Tag Archives: Trajan

Fort Babylon in Old Cairo

Daily News Egypt carried a brief article about the Roman ruins in Old Cairo here. The article says,

The fort was built on the southern end of the old Pharaonic town Per-Hapi-On, or ‘The river house of On’. According to some historians the mispronunciation of the name by the Romans led to the name Fort Babylon but others claim it was named after a number of captives brought there from Babylonia during the time of Sesostris.

Roman Emperor Diocletian built the fort in 300 C.E. as the stronghold of three legions in charge of securing Egypt. The garrison of Fort Babylon vowed to secure ships on the Nile and a canal that passed through the town connecting the Nile with the Red Sea. This canal was first established by the Pharaohs, and was restored and enlarged by the Roman Emperor Trajan. The fort was renovated and fortified by the Roman Emperor Arcadius.

Our photo shows ruins of the Roman fort that was known as Fort Babylon in Roman times. At that time the Nile River flowed beside the Fort, but has since changed its course. New building of Old Cairo dwarf the old structure.

Roman Tower (Fort Babylon in Old Cairo. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

Roman Tower (Fort Babylon in Old Cairo). Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

The sign in front of the structure says that it was constructed by Diocletian (c. A.D. 300) to fortify the Roman harbor of Old Cairo built by Trajan (c. A.D. 110).

HT: Agade List

Resources on the Book of Revelation

Yesterday I received an Email from Dr. Georg S. Adamsen in Denmark, asking that I change the link to his Revelation Resources page on my Biblical Studies Info Page. First, let me say I appreciate his notifying me of the change. Many individuals ask to include a link but never notify us when they close down the page.

Revelation Resources is now presented in blog format. Adamsen describes the blog this way:

Revelation Resources – about 250 hand-picked references on valuable resources for the study of the Book of Revelation. Many topics have separate introductions…

My Old Testament in the Book of Revelation has been included at Revelation Resources for several years. I was pleasantly surprised this evening when I was checking the URL to see that the book is featured on this page (January 7).

Because the current publisher of the book does not have a marketing strategy many people think the book is out of print. You may secure a copy from the Florida College Bookstore. I wasn’t able to locate the book on the website, but you can send an Email to bookstore@floridacollege.edu for information. I think the book now sells for $4.95. I saw a used copy on Amazon recently for $59.96!

Jenkins, The Old Testament in the Book of Revelation

Florida College also recently reprinted my Studies in the Book of Revelation. It sells for $5.99. In my judgment this is an excellent source for a class study of the Revelation.

Jenkins, Studies in the Book of Revelation

Studies in the Book of Revelation (90 page paperback) is composed of these sections.

Introducing the Book at the End of the Bible
Worthy Is the Lamb
Saints Victorious
Does Revelation Teach Premillennialism?
Letters to the Seven Churches
Emperor Worship in the Book of Revelation

If you prefer to call Florida College Bookstore and speak to one of the friendly staff, use their toll free number (1-800-423-1648).

What does this have to do with travel, you wonder. The Revelation was written to the seven churches of Asia, the Roman province of Asia Minor, in the late first century A.D. The seven cities were Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Several of them have significant ruins that can be visited. We have included them on several study tours we call Steps of Paul and John, including Turkey, Greece, and the Aegean Islands. During the course of this tour we spend some time lecturing on the setting of the Book of Revelation. We plan to do that in May when we again visit these and other cities associated with Paul and John.

Temple of Roman Emperor Trajan at Pergamum. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

This photo shows the reconstruction of the Temple of (Roman Emperor) Trajan ( A.D. 98-117). This was the second temple in Pergamum dedicated to the Emperor. The first temple in all of Asia was erected to Augustus in 29 B.C. Altogether Pergamum had three imperial temples.