ATHARIM

(Athʹa·rim).

The Israelites are reported to have traveled “by the way of Atharim” when journeying to the Promised Land from Kadesh-barnea by way of Mount Hor. (Num. 21:1) They were thereupon attacked by the king of Arad in the Negeb region. Atharim may refer to a place or to a particular route, but as yet the location is unknown. In the itinerary of the nation’s travel through the wilderness compiled by Moses at Numbers chapter 33, Atharim does not appear as one of the stopping places. Lexicographers Brown, Driver and Briggs (Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, p. 87) relate Atharim to an Arabic word meaning footprint or track and suggest that Atharim may refer to a caravan route. One such trade route passed near Kadesh-barnea and then turned north, passing through Beer-sheba, not far from the proposed site of Arad.

ATHENS

(Athʹens) [likely named after the mythical Greek goddess Athena, corresponding to the Roman Minerva].

The modern capital of Greece and its most prominent city in ancient times. It is located toward the southern end of the plain of Attica, about four and a half miles (7 kilometers) from the Aegean Sea, being served by its neighboring seaport Piraeus, with which it was connected in pre-Christian times by long, nearly parallel walls. Its geographical location contributed much to its greatness in history. The mountains surrounding the city provided a natural defense, and the mountain passes were sufficiently far away to avoid the possibility of a surprise land attack. It was also far enough from the sea to be safe from an invading fleet, yet its three natural harbors in neighboring Piraeus were readily accessible from the city.

CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS CENTER

Although Athens enjoyed some military fame as the capital of a small empire and strong naval power in the fifth century B.C.E., it was distinguished primarily as the center of Greek learning, literature and art. It became a university city filled with professors, lecturers and philosophers, being the home of such famous philosophers as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Four schools of philosophy were established there, the Platonic, Peripatetic, Epicurean and Stoic (Acts 17:18), and these were attended by students from throughout the empire in Roman times.

Athens was also a very religious city, provoking the apostle Paul’s comment that Athenians “seem to be more given to the fear of the deities than others are.” (Acts 17:22) In fact, according to the Greek writer Hesiod of the eighth century B.C.E., the ancient Greeks had upward of 30,000 deities. The State controlled religion and encouraged it by paying for public sacrifices, rites and processions in honor of the gods. Idols were to be found in temples, public squares and on the streets, and people regularly prayed to the gods before engaging in their intellectual feasts or “symposiums,” political assemblies and athletic contests. In order not to offend any of the gods, the Athenians even built altars “To an Unknown God,” to which fact Paul refers in Acts 17:23. Second-century geographer Pausanias confirms this, explaining that while he was traveling along the road from Phaleron Bay harbor to Athens (perhaps traversed by Paul on his arrival) he noticed “altars of the gods named Unknown, and of heroes.”

EARLY HISTORY

The origin of the city is shrouded in uncertainty, although archaeology indicates that it has been inhabited since very early times. The city grew up around the Acropolis, an oblong hill about 500 feet (152 meters) high, which rises sheer on three sides. During the seventh century B.C.E. it was ruled by a hereditary nobility or aristocracy known as the Eupatridae, who had a monopoly of the political power and also had control of the Areopagus, the chief criminal court at the time. During the early part of the sixth century B.C.E., however, a legislator named Solon made constitutional reforms that improved the lot of the poor and laid the foundation for a democratic government. His principles of government were implemented by Cleisthenes toward the end of the century when he divided the state of Attica into artificial tribes and formed a council of 500, with 50 representatives elected from each tribe. Thus Athens became the center of the first state to experiment with a democratic form of government. It may be noted, however, that it was democracy for only the free citizens of the land, as a large section of the population was made up of slaves.

As the fifth century B.C.E. began, the Athenians came into conflict with the then ruling world power by joining the Ionians in revolt against Persia. This caused Persian King Darius (Hystaspis) to organize a campaign against Greece, resulting in his being defeated at Marathon in 490 B.C.E., chiefly by the Athenians. In 480 B.C.E. Athens had to be evacuated and abandoned to the Persian king Xerxes, but an Athenian naval victory at Salamis soon forced him to withdraw his troops.

FROM THE IMPERIAL PERIOD TO CONTROL BY ROME

A period of great prosperity followed as a result of these victories, during which time Athens became the capital of a small empire, controlling most of the coastal areas around the Aegean Sea and extending its trade and influence from Italy and Sicily in the W to Cyprus and Syria in the E. Under the able leadership of Pericles, the city became the cultural leader of the ancient world, enjoying brilliant achievements in literature and art. It was at this time too that many beautiful public buildings and temples were erected, including the Parthenon (the temple of Athena) and the Erechtheum, the ruins of which can still be seen atop the Acropolis in modern Athens. The Parthenon was considered the principal architectural monument of ancient pagan religion and was ornamented by a thirty-foot (9.14-meter) gold and ivory statue of Athena.

This material beauty, however, did not produce true spiritual uplift for the Athenians, for the gods and goddesses honored by it were themselves depicted in Greek mythology as practicing every immoral and criminal act known to humans. Thus, in Paul’s day, the Greek philosopher Apollonius criticized the Athenians for their orgiastic dances at the festival of Dionysus (Bacchus) and for their enthusiasm for the shedding of human blood at the gladiatorial contests.

The Athenian Empire dissolved after its defeat by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian wars at the end of the fifth century B.C.E., but its conquerors showed consideration to the city on account of its culture and did not totally ruin it. Even when Macedonian Kings Philip and Alexander controlled the city during the fourth century B.C.E., they treated it with favor and permitted it to continue as the home of democracy and philosophy. It was conquered by the Romans in 86 B.C.E. and stripped of its trade and commerce and so, by the time Jesus and the early Christians came on the Palestinian scene, Athens’ importance lay primarily in its universities and schools of philosophy. Its fame as a university city surpassed that of its two major rivals, Tarsus and Alexandria. Many of Rome’s prominent men traveled to Athens to study in her schools, and the city was allowed virtual autonomy.

PAUL’S ACTIVITY IN ATHENS

It was in this condition that the apostle Paul found the city in about 50 C.E. when he visited it on his second missionary tour. He had left Silas and Timothy behind in Beroea with instructions to follow as soon as possible. (Acts 17:13-15) While waiting for them, he became irritated at the many false gods of the city and so began to reason with