Nine inscriptions from Akmoneia, in modern-day Turkey, record religious and everyday life between the first and third centuries AD. One provides evidence for the worship of Demeter Karpophoros in Phrygia, the wider region associated with the journeys of the apostle Paul.
The Discovery
For nearly 2,000 years, inscriptions carved into stone at the ancient city of Akmoneia preserved fragments of a religious world that existed long before Christianity became dominant in the Roman Empire.
Researchers have now examined nine inscriptions from the site, dating from the first through third centuries AD. Together, they provide evidence for religious practices and aspects of everyday life in the ancient city.
Akmoneia was located in Phrygia, in what is now Turkey. The region has an important place in the New Testament because the Book of Acts records the apostle Paul travelling through Phrygia during his missionary journeys.
The inscriptions, however, do not demonstrate that Paul personally visited Akmoneia.
Their importance is broader. They provide evidence for the religious environment of the region in which Christianity began spreading during the Roman period.
Among the most significant discoveries is an inscription associated with Demeter Karpophoros, a form of the Greek goddess Demeter connected with agriculture, fertility and the harvest.
Researchers Hüseyin Uzunoğlu of Akdeniz University and Münteha Dinç of Uşak University reported their findings in the academic journal Gephyra.
What Archaeologists Found
The nine inscriptions examined by the researchers span several centuries, from the first to the third century AD.
One inscription is particularly important because it is connected with the worship of Demeter Karpophoros.
Demeter was a major Greek goddess associated with agriculture and fertility, while the epithet Karpophoros relates to the bearing or production of fruit and agricultural abundance.
According to the researchers, worship of Demeter Karpophoros was already documented elsewhere in Asia Minor. What made the Akmoneia evidence significant was the absence of previous inscriptional evidence for this particular cult in Phrygia.
The discovery therefore adds a new piece to the religious map of the ancient region.
Another inscription honours a woman named Mandana, who served as a high priestess. Her presence provides evidence that organised religious institutions and individuals holding formal religious positions were part of life at Akmoneia.
Rather than presenting isolated references to forgotten deities, the inscriptions point towards a structured religious environment involving cults, priesthoods and public recognition.
Historical Background
Phrygia was an ancient region of central Anatolia that existed within a landscape of changing political and religious traditions.
By the Roman period, communities in the region participated in established religious systems involving Greek and local traditions. Temples, cults and priesthoods formed part of public and social life.
The newly studied inscriptions belong to this Roman-era setting.
They also provide archaeological context for the period in which Christianity began expanding through parts of Asia Minor.
The New Testament records Paul travelling through Phrygia and Galatia. Acts 16:6 describes Paul and his companions travelling through Phrygia and Galatia, while Acts 18:23 describes Paul travelling through Galatia and Phrygia and strengthening Christian disciples.
Those passages establish a connection between Paul and the broader region.
They do not, however, establish that Paul entered Akmoneia itself. New Testament scholar Douglas Estes emphasised this distinction in the source material.
That caution matters because archaeology can illuminate the world described by ancient texts without proving that a particular historical figure stood at a specific site.
The Akmoneia inscriptions are valuable precisely because they show what one community's religious landscape looked like during the centuries when Christianity was emerging and expanding.
Scientific Analysis
The study of ancient inscriptions is more than the translation of words carved into stone.
Researchers examine the text, language, letter forms, names, titles and historical context to establish what an inscription can reliably tell us about the people who produced it.
In the Akmoneia study, nine inscriptions dating between the first and third centuries AD were examined for evidence of religious and everyday life.
The inscription associated with Demeter Karpophoros is particularly significant because of its geographical implications. While the cult was known elsewhere in Asia Minor, the researchers reported that inscriptional evidence had not previously been identified in Phrygia.
The inscription honouring Mandana provides another category of evidence. Her identification as a high priestess indicates an organised religious role and suggests that formal religious authority was represented within the city's social structure.
Further study and comparison with inscriptions from other Anatolian sites can help establish how widespread particular cults were and how religious institutions varied between communities.
Why This Discovery Matters
The Akmoneia inscriptions matter because they make an otherwise distant religious landscape more tangible.
By the time Christianity began spreading across the Roman world, pagan worship was already deeply established. Communities had their gods, cults, priesthoods, rituals and traditions.
The evidence for Demeter Karpophoros adds another known location to the archaeological record of her worship.
The high priestess Mandana provides a human dimension to that religious system. Her inscription suggests that religious office could be formally recognised and associated with an identifiable individual.
The discoveries are also useful for understanding the environment surrounding early Christianity.
Paul's journeys through Phrygia, as recorded in Acts, took place within a landscape where established religious traditions were already deeply embedded.
What would an early Christian traveller have encountered when moving through a city whose religious life included established pagan cults and priesthoods?
The inscriptions cannot answer that question directly, but they provide archaeological evidence for the world in which such encounters could have taken place.
Importantly, the discovery does not prove a direct meeting between Paul and the people of Akmoneia. Instead, it helps reconstruct the wider cultural and religious setting of the region.
What's Next?
The nine inscriptions provide material for continued research into Akmoneia's religious and social history.
Comparisons with inscriptions from other sites across Asia Minor may help researchers determine how the worship of Demeter Karpophoros was organised and how widely the cult was represented.
The evidence for Mandana and her position as a high priestess may also contribute to research into the role of women and religious officials within ancient Anatolian communities.
Further archaeological work at Akmoneia could potentially identify additional inscriptions, religious structures or artefacts connected with the cults already documented.
For historians of early Christianity, the wider significance is equally important. Archaeological evidence from pagan communities can help reconstruct the religious environment through which Christianity spread.
Conclusion
Nine inscriptions from ancient Akmoneia have revealed new evidence about religious and everyday life in Roman-era Phrygia.
The discovery of an inscription associated with Demeter Karpophoros is particularly significant because researchers report that inscriptional evidence for the cult had not previously been found in Phrygia. Another inscription honours Mandana, a high priestess, adding evidence for organised religious life at the ancient city.
Although the inscriptions do not prove that Paul visited Akmoneia, they illuminate the broader religious landscape of the region mentioned in Acts.
The stones preserve a record of the pagan traditions that existed as Christianity began establishing itself across the Roman world.
FAQ
Where was Akmoneia?
Akmoneia was an ancient city in Phrygia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. Researchers examined nine inscriptions from the city dating from the first through third centuries AD.
What is Demeter Karpophoros?
Demeter Karpophoros is a form of the Greek goddess Demeter associated with agriculture, fertility and the harvest. An inscription from Akmoneia provides reported evidence of her worship in Phrygia.
Did the discovery prove that Paul visited Akmoneia?
No. The inscriptions provide evidence about the religious world of Phrygia, but there is no evidence presented in the source showing that Paul personally entered Akmoneia.
Who was Mandana?
Mandana was a woman honoured in one of the inscriptions examined by researchers. The inscription identifies her as a high priestess, providing evidence of organised religious life at Akmoneia.
