Ephesus

Ephesus was originally a Greek city built around the 10^th century BC on the site of an earlier Hittite city dedicated to the worship of Cybele, the Anatolian mother goddess. Cybele (or Kybele) and the Greek goddess, Artemis, were combined to create Artemis of Ephesus. There is a statue of her in the Commercial Agora (main marketplace) next to the Library of Celsus.

One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis (completed roughly 550 BC), was located just outside of Ephesus. Ephesus was destroyed by the Goths in 263 AD, rebuilt, and then partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD.

What mainly exists now is the 4^th century BC city of Alexander the Great’s successor, Lysinachus. Only about 20 to 30 percent of the actual city has been excavated as of yet. For the most part, the Roman remains are in the best shape. Marc Anthony and Cleopatra visited Ephesus back in 33 BC.

The city has lots of Christian associations. The Apostle Paul lived in Ephesus from 52 to 54 AD. He lived just behind the Library of Celsus and attended a synagogue that was close by until he started a church. He wrote the book of Corinthians while he was living in Ephesus and wrote the letters to the Ephesians after he was imprisoned in Rome. He also preached in the 25,000 seat theatre, which is mostly intact.

The disciple, John, was thought to have brought Mary, the Mother of Jesus to Ephesus in 37 AD to live out the remainder of her life. The restored house is up a mountain about five miles outside of the city.

The tomb of John is located at the Basilica of Saint John which was constructed by Emperor Justinian I in the 6^th century AD. The ruins of the Basilica stand up a hill not too far from the remains of the Temple of Artemis.

At Ephesus, our tour started with the Baths of Varius. We could see the water pipes that brought water to several of the Roman baths and throughout the city. Next we visited the Odeon, which was once a roofed meeting hall.

Coming down the hill towards the main part of the city, we arrived at a square with both physician and pharmacist symbols on the gate. There too were the remains of the Temple of Domitian. Soon we had our first glimpse of the Library of Celsus shortly before reaching the Gate of Hercules and another bathhouse and privy.

The Temple of Hadrian dates from the 2^nd century and was repaired in the 4^th century. What remains of the temple is very graceful looking with a delicate curved arch in the middle. Hadrian was a busy guy, building walls, triumphal arches, aqueducts, temples and other structures all over the Roman Empire.

The remains of the Library of Celsus are gorgeous. The four statues on the façade represent Sophia (wisdom), Arete (virtue), Ennoia (intellect), and Episteme (knowledge). The library, built in 125 AD, was funded by Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, Governor of Roman Asia. His son was the one who had it built and Celsus himself was buried in a sarcophagus beneath the building. With its reading rooms facing the East to catch the early morning light, the library originally held about 12,000 scrolls.

If you exit the library to the area in front of it and go to your left, you will find the Commercial Agora (the main marketplace). There are statues in the niches. One of the most important is the statue of Artemis (the Roman goddess Diana) of Ephesus.

The street in front of the library is made of marble and leads to the theatre, which is considered to be the largest Roman Theatre in existence. Although it was mainly used for theatrical presentations, it was also used for some gladiatorial exhibitions in the later Roman period. A graveyard for gladiators has been discovered nearby.

After leaving Ephesus, we drove up a nearby mountain to visit Mary’s house. The room in which she lived is off to the side of a small chapel. There is also a baptismal pool on the property.

Coming down the mountain, at the edge of the modern town of Selcuk, we stopped off to see the remains (mainly one tall column with some scattered smaller pieces) of the Temple of Artemus. The temple took about 120 years to build and was enormous and beautiful. It was destroyed by a flood in the 7^th century BC. The area around it is still a pond.

The remains of the Basilica of St John are visible from the location of the temple. A 14^th century mosque can also be seen as well as a medieval castle fortress on the top of a nearby mountain.

That evening, about half of our group walked down to the harbor and had dinner at a very homey restaurant. We sat out in the front yard under a large canopy. I didn’t record in my journal what we ate. By the time we made it back up to the hotel, we needed to head straight to bed due to an early departure time in the morning. I do remember that we ordered several different dishes and shared them. It was mainly sea food. We had a great time and definitely worked off the dinner and the wine on the climb back up the steep road from the harbor to the hotel.

We spent the next couple of days exploring Aphrodisias, Parmukkale, Hierapolis, and Konya.