A monumental history of Asia Minor from the Stone Age to the Roman Empire In this critically acclaimed book, Christian Marek masterfully provides the first comprehensive history of Asia Minor from prehistory to the Roman imperial period. Blending rich narrative with in-depth analyses, In the Land of a Thousand Gods shows Asia Minor’s shifting orientation between East and West and its role as both a melting pot of nations and a bridge for cultural transmission. Marek employs ancient sources to illuminate civic institutions, urban and rural society, agriculture, trade and money, the influential Greek writers of the Second Sophistic, the notoriously bloody exhibitions of the gladiatorial arena, and more. He draws on the latest research—in fields ranging from demography and economics to architecture and religion—to describe how Asia Minor became a center of culture and wealth in the Roman Empire. A breathtaking work of scholarship, In the Land of a Thousand Gods will become the standard reference book on the subject in English.

In a region where most artifacts remain in the field, the enormous work of documenting and analyzing the early history of Christianity is open to original research. Often the first scholar to reach isolated communities in remote parts of Turkey who guide his work, Dr. Fairchild has taken over 200,000 photographs capturing the remains of churches and Christian homes in remote locations. This second edition of Christian Origins in Ephesus and Asia Minor adds the current research underway on the cities of Priene and Tripolis in western Turkey to Mark Fairchild's work, documenting isolated and previously unstudied sites across eastern Turkey, some that have not been visited in the past 1,400 years. In the first two centuries after Christ, the cradle of the Early Church was in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, home to Ephesus, Colossae, and all twelve churches addressed in the book of Revelation. The ancient city of Ephesus was the largest city in Asia Minor, where the gospel was first shared in the middle of the first century. Gathering together a wealth of information, original photographs, and detailed maps of the region, Christian Origins in Ephesus and Asia Minor describes the progress and perils of the developing Christian community as it struggled to find its way in a hostile world. This volume provides crucial context for the biblical account with historical information gathered from ancient literary sources, archaeological discoveries, and a variety of early Christians, charting the growth and development of the early Christian church as ministry from the community at Ephesus produced Christian congregations throughout Asia Minor.