Paphos, Cyprus

November 29 - We went to Special Meetings in Limassol.  They do things slightly different in Cyprus; perhaps a bit more personal.  They start out with a Friday night gathering at a mountain cabin, complete with dinner and singing.  Saturday's itinerary includes lunch at noon and then the first meeting starts at 2:30.  On Sunday, there is a normal fellowship meeting in the morning and a Gospel meeting in the afternoon, although one would be wise to be prepared for the second meeting.  Smile.  

There were six workers, an equal amount of friends from other countries, and all of the Cypriot friends.  It is quite remarkable that this small group, many of whom had never met, could sit down together in heavenly places and enjoy the sweetest fellowship on earth.  It is the greatest of miracles.

Eric mentioned having seen the sword of Alexander the Great in a museum.  The iron blade was so badly corroded that "it could not even slice apple pie," but the gold in the handle still gleamed as brightly as it did 2,300 years ago.  That is a picture of the reality we all face.  Like iron, everything we accomplish in life will end at the grave and go to corruption.  And, after just a couple of generations, no one will even know or remember we had ever been born.  But, by just doing the simple things that Jesus taught, we can lay up treasure "where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt."  "The gold of the kingdom will never decay," as our hymn has it.

On Monday morning, we picked up two of the friends who were lodging near us, and drove to Paphos at the western end of the island.  It just so happened that Tim and Dany McLernon were going to the same place we were on the same day, so we gave them a ride.  On the way we took the old highway that follows the coastline, and took a few pictures of Aphrodites' Rocks.  This was the birthplace of the Greek goddess of love, who was one and the same as the Ashtoreth of the Old Testament (Judges 2:13; 1 Sam. 7:1, 2; 12:10; 31:8).  She was a constant temptation to the men of Israel, not because they cared about the doctrine of the Zidonian goddess, but because part of her "worship" involved sex with temple priestesses.  Even Solomon, in his old age, "went after Ashtoreth," 1 Kings 11:5. 

In Corinth, there was a large temple dedicated to Aphrodite.  We learn this from the geographer Strabo:  "The temple of Aphrodite was once so rich that it had acquired more than a thousand prostitutes, donated by both men and women to the service of the goddess.  And because of them, the city used to be jam-packed and became wealthy.  The ship-captains would spend fortunes there, and so the proverb says: "The voyage to Corinth isn’t for just any man."  It's no wonder the Corinthian church had trouble with immorality.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was born of these rocks

Dany McLernon, our traveling partner 

They tethered animals to the holes in the rocks, three of which can be seen, and drank water from the trough behind

One of the floor mosaics in the House of Dionysis. Note the optical illusion.

On the second day, we went to see the Tomb of the Kings.  This was a great necropolis for the rich and famous of Paphos' society two to three centuries before Christ.  They carved these burial chambers directly into the rock, so they have been well preserved.  It is quite a beautiful setting, right on the Mediterranean coastline.  

Tomb No. 3, built under a villa and connected to the rest of the house

The steps leading to a burial chamber

The two niches in the back wall depict pagan alters, complete with the same "horns" at the four corners for binding the sacrifice as in the Jewish temple.