"With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood." (Acts 1:18-19)
The Field of Blood is believed to be in the Valley of Hinnom.
The Valley of Hinnom (Hebrew Ge Hinnom) also gave rise to the Greek word gehenna which had come to mean "hell". Jesus said, "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell (gehenna)?" (Matthew 23:33)
Jerusalem, Israel.
"The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues." (Acts 13:4-5) Below is a beach close to the ancient harbor.
Salamis, Cyprus.
"They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God." (Acts 13:6-7) According to a tradition, Paul was given 39 lashes on this pillar before he converted Sergius Paulus.
Pafos, Cyprus.
"While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ... Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." (Acts 17:16-23)
Athens, Greece.
Paul preached in Corinth: "After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, ..." (Acts 18:1-2) The picture shows the Lechaion Road, the main street in ancient Corinth, paved with marble.
Corinth, Greece.
Paul was in transit at the harbor in Caesarea many times. For example, on his second missionary journey, "When he landed at Caesarea [from Ephesus], he went up [to Jerusalem] and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch." (Acts 18:22)
Caesarea Maritima, Israel.
"After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island (i.e., Malta). It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. (Acts 28:11-12) Paul was believed to have preached at this site in Syracuse, now the church of San Giovanni Evangelista.
Syracusa, Sicily.
A chalice from Syria.
"Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in
the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the
body of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
