Ephesus: A History of Shifting Religious Empires

            On Thursday, May 29^th, we visited the ancient city of Ephesus. Unlike cites such as Assos or Pergamum, the remains of Ephesus are large enough to evoke the scale of the city during the Greco-Roman period. Instead of a small cluster of excavated temples, Ephesus features two full Agoras, Greek and Roman period housing, aqueducts, and a variety of temple remains. The unique sense of completeness to the site has made it a popular tourist attraction. In fact, though we were supposed to go to Ephesus early in the week, our tour guide decided to wait until Thursday because we spotted multiple cruise ships making dock on our intended day. Even though Ephesus is easily the largest excavation cite we have seen to date, it is estimated that only 10 to 15 percent of the city has been excavated; the rest waits under the dirt and rocks for archeologists (with the proper funding of course) to uncover them.

            Many of the examples of Greco-Roman architecture to be found in Ephesus can also be viewed at other cites. The difference is in the scale and uniqueness of Ephesus’ remains. The crowning jewel of ancient Ephesus was its temple to the Greek goddess Artemis, who was a goddess of fertility, especially in the context of farming. Ephesus’ title of Artemis’ neokoros (temple keeper) made it particularly wealthy. Every spring pilgrims from throughout the Greco-Roman world would visit the city for the annual Artemisia festival, where they could make highly effective sacrifices to the goddess. The effectiveness of sacrifices made to Artemis made at the Ephesian temple is partially attributed to its large size and grandeur; it is four times the size of the legendary Pantheon found in Athens. This difference was so noticeable to the ancients that the Artemis temple in Ephesus was, in a sense, differentiated from all other Artemis temples, and the goddess of the city was not merely Artemis, but “The Great Artemis of the Ephesians.” This made the city of Ephesus’ function in the ancient world roughly the equivalent of modern day Saudi Arabia; its primary means of wealth were related to religious pilgrimages and functions.

All that remains of the Artemis Temple proper. The initial archeological team who excavated the site re-erected one of the columns from the temple.

AJ, your blog poster of the day, getting acquainted with the local residents of St. John's basilica

            The splendor and glory of the Artemis Temple in Ephesus was great enough to make it known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Unfortunately, the temple of Artemis was destroyed by Gothic raiders around the year 262 AD. Shortly after this event, Christianity would become the official religion of the Roman Empire, and as a result there was no incentive to rebuild this structure, and it continued to be nothing more than ruins. Instead, many of its stones were put to use in a new building: a great basilica dedicated to the Apostle John, Jesus’ beloved disciple. The Bible and Church Tradition both speak to St. John’s intimate connection with the city of Ephesus. Sometime after St. Paul’s founding of the Ephesian church and three year stay in the city (see Acts 20:31), St. John moved into Ephesus, bringing with him Mary, the mother of Jesus. His long residence in Ephesus makes it the most likely city of origin for 1, 2 and 3 John, as well as the Gospel of John. Apart from brief exile to Patmos (around the year 95 AD), John spent the remainder of his life in this city, dying a natural death at around the age of 105.

Dr. Yeatts teaching on Revelation, with the tomb of the Apostle John in the background

            At first a small church was built around the tomb of St. John on Ayasoluk Hill. But after the legalization of Christianity in the early 4^th century, a larger church building was erected over the original site, including a large wooden ceiling. The completed iteration of the church was finished in 548 AD under the patronage of Justinian I. However, later earthquakes seriously 

damaged the church beyond repair. This should have been an expected event, as earthquakes are quite common in the area, and the old Temple of Artemis whose stones were used to finish the basilica was damaged multiple times by earthquakes. Once the Seljuk Turks gained control of this region from the Byzantine Empire, the church fell into permanent disrepair. Just as the church used material from the old pagan temple, the Turks used material from the church to build a mosque on the site. However, this mosque was also severely damaged by an earthquake, so a new mosque was built at a safer nearby site, and dedicated to the Prophet Isa.

A view from inside the Grotto of St. Paul

            One of the highlights of our trip to Ephesus was caused by our tour company’s connections with archeologists working at Ephesus. As a result of this, we were allowed exclusive access to areas barred from the general public. One of these sites sat on the mountainside of Coressus overlooking the city, requiring a mile long hike to reach. It is commonly called St. Paul’s Grotto, and it is a cave about 3 meters tall and 12 meters deep filled with early Christian artwork. Among these pieces is a pictorial representation of Paul, alongside Thecla. This drawing is regarded as the oldest depiction of Paul in the world. Between the somewhat hidden location, spiritual richness and exclusivity of the site, this cave was a favorite of the day for many of us, a gem among gems that shone a brighter hue. Even more so than our previously visited sites, Ephesus has helped resurrect what life in the 1^st and 2^nd centuries would have looked like to the earliest disciples of Christ.

Sources Cited:
            Wilson, Mark. Biblical Turkey: A Guide to the Jewish and Christian Sites of Asia Minor. Ege Yayinlari, Istanbul 2012.