Images: Wikimedia Commons
Clavis number: ECMA 145
Other descriptors: none
Location: Pamukkale, Turkey
Category: tombs
Related literature: Acts of Philip; Encomium on Philip, by Nicetas of Paphlagonia; Martyrdom of Philip
Featured characters and locations: Hierapolis, Philip (apostle).
1. DESCRIPTION
The tomb dates to the end of first century. The lintel of the tomb originally bore the name of Apollinarios (later covered up). The tomb was enclosed in rectangular building in the fourth century outfitted with two large pools and two smaller basics. Martyrium constructed above the tomb in the fifth century. Keystones in the outer support arches inscribed with a combination of Christian symbols: a circle incorporating a chi-rho, the Alpha and Omega, and an eight-pointed star. Martyrium destroyed by fire in the late sixth/early seventh century. A basilica was constructed around the tomb in the late sixth century and rebuilt in the eighth century following an earthquake. A sixth/seventh-century bread stamp bearing the name of Philip includes an image of the apostle in front of the Hierapolis complex.
2. RELATION TO APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE
The Acts of Philip documents the travels of Philip, his sister Mariamne, and Bartholomew in Greece, Phrygia, and Syria. In the fifteenth act, they reach Hierapolis, where Philip is martyred and buried.
After three days a grapevine sprouted where the blood of the apostle Philip had dripped. And they did all the things that had been commanded them by him, bringing offerings for forty days and praying constantly. They built a church in that place, having also appointed Stachys as bishop. (Acts of Philip 15:41)
Polycrates of Ephesus (end of the second century CE) also locates the tomb of Philip in Hierapolis (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.31.3 and 5.24.2). And around the same time, the Montanist Proclus mentions the graves of Philip and his four daughters in Hierapolis (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.31.4). Several later apocryphal texts (Encomium on Philip, by Nicetas of Paphlagonia; Martyrdom of Philip) on Philip and apostolic lists also place his death in Hierapolis.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amsler, Frédéric. Acta Philippi. Commentarius. CCSA 12. Turnhout: Brepols, 1999 (pp. 521–45).
D’Andria, Franceso. “The Sanctuary of St. Philip in Hierapolis and the Tombs of Saints in Anatolian Cities.” Pages 4–18 in Life and Death in Asia Minor in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Times. Edited by J. Rasmus Brandt, Erika Hagelberg, Gro Bjornstad, and Sven Ahrens. Studies in Funerary Archaeology 10. Oxford and Philadelphia: Oxbow, 2017.
“Philip’s Tomb Discovered–But Not Where Expected.” Biblical Archaeology Review 38.1 (Jan/Feb 2012): 18.
Ramsay, W. M.The Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895–1897 (inscription of a priest serving in the church of Philip, vol. 2, pp. 552–53).
Tabbernee, W. Montanist Inscriptions and Testimonia. Epigraphic Sources Illustrating the History of Montanism. Patristic Monograph Series 16. Macon: Mercer University Press, 1997 (pp. 502–508).
Wilson, Mark. “Philip in Text and Realia: Contextualizing a Biblical Figure Within Roman Hierapolis.” JECS 12.2 (2022): 73–101.
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Allegri, Renzo. “How I Discovered the Tomb of the Apostle Philip: Interview with Archaeologist Francesco D’Andria.” EWTN Global Catholic Network. Posted 2 May 2012. Online: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/how-i-discovered-the-tomb-of-the-apostle-philip-1949.
“Interesting Discovery – The Tomb of the Apostle Philip.” Kerugma Productions.
“St. Philip Tomb at Hierapolis.” Vici.org. Online: https://vici.org/vici/24092/
“The Tomb of Philip the Apostle at Hierapolis (Turkey).” Holy Land Photos. Posted 13 December 2018.
“Tomb of Apostle Philip Found.” Bible History Daily. Posted 6 July 2023. Online: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/tomb-of-apostle-philip-found/.
Entry created by Tony Burke, York University, 19 July 2023.