The book presents a comprehensive collection of data regarding Colossae, an ancient city in Asia Minor. It delves into its historical significance, archaeological findings, and cultural context, offering insights into the daily life and beliefs of its inhabitants. The work aims to provide a thorough understanding of Colossae's role in the broader historical narrative, making it an essential resource for scholars and enthusiasts of ancient history.
The ancient site of Colossae in south-west Turkey has been sorely neglected by archaeologists and biblical commentators. It has never been excavated. Modern scholarship in general has been content to repeat nineteenth century assessments, especially those of J. B. Lightfoot and W. M. Ramsay. This is the first modern contribution to gather the archaeological, historical, classical and biblical materials related to the site and its region, some of which is published in English for the first time. It marks a major step forward in scholarship on Colossae, and is designed to restore Colossae to time and space, to its material and comparative significance. Colossae emerges as a site of uninterrupted human activity in dynamic interaction with its neighbours from before the Achaemenid period to beyond the end of Byzantine control. Evidence of a chalcolithic origin of Colossae is presented along with an assessment of the relationship of the site to the modern city of Honaz. An array of international scholars have brought their specialisations in various periods and disciplines to yield a radically new assessment of the history and importance of the site. All future scholarship will be able to use this volume as the necessary foundation for research. The volume includes the first chronology of the ancient site and the first English translation of the key Byzantine text centred on the ancient city, as well as major new insights into the text of the Epistle to the Colossians.