Join a unique educational tour through Asia Minor that explores the routes used by early Christians and the sites where they gathered. In some cases the very stone roadways used by early Christian travelers will be followed. Historians and biblical scholars sponsoring these tours will discuss new developments and weigh implications for the understanding of religion.

The itineraries are designed for the varied interests and energy levels of groups traveling together. Each site will be explained and discussed by expert guides and scholars. Optional worship services will be offered that integrate spiritual reflection with the scenery of the tour made sacred by memory and tradition. The tours also allow time for participants to rest, shop, or explore on their own.

Beginning and ending in Istanbul, these tours offer some of the most glorious sights in the Mediterranean world, in the company of congenial traveling companions. They are a unique opportunity, offered nowhere else, to combine pleasure with philanthropy: to experience a unique educational venture while sharing in significant discoveries.

Ancient Asia
& Lydia
6-16 July 2002
Coordinated by Professors John O'Keefe & Nicolae Roddy (tour), with Sheila McGinn (pre-tour arrangements)

On this tour, cities of Asia addressed in the Book of Revelation will be visited: Ephesus, Laodicea, Pergamum, Philadelphia, Sardis, and Smyrna. Sites associated with the Pauline mission and later church history in western Asia Minor are included: Attalia, Assos, Colossae, Cnidus, Hierapolis, Miletus, Myra, Patara, Perga, Pisidian Antioch, and Troas.

Other sites associated with Paul's journeys will be seen from a distance, including Mitylene on the island of Lesbos. Important classical sites will be visited that throw light on the cultural setting of the early Christian mission and church development: Troy, Aphrodisias (the site of the famous "god-fearer" inscription), Apameia, Didyma (the site of the largest Hellenistic temple in the world), Halicarnassus, Side, and Aspendos (the site of the only intact Roman theater in the world).

Syria & Eastern Asia Minor
11-21 June 2002

Coordinated by
Professors Robin Jensen,
Sheila McGinn & William Tabbernee

This tour will take you to famous Christian and classical sites in Eastern Asia Minor. These include the New Testament sites of Antioch and its port of Seleucia, Derby, Iconium, Lystra, Tarsus, and Damascus.

(more details)

The Crossroads of Early Christianity tours are custom-designed,
inclusive itineraries of exceptional quality.

• All accommodations have private bath and air-conditioning, and are mostly of a four-star standard. Enjoy travel in deluxe air-conditioned buses with very experienced drivers.

• We use the services of English-speaking tour leaders, agents, and interpreters. Our guides are outstanding.

• We also offer competitive airfares from the States and optional tours of Istanbul.

• The Ancient Asia & Lydia Tour 2002 costs: $2200 per person, double occupancy, $360 single supplement
  
  
• The Ancient Syria Tour 2002 costs: $2500 per person, double occupancy, $400 single supplement

• All meals, bottled water, excursions, and entrance fees are included in the tour price, as are the costs of ferries and flights within Turkey and end-of-tour gratuities. Hotel baggage handling, including gratuities, also is included.

• A deposit of $600 per person is required upon registering for either tour. Early reservations are recommended, as space is limited.
  
  
• Participants are asked to make a $200 tax-deductible contribution to support the Crossroads of Early Christianity archaeological projects.

The Crossroads tours are organized to provide resources for archaeological investigations into the life and travel of early Christians. Part of the fare for these journeys will be a tax-deductible contribution to support archaeological projects. Beginning in the summer of 2000, the Crossroads team opened an archaeological survey of several early Christian villages. The survey builds on the work of William Tabbernee, who wrote Montanist Inscriptions and Testimonia: Epigraphic Sources Illustrating the History of Montanism (Mercer University Press, 1997). This is the first investigation of such villages in the history of Turkish archaeology, with potentially revolutionary implications for understanding the early church. In subsequent years, the Crossroads team will begin an investigation of the routes Paul may have used on the "Second Missionary Journey" from Galatia to Troas. The scholarly premise of this work is Robert Jewett's A Chronology of Paul's Life (Fortress Press, 1979) that points to the uncertainties in our knowledge of these routes.

For a registration form or more information on these tours, contact Sheila McGinn