Bible Place Names Modern Names

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atassina

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Looking for a printed table that has biblical place names and their modern place names-- something simple, not detailed. Why is it so difficult to find a reference like this in a bible, any bible.

For example:
(See 1 Peter:1)
Galatia: Area in modern Turkey- North Central
Cappadocia: Area in modern Turkey, north central- about south east of Galatia
Pontus: Area in modern Turkey, north central- east of Galatia and Cappadocia

I have no idea where Asia, Bithynia, Darbe, Ekron, Gilead, Haran and Goshen are. Why don’t all bibles come with a simple table like the one I have mentioned? I suck at geography. I’m Glad that I know China and Mexico are different countries on different continents. How am I supposed to know ancient geography in relation to my life and desire to understand the Bible?

I don’t want to see lousy definitions like:
“Pontus: N. of Asia Minor, stretching along the Euxine sea (Pontus, from whence its name).” I’m thinking, “Where is Asia Minor? Where is the Euxine sea? And no I don’t understand why it is whence Pontus? What is wrong with this guy? Is he writing for biblical scholars or the common person?”

It’s 3:51am and I have been at this for two hours instead of reading 1Peter. Yes, I’m having trouble sleeping.

A highly detailed map with all the biblical/modern place names with a reference table would also be good. By reference table I means something like this: Pontus B8. This would mean Column B Row 8. For years this has been frustrating to me.

I have the same frustration with people names, mountain/river names and any other name in the Bible. I’m not a scholar or even Bible knowledgable. I just want to understand the meaning of the text in itself and how it relates to me in my modern situation.

No, a computer is not useful when I’m on a hammock, at the beach, in an airplane, on a bus, in a bathroom or eating green eggs and ham. No I don’t like it Sam I Am.
 
I would love to see such a resource as well.

Part of the problem is that names change over time. As one nation took over they would change the names of cities. A king could rename everything so there was no consistency.

There were even multiple places with the same name like Antioch. There are at least five different places named Antioch in the Bible.

At least the British had the sense to to use the “New” prefix when naming cities after their English namesakes. New York, New Jersey, New London, etc.

They aren’t much more creative than the British here in the South. There was a road named Alabama Rd. and when they built a newer road and named it Alabama Rd, they renamed the old one to Old Alabama Rd. Then they built an even newer Alabama Rd. and renamed the second one to Old Alabama Rd. and renamed the oldest one to Old Old Alabama Rd. 🤷

-Tim-
 
Also, investing in a halfway decent Bible atlas or Bible dictionary is a basic requirement for answering questions like these. Even the best study Bibles aren’t going to be nearly comprehensive enough because it would make them impossibly unwieldy. I like Scott Hahn’s Catholic Bible dictionary, although it’s a little pricey. An inexpensive Protestant alternative is this one, found at most chain retail bookstores for under 10 bucks:

onestone.com/nelson-s-illustrated-dictionary-of-the-bible.html
 
TimothyH said:
I would love to see such a resource as well.

Part of the problem is that names change over time. As one nation took over they would change the names of cities. A king could rename everything so there was no consistency.

There were even multiple places with the same name like Antioch. There are at least five different places named Antioch in the Bible.
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In some cases, we don’t even know where these places exactly are supposed to be. That’s another problem. Take for example Cana - there’s at least four places in Israel and Lebanon all claiming to be the “Cana of the Galilee.” There’s also “Ur of the Chaldeans:” there’s a lot of places in Mesopotamia named Ur, so we can’t exactly p(name removed by moderator)oint which Ur Abram is supposed to have come from. Mount Sinai is a third example. 😉
 
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