. Pomp. Mela, 1:15; Polyb. 22:26). In sailing from Rhodes to Patara, Paul had before him some of the grandest scenery in the East. Crossing the channel from the little harbor of Rhodes, the vessel would skirt for a time the bold coast, and then, passing a noble headland, it would open up the rich valley of the Xanthus, and the little plain at its mouth, which extends some eight miles along the shore, and six or seven inland. Near the eastern extremity of this plain stood Patara, close upon the beach, separated from the river Xanthus by a broad belt of loose sand, which the wind and waves have drifted up into bare mounds and hills. The site of the city is now a desert; many of its principal buildings are almost covered with sand; and its harbor, into which Paul sailed, is now a dismal, pestilential marsh. The walls of Patara can still be traced. The triple arch of one of its gates is standing; so also are the remains of a theater scooped out in the side of a hill (Leake, Asia Minor, p. 320); of baths near the sea; of an old castle commanding the harbor; and. of temples, altars, columns, and houses, now ruined and mutilated. A Greek inscription over the great city gateway mentions, “Patara the metropolis of the Lycians” (Fellows, Lycia, p. 222 sq.; Beaufort, Karmania, p. 2 sq.; Spratt and Forbes, Travels in Lycia, i, p. 30 sq.; 2:189). The desolate ruins now bear the same name. Paul did not remain long at Patara; he probably left a few hours after his arrival; yet Christianity obtained a footing in the city, and it subsequently became the seat of a bishop, and was represented in the Council of Nice (Hierocl. p. 684). See in addition to the works above cited, Conybeare and Howson, St. Paul, 2:226; Lewin, St. Paul, 2:99; Smith, Dict. of Class. Geog. s.v. SEE LYCIA.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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