{"id":72491,"date":"2025-09-01T01:46:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T05:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=72491"},"modified":"2025-08-20T14:14:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T18:14:12","slug":"the-neglected-site-at-miletus-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2025\/09\/01\/the-neglected-site-at-miletus-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"The Neglected Site at Miletus– Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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If one does a proper tour of the Miletus theater there is much to discover.\u00a0 Above is the view down the ramp on the right side of theater. Below is a shot looking into the exit ramp on the left side of the theater.\u00a0 \u00a0The Romans called the exit ramp \u2018the vomitorium\u2019 (no joke).<\/p>\n

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Here is an honorific column next to the theater for an \u2018Archon\u2019 a high ranking Greek official.\u00a0 Notice at the top of the inscription the words Agathe Tyche\u2013 which could be translated \u2018good luck\u2019 but actually this is a reference to the goddess of good fortune\u2013 Tyche.<\/p>\n

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This gives you a sense of the size of the column, it could hardly be missed.\u00a0 \u00a0More importantly for our purposes are the inscriptions on some of the seats on the right hand side of the theater near where those folks are sitting (which we had to ask to move so we could see the inscriptions. Notice as well down on ground level where the small entrance ramps were, possibly for animals for gladiatorial contests.<\/p>\n

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Here we have an inscription reading, \u2018place for the Jews and god-fearers\u2019 and from another angle so you can see more of the inscription\u2026<\/p>\n

What this tells us is that even Jews and their god fearers attended the theater and the games.\u00a0 Jews of that era and in that place, were quite Hellenized.<\/p>\n

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As you can see from this angle, the inscription took up a whole seating block.<\/p>\n

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Why the hole in the stone?\u00a0 Well these were not the cheap seats. In the hot sun, the elites had umbrellas to shelter their noggins, but also during a rainy day it was for drainage.<\/p>\n

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Notice down across from the ellipse was the area where the staging for the plays would have been, which was called the \u2018skene\u2019 from which we get the term scene\u2013 as in scene one etc.\u00a0 \u00a0Here\u2019s below is\u00a0 an exit ramp out the back, and notice the out of place giant keystone.\u00a0 Earthquakes were a regular problem, and in this case, this must be a makeshift replacement keystone, not the original one carved to fit the arch.<\/p>\n

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If one does a proper tour of the Miletus theater there is much to discover.\u00a0 Above is the view down the ramp on the right side of theater. Below is a shot looking into the exit ramp on the left side of the theater.\u00a0 \u00a0The Romans called the exit ramp \u2018the vomitorium\u2019 (no joke). \u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":72485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15746,15749],"class_list":["post-72491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-all-the-worlds-a-stage","tag-and-we-are-but-poor-players"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Neglected Site at Miletus-- Part Two<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If one does a proper tour of the Miletus theater there is much to discover.\u00a0 Above is the view down the ramp on the right side of theater. 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