Dictionaries :: Myra

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Myra:

one of the chief towns of Lycia, in Asia Minor, about 2 1/2 miles from the coast (Act 27:5). Here Paul removed from the Adramyttian ship in which he had sailed from Caesarea, and entered into the Alexandrian ship, which was afterwards wrecked at Melita (27:39-44).

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Myra:

I flow; pour out; weep

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Myra:

mi'-ra (Mura): A city of the ancient country of Lycia about 2 1/2 miles from the coast. Here, according to Ac 27:6, Paul found a grain ship from Alexandria. The city stood upon a hill formed by the openings of two valleys. At an early period Myra was of less importance than was the neighboring city Patara, yet later it became a prominent port for ships from Egypt and Cyprus, and Theodosius II made it the capital of the province. It was also famed as the seat of worship of an Asiatic deity whose name is no longer known. Nicholas, a bishop and the patron saint of sailors, is said to have been buried in a church on the road between Myra and Andraki, the port. Here an Arab fleet was destroyed in 807. In 808 Haroun al-Rashid, the renowned kalif of Bagdad, took the city, and here Saewulf landed on his return from Jerusalem. Dembre is the modern name of the ruins of Myra, which are among the most imposing in that part of Asia Minor. The elaborate details of the decoration of theater are unusually well preserved, and the rock-hewn tombs about the city bear many bas-reliefs and inscriptions of interest. On the road to Andraki the monastery of Nicholas may still be seen.

Written by E. J. Banks

Nave's Topical Bible

Myra: A City of Lycia

Paul visits,

Act 27:5, 6.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Myra:

an important town in Lycia, on the southwest coast of Asia Minor, on the river Andriacus, 21 miles from its mouth referred to in Acts 27:5. Myra (named Dembra by the Greeks) is remarkable still for its remains of various periods of history.