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Place · Region

Cilicia

Named in 8 verses across 2 books, first in Acts 6:9.

Where

Coordinates

36.9180° N, 34.8915° E

One proposed location, not an established one.

Open in OpenStreetMap ↗

Identification

Uncertain

The exact spot is unknown; the point is placed by a related feature nearby.

The dataset’s editors marked this place as not identifiable with a known site.

Some biblical sites are known for certain; others are identified from old names and descriptions and are still discussed.

Dataset notes

several matches, all far apart

Left by the dataset’s contributors; not reviewed by us.

Includes

Tarsus

People

Born, died or recorded here, or in an event set here, first; then people named in the same verses, which does not mean they were here.

Paulrecorded as here, 3 events1 shared verse
Aristarchusrecorded as here, 2 events
Juliusrecorded as here, 2 events
Silasrecorded as here, 1 event
Luke2 events
God1 shared verse
Stephen1 shared verse
Gamaliel1 shared verse

In the Bible

All 8 verses, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.

Acts

Acts 6:9
But resistance arose from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. They began to argue with Stephen,
Acts 15:23
and sent them with this letter: The apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
Acts 15:41
And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Acts 21:39
But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”
Acts 22:3
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just as zealous for God as any of you here today.
Acts 23:34
The governor read the letter and asked what province Paul was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia,
Acts 27:5
And when we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.

Galatians

Galatians 1:21
Later I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

Events here

Events the dataset sets at Cilicia. Dates follow its Ussher–Jones reckoning (one of several traditional counts), not established history.

no date
Second Missionary Journey beginsActs 15:40–41
c. AD 56
Journey to Rome beginsActs 27:1–12
c. AD 56
Paul's Journey to RomeActs 27:1–28:31

Dictionary

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. Its geography and “modern” descriptions date from the 1890s. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.

Read Easton’s entry

A maritime province in the south-east of Asia Minor. Tarsus, the birth-place of Paul, was one of its chief towns, and the seat of a celebrated school of philosophy. Its luxurious climate attracted to it many Greek residents after its incorporation with the Macedonian empire. It was formed into a Roman province, B.C. 67. The Jews of Cilicia had a synagogue at Jerusalem (Acts 6:9). Paul visited it soon after his conversion (Gal. 1:21; Acts 9:30), and again, on his second missionary journey (15:41), “he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.” It was famous for its goat’s-hair cloth, called cilicium. Paul learned in his youth the trade of making tents of this cloth.