Miletus

Originally a Greek colony on the west coast of Asia, about 36 miles (58 km) south of Ephesus. Over time, however, the nearby River Meander (from which, of course, we get the English word 'meander') silted up and extended the sea front further and further from the city. Today the city is 6 miles (9 km) from the sea. As Paul was eager to get back to Jerusalem as soon as possible at the end of his Third Missionary Journey, he decided to stop in Miletus instead of Ephesus. Paul, however, sent for the elders from Ephesus to meet him at Miletus and there they had one of his most moving farewells (Acts 20:15-38). Writing to Timothy, Paul also reports that he had left Trophimus "sick in Miletus" (2 Tim 4:20).

Despite the lack of attention to the city in the NT, Miletus was one of the most important centres of Greek culture in ancient times. In the early 6th Cent BC (about the time Judah was coming under Babylonian subjugation) a number of famous philosophers began laying down the earliest foundations for the emergence of science in the city: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Heraclitus among them. The city played a leading role in the rebellion of the Greek settlements along the coast against the Persians in 499, and paid a heavy price for it. It was rebuilt and continued to trive and grow into a magnificient city with a theater that could sit 15,000 persons.

Resources:

John Stott, "Paul Addressing Pastors in Miletus." 56.46. Last of three addresses delivered at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly, 1990. ProclamationTrust. Audio N (Open on Phone)