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Acts 27:2 (ANIV)
We [Paul, Dr. Luke and some other prisoners] boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

DRAWING NOTES:

TIME OF DAY:
Unspecified in Bible narrative. I’ve set this scene in the mid morning.

LIGHTING NOTES:
The sun (unseen, above) illuminates this scene, casting shadows below the figures and objects.

CHARACTERS PRESENT:
From left to right: centurion Julius, apostle Paul, Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica and a Roman soldier.

RESEARCH/ADDITIONAL NOTES:
This picture shows the apostle Paul onboard an Adramyttium ship, sailing away from Israel. The Bible doesn’t tell us which port Paul and his fellow prisoners sailed from. In the 1st century, the most important sea ports in Israel were Jaffa, Caesarea, and Akko. Jaffa, one of the oldest ports in the world, served as a key entry point for people and trade. Caesarea, rebuilt and expanded by Herod the Great, became a major centre of trade and administration. Akko, located in the north, also held significant importance as a port. I decided to illustrate Paul leaving from Caesarea Maritima; you can see the large harbour wall, in the background picture below.

This was the last time Paul would have seen Israel, as he was taken to Rome & died there some time later. Apostle Paul’s time in Rome before his death is estimated to be approximately 2 years in custody, followed by a period of freedom before his execution. Scholars suggest he may have been released from his initial imprisonment and then continued to preach before being martyred, possibly by Nero, a few years later. The exact timing and events are not fully documented in the New Testament.

Here is the scene without the figures in the foreground.

Background of Acts 27 – Paul sails for Rome – Scene 02 – Leaving Israel

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Background of Acts 27 – Paul sails for Rome – Scene 02 – Leaving Israel

Where was Adramyttium?
Adramyttium was a seaport of Mysia, a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by the following regions: Propontis on the north, Bithynia on the east, Phrygia on the southeast, Lydia on the south, Aeolis on the southwest, and Troad on the west.

Mysia is mentioned earlier, in Acts 16:7-8, on Paul’s second missionary journey, where the Holy Spirit doesn’t allow Paul to go into Bithynia, so he passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

We know from verse 2 above that the ship Paul and the others boarded was from Adramyttium, and I suppose it’s captain may have been planning to return to that port. Certainly the text says the ship was about to sail to ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and Adramyttium is about as far as you can go along that coast, before coming to other countries such as Thracia/Thrace and Macedonia.

No mention is made in the text of what the cargo was aboard this ship.