The ruins in the Agora are all that remain of classical Smyrna in Izmir today (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Patrick Comerford
We are still celebrating Epiphany-tide today (8 January 2023). The week began with the First Sunday of Epiphany yesterday (7 January 2024), and the Baptism of Christ is marked liturgically today only if the Epiphany was celebrated yesterday rather than on Saturday.
Christmas is not a season of 12 days, but a 40-day season that lasts from Christmas Day (25 December) to Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February).
I am still shaken by the Civud symptoms that kep two of us at home all last week, and that have prevented me from going to church for two successive Sundays. Whatever today may hold, before the day begins I am taking some time this morning for reading, reflection and prayer.
My reflections each morning during the seven days of this week include:
1, A reflection on one of the seven churches named in Revelation 2-3 as one of the recipients of letters from Saint John on Patmos;
2, the Gospel reading of the day;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.
Under the Romans, Smyrna vied with Ephesus for the title of First City of Asia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)The Churches of the Book of Revelation: 2, Smyrna:
Smyrna is one of the seven churches in Asia Minor to receive a letter from Saint John as he describes his revelation on Patmos: Ephesus (Revelation 2: 1-7), Smyrna (Revelation 2: 8-11), Pergamum (Revelation 2: 12-17), Thyatira (Revelation 2: 18-29), Sardis (Revelation 3: 1-6), Philadelphia (Revelation 3: 7-13) and Laodicea (Revelation 3: 14-22).
The second letter in these chapters is addressed to the Church in Smyrna, known in modern Turkey as Izmir. The Book of Revelation tells us the Church in Smyrna was poor and the Christians of Smyrna were suffering persecution (Revelation 2: 9). But – in contrast to the other six churches – nothing negative is said about the Church of Smyrna.
Smyrna (Σμύρνη) probably dates back to the first half of the third millennium BCE, and became one of the wealthiest cities in that part of the ancient and classical world. The Temple of Athena dated back to the seventh century BCE. The city was subsequently relocated and rebuilt by Lysimachus, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. Alongside Ephesus, it became one of the most important coastal cities in Asia Minor. As one of the principal cities of Roman Asia, Smyrna vied with Ephesus and Pergamum for recognition as the ‘First City of Asia.’
Smyrna was a centre of the imperial cult, with a temple to the Emperor Augustus and his mother, and a temple to Tiberius, even though he had never been officially deified by the Roman senate.
There was a Christian church in Smyrna from a very early time, probably originating in the considerable Jewish colony. Saint Ignatius of Antioch visited Smyrna and later wrote letters to its bishop, Saint Polycarp. By the time Polycarp was bishop, Smyrna had a population of 100,000. Polycarp’s story provides the first authentic post-Biblical narrative of the martyrdom of a leading Christian. He is thought to have lived around 69-156 CE, and is said to have been converted by Saint John, who appointed him Bishop of Smyrna. He was arrested and was burned to death in the stadium in Smyrna.
Saint Irenaeus, who heard Polycarp as a boy, was probably a native of Smyrna. Polycrates recounts a succession of bishops, including Polycarp, and the church in Smyrna was one of only two that Tertullian acknowledged as having some form of apostolic succession.
The Turks first captured Smyrna in 1076 under the Seljuk commander Caka Bey, who used Smyrna as a base for naval raids. After his death in 1102, the city returned to Byzantine rule, but a century later it was captured by the Knights of Rhodes when Constantinople was conquered by the Crusaders in 1204.
Until the 13th century, Smyrna remained one of the largest cities in our civilisation. It was recaptured in the early 14th century by the Turks under Umur Bey, who used the city as a base for naval raids. In 1344, the Genoese took back the castle, but Smyrna was captured by the Ottomans in 1389.
Fleeing the Spanish inquisition, Ladino-speaking Jews first arrived in Smyrna around 1492, and the city became one of their principal centres in the Ottoman Empire. The emergence of Smyrna as a major international port in the 17th century was helped by its attraction to foreigners and its European cultural attractions. In 1620, privileged trading conditions were granted to foreigners, foreign consulates and trade centres were established along the quays, and within time the city a large population that included French, English, Dutch and Italian merchants, living alongside large communities of Greeks, Armenians and Jews.
After the Ottoman conquest, Greek influence remained so strong in the area that the Turks called the city ‘Smyrna of the infidels.’
Smyrna was a predominantly Greek city in the first three decades of the early 20th century, with Greek-speaking people making up perhaps 70% of the population. And so it seemed appropriate after Ottoman Turkey’s defeat in World War I that Smyrna – along with large parts of Anatolia and western Turkey – was placed under Greek rule according to the terms of the Treaty of Sevres.
The Greek army moved into Smyrna on 15 May 1919, but the subsequent Greek expedition into central Anatolia turned into a disaster for both Greece and for the local Greek people in Turkey.
The Turkish army captured Smyrna on 9 September 1922, putting an end to the three-year war between Greece and Turkey. When the Turks took Smyrna, they proclaimed a jihad and the atrocities against the Greek and Armenian communities began immediately. The Orthodox Metropolitan Chrysostomos was murdered and as many as 100,000 Armenian and Greek Christians were slaughtered throughout the city.
The fire that broke out in Smyrna on 13 September 1922, four days after the capture of the city, is one of the greatest disasters in Greek and Turkish history. The city became the scene of the worst Turkish excesses against the Greek population of Anatolia, and most of the city was burned to the ground in a fire that raged for days. As thousands of Christians were murdered, allied ships in the harbour stood idly by and for three days refused the pleas for safe passage for a quarter of a million refugees huddled in terror on the quayside.
The New York Times, in a report on 18 September 1922 headed ‘Smyrna’s ravagers fired on Americans,’ documented the relentless destruction of the Christian quarters of the city and the massacre of Christians by Turkish troops.
US soldiers and volunteers were attacked when they tried to help Armenians and Greeks. Other contemporary reports put the death toll at over 100,000. In the Armenian quarter alone, the 25,000 residents were systematically butchered and then the streets and houses were set aflame to incinerate any lingering survivors.
In desperation, many jumped into the waters they escape their pursuers and drowned before the eyes of the very people who had the means to rescue them. On board the British, French and US ships, military bands played loud music to drown out the screams of the huddled, pleading and drowning Greeks and Armenians. Eventually, when they allowed Christians on board, they excluded all males between the ages of 17 and 45 years old.
About 400,000 Greek and Armenian refugees from Smyrna and the surrounding area received Red Cross aid immediately after the destruction of the city. In all, about 1.5 million Greek refugees from the region arrived in Greece in the weeks that followed.
Smyrna in 1922 is one of the early, horrific examples of attempted ‘ethnic cleansing’ and genocide in 20th century Europe.
Modern İzmir was built from scratch on the ashes of the despoiled and ravaged city, and is Turkey’s third-largest city. The 30-hectare Kültürpark was laid out on the ruins of the Greek quarter in the heart of the city. The population is predominantly Muslim, although İzmir is still home to Turkey’s second largest Jewish community. Today fewer than 1,300 Jews in Smyrna, and there are nine synagogues in the city, although only two are in regular use by the Jewish community. The Levantines of İzmir, are mostly of Genoese, French and Venetian descent.
Surprisingly, İzmir has a tiny Greek minority today. The few thousand Greek Orthodox inhabitants are descendants of the handful of Greeks who held British or Italian passports in 1922 and decided to stay on. It is said too that the descendants of many of Smyrna’s exiled Greeks still legally hold the title to much of the land in prosperous suburbs such as Karşıyaka, once known as Peramos (Πέραμος). But most of Smyrna's Greeks settled in places that took names such as Nea Smyrna (Νέα Σμύρνη) in Athens.
Nothing is left of the Hellenistic and Roman cities that once stood here, apart from the well-preserved Agora, dating from the 2nd century BCE. Other important historical remains are still buried under modern buildings, including the ancient theatre of Smyrna where Polycarp was martyred.
The 42-hectare Kültürpark was laid out on the ruins of the Greek quarter of Smyrna (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)In the Book of Revelation, we read that Smyrna (Revelation 2: 8-11) was admired for its affliction and poverty and was about to suffer persecution (2: 10).
Verse 8:
The letter to Smyrna introduces Christ as the first and the last, the πρῶτος (protos) and the ἔσχατος (eschatos), who was dead and who came to life. Compare this to the description at the beginning and the end of the Book of Revelation of Christ as the Alpha and the Omega (1: 18 and 21: 6). The reference to one who was dead and who came to life is also appropriate in Smyrna, a city that had been destroyed by the Lydians and that lay in ruins until it was rebuilt by Lysimachus.
Verse 9:
This letter commends the Church in Smyrna for its perseverance in the face of affliction and poverty, with the Christians of Smyrna bravely hanging on to their faith despite severe affliction and persecution. Despite their poverty, the Christians of Smyrna are rich in things spiritual. ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God’ (Luke 6: 20).
The use of the expression ‘synagogue of Satan’ to describe the non-Christian Jews of Smyrna sounds shocking today in the light of how verses such as this have been misappropriated across time in antisemitic attacks.
Verse 10:
The description of the sufferings facing the Christians of Smyrna must have been read with greater poignancy after the martyrdom of Polycarp and other leaders. However, this persecution will not last long – ten days is used in apocalyptic literature to say that a period of testing or tribulation is going to be limited and not lengthy (see Daniel 1: 12). In Saint John’s time, ten days was the length of two gladiatorial contests in the stadium.
They are urged: ‘Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life’ (Revelation 2: 10) – the persecution continued into the 2nd century. The image of the ‘crown of life’ may have been derived from the crown or wreath that was the most common symbol on coins in Smyrna and from the crown that athletes were rewarded with in the stadium.
Verse 11:
Christ tells the Church in Smyrna that he who conquers will not be harmed by the second death. Those who are baptised into Christ are already dead, for baptism is symbolic of the first death. After baptism, the second death is entry into eternal life and into the presence of God. Once again, a reference to victory has been disclosed.
As with all seven churches, the church in Smyrna is called on to hear the message: ‘Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches’ (verse 11).
Mark 1: 14-20 (NRSVA):
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake – for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
Today’s Prayers (Monday 8 January 2024):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is: ‘Whom Shall I Send’ – Episcopal Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. This theme was introduced yesterday by the Revd Davidson Solanki, USPG Regional Manager, Asia and the Middle East.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (8 January 2024) invites us to pray in these words:
Loving God, we pray for every young individual taking part in the ‘Whom Shall I Send’ programme. May they be ignited in their faith to serve their communities.
The Collect:
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Lord of all time and eternity,
you opened the heavens and revealed yourself as Father
in the baptism of Jesus your beloved Son:
by the power of your Spirit
complete the heavenly work of our rebirth
through the waters of the new creation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
Heavenly Father,
at the Jordan you revealed Jesus as your Son:
may we recognize him as our Lord
and know ourselves to be your beloved children;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Yesterday’s reflection (Ephesus)
Continued tomorrow (Pergamon)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
