A city of SW Asia Minor. In the apostle Paul's day Colossae was
in the Roman province of Asia, though it formed part of the ancient
region of Phrygia. The site is uninhabited at present. It lay near
the upper end of the Lycus River valley, about 18 km (11 mi) ESE of
Laodicea (near modern Denizli). The Lycus River valley is narrow in
the region of Colossae, walled in by great cliffs, but broadens out
as it progresses to the NW and the junction of the Lycus with the
Maeander (Menderes) River. Through this valley passed the main road
leading from Ephesus and the Aegean Coast to the E as far as the
Euphrates. A road branched off from there to Sardis and Pergamum to
the NW. During the Roman period, however, the road system was
changed, and Laodicea and neighboring Hierapolis (Col 4:13) came to
surpass Colossae in importance. Nevertheless, Colossae continued to
be known as a textile center, noted for its fine wool of unusual
hue, called colossinus. It lay on the edge of the lonely steppe
country, where flocks of sheep were pastured. To the S some 5 km (3
mi), Honaz Dagi (Mt. Cadmus) rises 2,750 m (9,020 ft), its snows
feeding streams that flowed past Colossae.
