065 Cnidus Lion

Museum Description: The Lion of Knidos

Room: Great Court/Case: None/Number: None

Scripture: Acts 27:7

Picture the scene of Paul, travelling to Rome to appeal to Caesar.  He was facing an arduous journey as he was sailing at the wrong time of year, and would eventually be shipwrecked on Malta.  The Bible records Paul sailed past the city of Cnidus with difficulty.  Cnidus was famous for having a large mausoleum  on the top of a cliff overlooking the city and the sea.  Guess what was on top of the mausoleum?  A stone lion, this very one you are looking at now!  What an amazing thought, something that Paul must have looked at while on that famous journey nearly two thousand years ago, we can look at today with our very own eyes!  Before it was just a small detail, a place name that may not have meant much, but from now on whenever we read this verse we will likely think of this artefact in The British Museum and vividly picture Paul on his perilous journey.