‘“Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’
Acts 2:7-11
The sheer size of the Roman Empire around AD 30 meant that it covered a vast geographic area and was home to a huge number of different cultures and languages. By the time of Pentecost, Jewish communities had existed all over the Mediterranean for centuries. Because of the centrality of the Temple in Jerusalem to the religious practice of the time, these communities would regularly travel from throughout the Empire to undertake pilgrimages to Jerusalem.
If you’ve ever wondered where the places mentioned in the Pentecost Mass reading are, here’s a map that identifies all of the places from the reading.
Click here to view a larger image.
