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Archaeology and the Bible

Putting Paul On the Map: important sanctuary complex. Originating in the fourth
century B.C., it remained in use through the fourth
Apostle's Name Found On Cyprus century A.D. The sanctuary includes a 210-foot-long
Inscription corridor, a portico and a training stadium, Giudice
says.
Italian archaeologists at Paphos, on the rocky, sun-
drenched southwestern coast of Cyprus, say they have "Epigraphic and iconographic evidence suggests there
uncovered the earliest material evidence of Paul's were cults to Apollo and Artemis," he says. "Fragments
presence on the island. Until now, the apostle's visit of surgical tools and anatomical vases imply there may
was known only from the New Testament, which re- also have been a pre-Christian cult of Aesculapius, son
lates that Paul, on his first missionary journey, "sailed of Apollo and the god of medicine." In the early 1990s
to Cyprus," where he crossed "the whole island as far the excavators reached the westernmost sanctuary area,
as Paphos" (Acts 13:4-6). Local tradition dates Paul's where the early Christian basilica had been built over
visit to about 45 A.D. the old sanctuary after an imperial decree abolished
pagan cults in 394 A.D.
According to Filippo Giudice, who heads an Italian ar-
chaeological team that has operated in Paphos since According to the Book of Acts, Paul converted Sergius
1988, the letters on a fragmentary inscription on a Paulus, the governor of Paphos, to Christianity (Acts
marble plaque may refer to Paul. The top line of the 13:12). A more complete conversion of Cyprus to
Greek inscription reads LOY, while OSTO appears be- Christianity was the work of the mystic monk St. Hi-
low, which Giudice reconstructs as (PAU)LOY larion of Gaza (c. 291-371 A.D.), whose life and trav-
(AP)OSTO(LOY), "Paul apostle." The inscription, found els were recorded by the desert monk St. Jerome. As a
in an early Christian basilica, is thought to date to the youth, Hilarion left Palestine for Egypt and then Sicily
first or second century A.D. before venturing eastward to settle and to seek conver-
sions on Cyprus. The construction of the basilica pre-
sumably dates from the period of Hilarion's preaching
But the initial letter P is missing, so it may signify there.
Saul rather than Paul. "Unfortunately, the first letters
of the inscription have been lost, so we do not know if
he was known then as Saulos [his Jewish name] or Pau- However, as Giudice points out, the fragment far pre-
los, the Greek form of Paulus, a Roman nickname dates Hilarion. "On the basis of the style of the inscrip-
meaning 'small,'" Professor Giudice reported in the tion, we can date the inscription from the first or
Milan daily Il Sole 24 Ore. second century," he said.

"The Pafio [Paphos] fragment allows us to begin to re-
Giudice, who teaches archaeology and Greco-Roman construct the map of Paul's movements from Anatolia
art history at the University of Catania in Sicily, com- to Arabia, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus and then in the West
pares the find to a well-known fourth-century Latin in- to Malta, Pozzuoli and Rome, the place of his martyr-
scription from Rome: PAULO APOSTOLO dom," Giudice said.
MART[YRI], which means "Paul, apostle and martyr." -- Judith Harris, Rome.
"The Paphos fragmentary inscription appears remarka- Biblical Archaeology Review, Jan/Feb. 2000
bly similar to that appearing on the apostle's tomb in
the Basilica of St. Paul in Rome," he said in a tele-
phone interview. First Century Amulet Depicts Mira-
cles of Jesus
Ancient Paphos was a sprawling coastal city that in-
cluded an elegant villa where Cicero may have so- Benjamin Hartman,
journed. Giudice's archaeological team was assigned a Review Staff Reporter
section initially identified by local archaeologists as a
military barracks and a related temple, dating from the JERUSALEM, Israel - Who wore this ancient, finely
Ptolemaic period (294-58 B.C.). Subsequent excava- crafted amulet? Carefully wrapped in a leather pocket
tions, however, gradually revealed a larger and more and worn around the neck or the arm, it was

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