Antioch

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Antioch or Antakya , city (1990 pop. 124,443), capital of Hatay prov., S Turkey, on the Orontes (Asi) River, near the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of Mt. Silpius. Antioch is the trade center for a region where grains, cotton, grapes, olives, and vegetables are grown. The city's manufactures include processed foods, textiles, and leather goods. There is an archaeological museum.

Modern Antioch occupies only a fraction of the area of the ancient city, most of which is buried under alluvial deposits. Important archaeological finds in the area include the Great Chalice of Antioch (see chalice ), said by some to be the Holy Grail, and, at Daphne, an ancient suburban resort, splendid Roman mosaics (1st-6th cent. AD), mostly copies of lost paintings and held to represent the height of mosaic art.

History

The city was founded c.300 BC by Seleucus I, king of Syria, and named for his father Antiochus, a Macedonian general. Situated at the crossing of north-south and east-west trade routes, the city soon became a rich commercial center. Antioch was occupied by Pompey in 64 BC and quickly became an important Roman military, commercial, and cultural center. The Romans built great temples, a forum, a theater, baths, aqueducts, and other public buildings. The two main streets, at right angles to each other, were lined with marble colonnades and adorned with temples, palaces, and statues.

Antioch was an early center of Christianity; Peter and Paul preached there. It was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called Christians after they severed themselves from the synagogue about 20 years after Jesus' death. Antioch is one of the three original patriarchates (see patriarch ). Aurelian, who recovered the city from Shapur I of Persia, erected (3d cent.) more magnificent buildings and churches. The city played a significant role in the theological controversies of the early Christian church (see Christianity ). St. John Chrysostom estimated its population (4th cent.) at 200,000, excluding children and slaves.

In 526 the city suffered a severe earthquake. It was again captured by Persia in 540 and taken by the Arabs in 637. Nicephorus II reconquered it (969) for the Byzantine Empire, but in 1085 it fell, through treason, to the Seljuk Turks. The army of the First Crusade (see Crusades ) captured Antioch in 1098 after a half-year siege. Bohemond I was made prince of Antioch. His principality, which extended from Iskenderun (Alexandretta) southward beyond Latakia, was one of the most powerful of the Crusaders' states. In 1268 the Mamluks captured and sacked the city; it was further damaged by Timur in 1401.

In 1516 Antioch, by then much reduced in importance, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. The city was held (1832-40) by Muhammad Ali of Egypt, and in 1872 it was badly damaged by an earthquake. After World War I, Antioch was held as part of French Syria under a League of Nations mandate. In 1939 it was restored to Turkey.

Antioch
1. A prosperous trading city on the River Orontes, in the north of the Roman province of Syria, with a substantial and tolerated Jewish population. After the execution of Stephen, Christians arrived from Jerusalem to begin missionary work (Acts 11: 19–20). Hellenists from Cyprus and Cyrene admitted Gentiles to the Church without undergoing the rite of circumcision, and Barnabas, himself a Cypriot, was dispatched to control developments. But so far from holding the line, Barnabas introduced Paul (Acts 11: 22–6). Their liberal policies brought them under suspicion and in 49 CE Paul and Barnabas met the Jerusalem leaders and (according to Acts) a compromise was thrashed out (Acts 15: 1–19); but when Peter later visited Antioch he went back on the agreement and withdrew from sharing a meal with Gentiles (Gal. 2: 11–21). Paul soon left Antioch, travelling now without Barnabas, who had supported Peter. After the fall of Jerusalem (70 CE) there is no certain information about the Church in Antioch, but it is a reasonable supposition that the gospel of Matthew was compiled there or nearby. This gospel represents both a recognition of the Jewish roots of the Church, containing much typically Jewish ethical instruction, but also a firm commitment to the Gentile mission. The savage attacks on the Pharisees, especially in ch. 23, suggest that the separation of Matthew's community from the synagogue is fairly recent. The Christian community is having to justify itself against a renascent Judaism. Matthew has the story of the pagan astrologers visiting the infant Jesus (Matt. 2) and at the end (Matt. 28: 19) he has the risen Christ authorizing the universal mission. In 107 CE Ignatius of Antioch provides evidence that the Church there had acquired a clear structure with a leadership unified in the person of a presiding bishop.

2. Antioch of Pisidia, on the border of Pamphylia in modern Turkey, was made a colony by the emperor Augustus. It was celebrated for the worship of the Phrygian moon-god, but the Romans suppressed the cult. There was a Jewish group in the city, which Paul and Barnabas visited (Acts 13: 14–52; 14: 19–21), but an initial welcome was followed by a campaign of persecution and their expulsion.

Antioch (Antakya), Turkey, USA1. Turkey: also sometimes called Hatay. A city of ancient Syria and a part of Syria until 1939, it was founded in 301 bc by Seleucus I Nicator^† who named the city Antiochia (on the Orontes) after his 24‐year‐old son, Antiochus I Soter (‘Saviour’), Seleucid King of Syria (281–261 bc); some sources claim, however, that it was named after the father of Seleucus, Antiochus. The name Antiochus meant ‘swift runner’ from the Greek anti ‘equal to’, and okhos ‘chariot’. When the younger son of Antiochus I Soter, Antiochus II (c.287–246 bc), captured the city of Miletus and overthrew its dictator, he was worshipped as a god, attracting the title Theos, ‘God’; thus the city was renamed Theopolis, the ‘City of God’. Antioch was the capital of the Seleucid Empire between 281 and 64 bc, and then of the Roman province of Syria. The Arabs held the city from 638 until 969 when it was retaken by the Byzantines. It was captured by the Seljuk Turks in 1084, by the Crusaders in 1098 during the First Crusade, and sacked by the Mamlūks in 1268. It fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1517 and was occupied by the French 1918–39.2. Turkey: another ancient city called Antioch was located in Phrygia (now west‐central Turkey). It became a Roman colony in 25 bc and was given the name Caesarea Antiochia.3. USA: there are three cities of the same name in the USA (in California, Illinois, and Nebraska), all named after the city in Turkey, because of the desire to recognize the importance of Antioch in the early Christian Church.

Antioch. In size and importance Antioch in Syria was the third city of the Roman Empire. A Christian community existed here from early days and it was here that the followers of Christ were first called ‘Christians’ (Acts 11: 26). According to tradition St Peter was the first bishop. By the 4th cent. the see ranked after Rome and Alexandria as the third patriarchal see of Christendom. The rise in power of Constantinople and the erection of Jerusalem into a Patriarchate reduced the importance of Antioch, which was further diminished by the Nestorian and Monophysite schisms. See also the following entries.

Antioch (modern Antakya in SE Turkey). City associated in Christian tradition with a tendency in theology opposed to that of Alexandria. Its exponents include John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Nestorius, and Theodoret. ‘Antiochene’ exegesis of scripture looked for historical rather than for hidden meanings, and was critical in holding some parts of the Bible more valuable than others. Antioch is now the see of five patriarchs, the Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Melkite, Maronite, and Syrian Catholic.

Antioch a city in southern Turkey which was the ancient capital of Syria under the Seleucid kings, who founded it c.300 bc.

Antioch See Antakya

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