Ephesus was already a Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia in the 6th century BC, in the region known as Ionia during the Classical Greek Period. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city was famed for the Temple of Diana (aka Artemis, completed around 550 BC), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was destroyed in 401 AD. The importance of the city as a commercial center declined as the harbor slowly filled with silt from the river Cayster. Malaria began to plague the area as the silted in harbor formed a marsh that bred mosquitoes and it was deserted. The sea is now more than 20 miles from the city site.
Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia mentioned in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John might have been written here. It is also the site of a large gladiator graveyard. It has a long and illustrious history.
When Alexander the Great defeated the Persian forces at the Battle of Granicus in 334 BC, the Greek cities of Asia Minor were liberated and Alexander was greeted warmly in Ephesus when he entered it in triumph. When he saw that the temple of Artemis was not yet finished, he proposed to finance the temple and have his name as an inscription of the front. But the inhabitants of Ephesus refused, claiming that it was not fitting for a god to build a temple for another god. This era is known as the Hellenistic Period.
Ephesus later became a subject of the Roman Republic. Taxes rose considerably and the treasures of the city were systematically plundered. When Augustus became emperor in 27 BC, he made Ephesus the capital of proconsular Asia, which covered the western part of Asia Minor. Ephesus entered an era of prosperity. It became the seat of the governor, growing into a metropolis and a major center of commerce. It was second in importance and size only to Rome. It is estimated that Ephesus had nearly half a million inhabitants in the year 100, making it the largest city in Roman Asia. Ephesus was at its peak during the first and second century AD.
The city was famed for the Temple of Diana (Artemis), who had her chief shrine there, the Library of Celsus and its theatre, which was capable of holding 44,000 spectators. This open-air theater was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times gladiators also fought there. The population of Ephesus also had several major bath complexes, built at various points while the city was under Roman rule. The city had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world, with multiple aqueducts of various sizes to supply different areas of the city.
Ephesus was an important center for early Christianity from the AD 50s. From AD 52-54, the Apostle Paul lived here, working with the congregation and apparently organizing missionary activity into the outlying areas. He became embroiled in a dispute with the Silversmiths, one of the strongest and most influential artisans guilds. Their livelihood depended on selling the statuettes of Diana in the Temple (Acts 19:23–41). He wrote the letter 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (possibly from the "Paul tower" close to the harbor, where he was imprisoned for a short time). Later Paul wrote to the Christian community at Ephesus, according to tradition, while he was in prison in Rome (around 62 A.D.). It is possible that this was a general or circular epistle, an encyclical. Three early copies don't have a city name filled in the opening but have blank there instead. Some take this to indicate that the letter was to be addressed to several different churches. It's fairly well accepted that Paul used scribes because his eyesight was not too good or he had some problem that prevented him from writing legibly. In any event I'm not sure this omission in later manuscripts is any indication of who was to get the letter. It could be that some enterprising scribe was going to make a little money on the side by making copies addressed to certain individuals or cities. It's not possible to tell from the evidence at hand, although since the letter does not contain any personal references or specific problems in Ephesus it is possible that it was to be circulated and just went to Ephesus first.
Anatolia was also linked with the Apostle John and the Gospel of John might have been written in Ephesus around AD 95. Ephesus is one of the seven cities addressed in Revelation (2:1–7), indicating that the church at Ephesus was still strong.
Two decades later, the church at Ephesus there was still important enough to be addressed by a letter written by Bishop Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians in the early 2nd century AD, that begins with, "Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fullness of God the Father, and predestinated before the beginning of time, that it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory" (Letter to the Ephesians). The church at Ephesus had given their support for Ignatius, who was taken to Rome for execution.
Ephesus is the largest collection of Roman ruins east of the Mediterranean. Only about 15% of the city has been excavated. Can you tell that I'm really hyped to be here again? Here's just one small part of the reason why. When you visit Jerusalem or almost any site in Israel you can't be completely sure that you are walking on any of the streets or places any of the Biblical characters walked. Almost everything has been covered over, built upon or otherwise destroyed. (No, I really don't care what your guide there told you. If he said you could be sure that Jesus touched or walked somewhere the odds are he was telling a whopper.) Here in Ephesus we do have the problem of destruction but we don't have the problem of 'built upon'. The structures are as they were. Granted, many of them were built after the time that Paul and John were here, but some remain. The theater mentioned in Acts 19 for example. There's only one theater here and there's never been another one. The road up from the port, Harbor Street, and the Marble Way in front of the theater are original, as is the Agora. Unless Paul never went to the market or the theater in the three years he lived here he walked those streets. The Library of Celsus, the Odeum and the Temple of Hadrian were all built later but the Temple of Diana was definitely there in Paul's time. It's the near riot of Diana's devotees that caused Paul to leave Ephesus for Macedonia and after that Greece.
The sun was just coming up as we sailed into the port. Our room was facing west but the reflected sunrise on the clouds made for an interesting scene.
Since we've been to Emphasis before we decided to add a few sights to give us something new to see. Neither of these places can be dogmatically claimed to be authentic but the traditions are strong and they tell part of the story even if they are not the exact locations of the events.
Our first stop was high on a hill about 6 miles from downtown Ephesus. You may remember that while on the cross Jesus charged the Apostle John to care for Mary and told Mary to think of John as her son. Tradition and history tell us they both accepted this admonition and John looked after Mary until her death. Mary and John moved to Ephesus when things in Jerusalem became too dangerous and when the relationship between the Pantheists and Christians started to deteriorate in Ephesus she moved out of town to this mountaintop. Tradition says she died here and there's a small chapel built of local stone atop the ruin of an ancient house. The Roman Catholic Church strongly believes this spot in significant and many Popes have visited the site.
Buses can't get to the top of the hill so it's another of those sites where you dismount and walk up to the top. The simple rectangular chapel has no bell tower or cross on the outside to mark it as a religious site. It looks more like a very small warehouse except for the arched windows. Inside the chapel is not ornate at all but has an attractive simplicity to it. They have some boxes of candles with the invitation to take two if you want. Just past the chapel they have some sand candelabras where the faithful can light a candle and stick it in the sand.
Down some stairs to the side of the chapel there are fountains with water from the local spring. Some of the pilgrims fill containers with it to take with them. A little past the fountains there's a wall with grids of thin steel rods attached. The grids were full of pieces of paper and cloth that presumably have requests and prayers on them.
Back down at the bus park I decided to use the WC while everyone was shopping. To my great surprise I discovered the urinals with one of the prettiest views I've ever seen. The wall in front of them has a rectangular opening about 18 inches high and almost the width of the wall looking out over a very green wooded hillside and valley. Answering nature's call while observing nature's beauty. Not bad.
Next stop; back down in the valley at the ancient city of Ephesus.
Our guide Ozan (with a long O) did the smart thing and got us off the bus at the highest point of the city and let us walk downhill to meet the bus at the lower end. I thought he looked a little familiar and when Diana asked me if he was our guide last time we were here I knew why.
The first recognizable structure you see looks like a small theater but it's the Odeon or more correctly the Bouleuterion because that's were the Bouleia (Senate) met. It only holds about 1,500 and it is possible that it was also used for other purposes but it was built to serve as the meeting place of the Senate.
Directly east of the Odeon is the State Agoura with the Prytaneum, the administrative center of Ephesus. This structure had a temple like appearance because the front façade was eight columns holding up a large entablature however the interior of the building consisted of a large hall surrounded by rooms that housed the religious and civic administrators of the city.
We walked down the street in front of these buildings until we came to a series of arched rooms that are still not fully excavated. This area served as warehouses for the city's supplies of food, wine and other goods. In a large field just south of this area we could see a large collection of marble chunks. Some appeared to be parts of columns, lintels, walls and who knows what all. Each had been marked with a series of numbers. Ozan told us that this was the world's largest jigsaw puzzle. As pieces are unearthed they are marked with numbers that identify where and when they were found. They are then moved to this field and sorted by location. As the supply of parts from a single location begins to grow people start to see if any of the pieces related to each other for the purpose of reconstruction.
We walked down a small, narrow but nicely paved street an open area called Domitian Square where the Temple of Domitian, one of the largest temples in the city, was constructed. This temple and its statue are some of the few remaining artifacts that can be connected with Domitian, who ruled fro 81 - 96 AD. Originally it was used to venerate the still living emperor and his wife Domitia. Later it was consecrated to his father, Vespisian.
There, on the side of the square, I encountered an old friend. On a large triangular block of marble braced up on the side of the square was a carved relief of the same winged god that's on the frescoes all over the world. My old pal Mercury is the easiest of the ancient gods for me to identify and I just love bumping into him.
Also on the Domitian Square is the Monument of Memmius, the grandson of the dictator Sulla. It was erected in the 1st century AD, which puts it in the same time frame as both Paul and John. It is thought that was the son of a friend of Cicero and died at an early age in about 50 AD (The first century is years 1 through 100.)
Overly Pedantic Math Moment: It has always been amazing to me how our culture seems to accept the notion that actually provable facts can be a matter of opinion. For example, what was the first year of the 21st Century? If you said 2000 please move to the back of the class. It was the year 2001. I remember at the time that there were articles in the newspaper discussing which year it should be including Op-Ed pieces by people who are supposed to be reasonably intelligent. Apparently Mathematics has now become the matter of opinion. Keeping in mind that there was no 'Zero' year between BC and AD (the year 1 AD followed directly behind 1 BC), the first year in the 1st Century AD was the year 1. Now, also keeping in mind that a century has to have 100 years in it, what would be the last year of the 1st Century AD? That's right the year 100. If it were the year 99 that century would be one year short of 100. Therefore, the first year of the 2nd Century BC was the year 101 and the last year was the year 200. Carrying that math forward and if we agree that a century without 100 years in it is something that does not exist then, the last year of the 20th Century was 2000 and the first year of the 21st Century was 2001. Looking back on my profession, computer systems. It seems that the Millennium Bug should have been called the Almost the Millennium Bug. If a millennium is 1,000 years and the first year was 1 then the first millennium ended on Dec 31, 1000 and the second one ended Dec. 31, 2000. Since the use of a 2-digit year (the Millennium Bug) would cause the program to fail on Jan 1, 2000 when the 2-digit year would go from '99' to '00', it wouldn't quite be the millennium yet. Some things are just not a matter of opinion. There really is such a thing as fact and truth or right and wrong and the sooner our society figures that out the better off we're all going to be. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
On the east side of the square is the Heracles Gate. It's named after the images of Hercules found on its columns. It's said that if you touch both posts of the gate at the same time you will have the strength of Hercules himself. Don't you just hate it when they switch between the Greek and Roman names for the gods. Heracles/Hercules or Diana/Artemis. You say tomato, I say tomato. (That doesn't work very well in writing)
Once you're through the gate you are on the Street of the Curetes, the city's main thoroughfare. It's a fairly wide, marble slab paved street that runs downhill from Domitian Square to the small square that was at the center of Ephesus. In essence it connects the civil agora with the mercantile agora. (In English we've become accustomed to interpreting the work agora as marketplace. What it actually means is 'open space' and since the largest open space in most Greek or Roman cities was the market the link is understandable. However the open space where government was seated is also and agora.) You have a great view of the library from the top of the street. Along this street there were many structures only some of which have been identified.
On the right a little way down is the Nymphaeum (Fountain, sort of) of Trajan. It was built in 102 AD and dedicated to the Emperor. It had two basins one at the street and one a little higher and further back. The water cascaded from under the statue of Trajan and fell seven feet to the first basin. From there it flowed into the street side basin for use by passersby. The two-story high façade was decorated with sculptures of Dionysus, Aphrodite, a satyr and statues of the imperial family. The statue of Trajan was huge and only the base with part of an inscription survives. Most of the sculpture is in museums, some here in Ephesus.
Almost directly across the street I noticed a wide mosaic sidewalk that runs parallel to the street. Behind it are small rooms with arches at the back leading to other rooms. Turns out it was a strip mall. The mosaic was the walkway and the floors of the stores. All in all it was about 15 yards long.
Across the street from the downhill end of the strip mall is an impressive structure, the Temple of Hadrian. It has four columns across the front of the porch. Between the center two columns is an arch with a bust of Tyche on the keystone. The lintels between the outside columns are flat. At the top of the arch is a great bust of Hadrian. All the pediments and column capitals are ornately carved. This area must have been a porch because five feet behind these entries is a wall with a central door leading into a room that has not been excavated. Inside the porch on either side of the entablature are carved friezes with scenes from the foundation of Ephesus.
Just downhill from the temple was a large; three story building, the Baths of Varius. These were the public baths of which the Romans were so fond. Attached to the baths and in very good condition is the public latrine. It has a layout that would probably make most Westerners uncomfortable. There's a central pool that was uncovered. Around the room, like the divans of the Tartars, there's a row of seats with keyhole shaped holes in them about 18 inches apart. I've heard of dancing cheek to cheek but this is a whole new concept for me. In areas where the seats are not set on the top you can look down inside. They had constantly running water about four feet down to carry everything away. Not bad for the times. In front of the seats a small gutter was carved in the marble floor. This was to reach down and wash off your hands and feet. There's a larger bath at the gymnasium and there must have been others here in the city as this one is fairly small.
Across the street from the baths are the Hill Houses. This was a fancy area of the city where the upper class lived. It's currently under excavation.
A short distance down the street from here you are in the central square and facing the Library of Celsus, definitely the most beautiful building in Ephesus. It was built around 114 AD by Gaius Julius Aquila, probably as a tomb and monument for his father Celsus. But advances in city planning and the construction code thwarted his plans. It seems that by the time the plans were completed and the materials on site it was only allowed to build a tomb in the city center if it was in the context of a public building, like a library. Thus the tomb became a library and Celsus was buried in a vault in the buildings basement. The façade is highly ornamented and has three doors flanked by double columns on each side. Between these four double columns are niches with four statues personifying the characteristics of Celsus, wisdom (Sophia), courage (Arête), benevolence (Eunoia) and knowledge (Episteme). It was two stories tall and contained more than 12,000 scrolls. An interesting mark is inscribed on the stair just below the statue of Eunoia, a Jewish menorah. Whether it was part of the original plan or graffiti from a later period it's hard to be certain. It is in an odd place and is carved lying on its side as viewed from coming up the stairs. There's other graffiti in the city that will come up later.
One interesting result of the establishment of this library was the development of parchment. As the library grew it began to threaten the supremacy of the library in Alexandria. As all scrolls were made of papyrus, which was made in Egypt, that country decided to stop exporting papyrus to prevent the growth of competing locations. The locals here developed parchment which is made of animal skins and that led to the development of books as the pages of skins could be sewn together whereas parchment is too fragile to use in that way.
As you stand facing the library on the square, the building directly behind you is the brothel. That puts the brothel between the library and the baths. When you enter the square coming from the waterfront you have a choice to make, go right and study or go left for sex and then a bath. Probably not a difficult choice for most of the sailors of the era.
To the right of the library is a large gate leading to a flat open area with columns around most of the perimeter. This was the city commercial agora or market place. From the central square there's a very wide street that goes between the market and the city gymnasium called the Marble Way. When you get to the bottom of the Street of the Curetes if you turn right you are on the Marble Way. Just past the agora and on the opposite side of the street is the city theater. It could accommodate 44,000 people. It was begun by the Greeks and expanded to its current size by Roman Emperor Claudius I. It has a large stage building and the stage itself is very roomy. The orchestra area is semicircular in shape. In Greek times this area held the famous Greek Chorus. They didn't use any instruments in their plays but had a group of people who spoke their lines in unison usually giving the audience information that the actors in the play didn't know. "And now brave Agamemnon goes to meet his death!" might be something you would hear a Greek Chorus chant at the end of a scene. In the later days of the Roman Empire, gladiatorial contests between men or men and animals were held here. This necessitated the construction of a solid wall in front of the orchestra for its protection. There are three large tiers of seats around the orchestra. The highest seats are 100 feet higher than the level of the orchestra and a long way from the stage. As is usual for this type of theater, the acoustics are fantastic.
It was to this theater that the crowd took Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia after seizing them in anger over the drop in sales of Diana merchandise. Acts 19 records the events. Paul wanted to go speak to the crowd but even the local governor didn't like that idea. The city clerk of Ephesus took control of the assembly and said that if the artisans had charges to make let them file them in the courts. After all the men of Ephesus are law abiding, honorable citizens, aren't they? After that the crowd dispersed. After this incident, Paul and his friends met with the city's Christians and then left for Macedonia.
Along the Marble Way there are symbols carved into the paving slabs. Some are very obscure but our guide stopped to explain one of the to us. The Marble Way connects with the Arcadian Way the street coming up from the harbor. The symbols in the pavement were the outline of a left foot, an archway and a square with a star over it. The guide says that it means 'There's something interesting on the left at the square ahead that you will really enjoy.' Of course, that's the location of the brothel. Another one was a circle with lines across the diameter cutting it into 8 wedges. This was the sign that Christians were here. IXOYE are probably letters you recognize from the Christian fish symbol. The circle cut into 8 slices has lines to trace all these letters.
At the far end of the theater there's a small columned fountain in the wall of the stage building. This is one of the few Greek structures that is still as it was in the Hellenistic Period.
At that end of the theater, just by the gymnasium, we turned left onto the Arcadian Way. Ahead we could see the remains of the port buildings including Paul's Tower where it is believed he was imprisoned. Also at the harbor was a small bath and market.
From there we walked along the ridge to the right and headed toward the parking lot where our bus was waiting. I wish we had longer to look around the city.
We visited the Ephesus Museum next and it's a well-designed place that displays many of the artifacts discovered during excavations at the site. Diana has wanted to see the statues of Diana (Artemis) from Ephesus for a long time and they have them here. Lets just say that for a fertility goddess Diana was well equipped. The version here in Ephesus has at least 30 breasts. It was an informative and entertaining place to visit.
We are now climbing another hill, not as high as Mary's but definitely looking down over the plane of Ephesus. It's the location of the Basilica of Saint John the Evangelist. John the Apostle was a native of Ephesus and author of the only non-synoptic Gospel and the book of Revelation. He's the only one of the twelve disciples who was not martyred but died a natural death. There have been churches on this site since the Second Century dedicated to Saint John. A large marble vault set in the floor of what would have been the sacristy of the church just past the crossing is said to be the site of his burial.
From the top of this hill we had a good view of the lone column standing at what was the Temple of Diana, the main deity here in Ephesus. Reduced sales of her artifacts because of the Apostles teaching was the caused the aforementioned riot here in the First Century.
