Assos

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(Ἄσσος)

An ancient Greek city on the Adramyttian Gulf, in the south of the Troad. Originally an aeolic colony, it was re-founded, under the name of Apollonia, by the Pergamenian kings, whose dominions were converted into the Roman province of Asia in 133 b.c. Its situation was one of the most commanding in all the Greek lands. ‘It is a strong place,’ says Strabo, ‘and well fortified with walls. There is a long and steep ascent from the sea and the harbour.… Cleanthes, the Stoic philosopher, was a native of this place.… Here also Aristotle resided for some time’ (xiii. i. 58). The walls are still well-preserved, and the harbour mole can be traced by large blocks under the clear water. The summit of the hill was crowned by the Doric temple of Athene (built c. [Note: . circa, about.]470 b.c.), the panels of which-now mostly in the Louvre-are among the most important remains of ancient Greek articleThe modern town, Behram Kalessi, is still the chief shipping-place of the southern Troad.

On a Sunday afternoon, probably in the spring of a.d. 56, St. Paul, having torn himself away from the Christiana of Troas, walked or rode the 20 miles of Roman highway which connected that city with Assos, first passing along the western side of Mt. Ida, then through the rich Valley of the Tuzla, and finally reaching the Via Sacra, or Street of Tombs, which still extends a great distance to the N.W. of Assos. In the haven he joined his ship, which had meanwhile taken his companions round the long promontory of Lectum ( Acts 20:13 ff.).

Literature.-J. T. Clarke, Assos , 2 vols., Boston, 1882 and 1898; C. Fellows, Travels and Researches in Asia Minor , London, 1852; Murray’s Handbook of Asia Minor .

James Strahan.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ASSOS . A town over half a mile from the Gulf of Adramyttium (in Mysia, province of Asia), in a splendid position on a hill about 770 feet high at its highest point. The fortifications are amongst the most excellent of their kind. It passed through various hands before it was from b.c. 334 241 under Alexander the Great and his successors, and from b.c. 241 133 under the Pergamenian dynasty. At the last date it became Roman (see Asia). It was the birth-place of the Stoic Cleanthes. St. Paul went from Troas to Assos by the land-route on his last visit to Asia (  Acts 20:13 f.).

A. Souter.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Seaport in Mysia, in the west of Asia Minor, on the north shore of the Gulf of Adramyttium 20 miles from Troas.  Acts 20:13,14 . A glance at a map will show that Paul in walking from Troas to Assos could be there as soon as the ship. The place is now utterly desolate, but with ruins in good preservation, some being of granite.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Assos ( Ăs'S Ŏs ). A Greek city of Mysia in "Asia,"19 miles southeast of Troas, and on the Mediterranean Sea. Extensive ruins of buildings, citadel, tombs, and a gateway still exist there. Paul visited it.  Acts 20:13.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

As'sos. (Approaching). A seaport of the Roman province of Asia in the district anciently called Mysia, on the northern shore of the Gulf of Adrn-myttium, and about seven miles from Lesbos.  Acts 20:13-14.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A seaport in Mysia, opposite to the island of Lesbos on the north. Here Paul took ship for Mitylene,  Acts 20:13 . It is now a poor village, called Beiram.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Acts 20:13-14

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Acts 20:13,14

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

as´os ( Ἄσσος , Ássos ): An ancient city of Mysia in the Roman province of Asia, at which, according to  Acts 20:13 , Paul and Luke rested while on their way from Troas to Mitylene. Standing upon a conical-shaped rock on the southern coast of the Troad, it occupied one of the finest sites in Asia. The rock is about 700 ft. high; its sides are covered with terraces, both natural and artificial, and so steep is it that Stratoricus wrote of it: "If you wish to hasten your death, try and climb Assos." The view from the summit is extensive and magnificent.

The city, which is very ancient, is said to have been rounded by the Aeolians, and to have always been singularly Greek. As early as the 5th century bc it struck its own coins, and its coinage system continued until 235 ad. One of its early rulers or tyrants was Hermeas, a eunuch, once a slave, who gave his niece in marriage to Aristotle. There the great Greek philosopher lived three years, from 348 to 345 bc. During the time of the kings of Pergamus, the city bore the name of Apollonia. To the Byzantines it was known as Machramion, and at present the town, which has dwindled in importance under Turkish rule, is called Bekhram, a Turkish corruption of the Byzantine name.

The ruins of Assos are among the most imposing in Asia Minor, and yet they have long served as a quarry; from its public buildings the stones for the Constantinople docks were taken. The Turkish sultan Murad Ii presented the many beautiful bas-reliefs of the Doric temple of Athene to the French government, which are now preserved in the Louvre. The ruins were carefully explored and partially excavated in 1882-83 by Mr. Clarke for the Archaeological Institute of America, and the entire plan of the ancient city is clear. Upon the very summit of the hill stood the temple of Athena which is said to have been erected about 470 bc. Among its ruins Clarke found eight other bas-reliefs which are now in the Boston Museum and which possess a special interest because of their connection between the art of the Orient and of Greece. Upon the several natural terraces of the hill which have been enlarged by artificial means, stood the many public buildings, as the gymnasium, the public treasury, the baths, the market place and theater, of which but little now remains. The city was surrounded by a double wall which in places is still well preserved. The inner wall of dressed stones laid without mortar, and filled with loose stones, is 8 ft. thick, and the larger outer wall was protected with towers at intervals of 60 ft. The ancient road leading to Troas was well paved. The harbor from which Paul sailed has now been filled up and is covered with gardens, but at its side is the modern harbor protected by an artificial mole, about which are clustered the few houses bearing the name of Bekhram. Upon the summit of the hill, by the ruins of the temple, are cisterns, a Turkish fortress and a Byzantine church which has been converted into a mosque. Without the city walls is a necropolis. Its many sarcophagi of all ages and sizes and shapes are made of the native trachyte stone which, so the ancients believed, possessed the quality of consuming the bodies buried in it. The stone is the famous "Lapis Assius," or the flesh-eating, hence the word sarcophagus. In former times wheat was raised extensively in the fields about Assos, but now valonia, or acorn cups, form the chief article for export.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

As´sos, a town of Lesser Mysia, or of Adramyttium, opposite the island of Lesbos, or Mitylene. Paul came hither on foot from Troas, to meet with his friends, in order to take shipping for Mitylene ( Acts 20:13-14). It is now a miserable village, called Beiram, built high upon the rocks on the side towards the land.