Miletus
Where is Miletus today? The ancient port at Balat, Didim, in Aydın; where Paul said farewell to the Ephesian elders, with the chapters where it appears.
- Today
- Balat, Didim, Aydın
- Country
- Türkiye
- Status
- Archaeological site: Ancient Miletus and Miletus Museum
- Identification
- Certain
Miletus, built where the Büyük Menderes (Maeander) river meets the sea, was one of the leading Ionian port cities of antiquity. Returning from his third journey and hurrying to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost, Paul bypassed Ephesus; on reaching Miletus he summoned the elders of the Ephesian church (Acts 20:16-17). In his farewell speech he recalled his three years of ministry and urged them to watch over the flock. At the end they knelt and prayed together and parted in tears. In a later letter Paul writes that he left his companion Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20).
Read the chapters
Related topics
Related people
- Paul
- Peter
- Barnabas
- Stephen
- Lydia
- Matthew
- Timothy
- John the Apostle
- Philip the Apostle
- Judas Iscariot
- Mark
- Luke
Related verse collections
- Bible Verses About Fear and Anxiety
- Bible Verses About Salvation
- Bible Verses About Courage
- Bible Verses About Repentance
- Bible Verses About Generosity
- Bible Verses About Faithfulness
- Bible Verses About Witness
- Bible Verses About Strength
Reading plans
- The Early Church Through Acts — 28 Days
- The Bible in a Year — 365 Days from Cover to Cover
- 30 Days with the Gospel — An Introduction to the New Testament
Books
Places in the Bible
Where is Miletus today?
Miletus is in Türkiye today: the archaeological site of Ancient Miletus near Balat, in the Didim district of Aydın province. This is the port city where Paul said farewell to the elders of the Ephesian church (Acts 20:17). The site includes the great theatre, the Baths of Faustina, traces of the Lion Harbour and the early 15th-century İlyas Bey Mosque; the nearby Miletus Museum displays finds from the excavations.
What did Paul do in Miletus?
At Miletus Paul called the elders of the Ephesian church to him and said farewell (Acts 20:17). He reminded them of his three years in Ephesus and urged them to keep watch over the flock of which the Holy Spirit had made them overseers. They all wept because he said they would not see his face again, and then they accompanied him to the ship (Acts 20:38).
Why is Miletus now far from the sea?
Ancient Miletus was a port, but over the centuries silt carried by the Büyük Menderes (Maeander) river filled in its gulf. As a result the ruins now stand several kilometres inland in the middle of a flat plain. Traces of the harbours where Paul's ship would have docked can still be made out at the site.