HIERAPOLIS

(Hi·e·rapʹo·lis) [the holy city].

A city in the province of Asia. Among its pagan residents lived a group of first-century Christians in whose behalf Epaphras ‘put himself to great effort.’ (Col. 4:12, 13) It was located on the northern edge of the Lycus valley of Asia Minor, about six miles (9.7 kilometers) N of Laodicea. Although the apostle Paul apparently never visited Hierapolis, the effects of his long work at Ephesus (from the winter of 52/53 C.E. until after Pentecost in 55 C.E. [1 Cor. 16:8]) radiated over ‘all Asia.’ (Acts 19:1, 10) Christianity appears to have reached Hierapolis through the ‘efforts’ of Epaphras. Tradition also credits the apostles John and Philip with laboring there. While the city lacked political importance, it became prosperous in the peaceful Roman period as a center of devotion to Cybele. Her worship there was enhanced by two natural phenomena, mineral springs and the Ploutonium, or so-called ‘Entrance to Hades,’ a deep, narrow chasm that emitted deadly fumes.