Lydia of Thyatira
10 CE · Akhisar
Lydia is often called the first named convert in Europe: Acts places her baptism at Philippi in Macedonia. She came from Thyatira, a city in western Asia Minor, and dealt in purple-dyed cloth, a luxury trade. Acts calls her 'one who worshiped God', a phrase usually taken to mean a Gentile who took part in Jewish worship without fully converting. Paul and his companions met her on a Sabbath at a place of prayer by the river outside Philippi in Macedonia (Acts 16:13-14). After she and her household were baptized, she persuaded the missionaries to stay in her house (Acts 16:15). After Paul and Silas were released from prison, they went to Lydia's house to meet the believers before leaving the city (Acts 16:40). Her name may simply mean 'the Lydian woman', since Thyatira lay in the region of Lydia. The New Testament says nothing more about her, and no reliable early source records the rest of her life.
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Akhisarאקהיסאר
What they did here
Acts calls Lydia 'of the city of Thyatira' (Acts 16:14). Ancient Thyatira lies under modern Akhisar in western Turkey; the identification is secure.
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