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COLOSSAE

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 726 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COLOSSAE , once the See also:

great See also:city of See also:south-See also:west See also:Phrygia, was situated on rising ground (1150 ft.) on -the See also:left See also:bank of the Lycus (Churuk Su), a tributary of the Maeander, at the upper end of a narrow See also:gorge 2 z M. See also:long, where the See also:river runs between cliffs from 50 to 6o ft. high. It stood on the great See also:trade route from See also:Sardis to See also:Celaenae and See also:Iconium, and was a large, prosperous city (See also:Herod. 30; See also:Xenophon, Anab. i. 2, § 6), until it was ruined by the See also:foundation of See also:Laodicea in a more advantageous position. The See also:town was celebrated for its See also:wool, which was dyed a See also:purple See also:colour called colossinus. Colossae was the seat of an See also:early See also:Christian See also:church, the result of St See also:Paul's activity at See also:Ephesus, though perhaps actually founded by Epaphras. The church, to which St Paul wrote a See also:letter, was mainly composed of mingled See also:Greek and Phrygian elements deeply imbued with fantastic and fanatical See also:mysticism. Colossae lasted until the 7th and 8th centuries, when it was gradually deserted under pressure of the Arab invasions. Its See also:place was taken by Khonae (Khonas)—a strong fortress on a rugged See also:spur of Mt. Kadmus, 3 M. to the south, which became a place of importance during the See also:wars between the Byzantines and See also:Turks, and was the birthplace of the historian, Nicetas Khoniates. The See also:worship of angels alluded to by St Paul (See also:Col. ii. 18), and condemned in the 4th See also:century by a See also:council at Laodicea, reappears in the later worship of St See also:Michael, in whose See also:honour a celebrated church, destroyed by the See also:Seljuks in the 12th century, was built on the right bank of the Lycus.

See See also:

Sir W. M. See also:Ramsay, Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, vol. i.

End of Article: COLOSSAE

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