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EPHESUS
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EPHESUS , an See also:ancient Ionian See also:city on the See also:west See also:coast of See also:Asia See also:Minor. In historic times it was situate on the See also:lower slopes of the hills, Coressus and Prion, which rise out of a fertile See also:plain near the mouth of the See also:river Cayster, while the See also:temple and See also:precinct of See also:Artemis or See also:Diana, to the fame of which the See also:town owed much of its celebrity, were in the plain itself, E.N.E. at a distance of about a mile. But there is See also:reason to think both town and See also:shrine had
different sites in pre-Ionian times, and that both See also:lay farther See also:south among the See also:foot-hills of Mt. Solmissus. The situation of
the city was such as at all times to command a See also:great See also:commerce. Of the three great river basins of See also:Ionia and See also:Lydia, those of the Hermus, Cayster and Maeander, it commanded the second, and had already See also:access by easy passes to the other two.
The earliest inhabitants assigned to Ephesus by See also:Greek writers are the " See also:Amazons," with whom we hear of See also:Leleges, Carians and PeIasgi. In the 11th See also:century B.C., according to tradition (the date is probably too See also:early), See also:Androclus, son of the Athenian See also: Croesus was eager in every way to propitiate the goddess, and since about this See also:time her temple was being restored on an enlarged See also:scale, he presented most of the columns required for the See also:building as well as some cows of See also:gold. That is to say, these gifts were probably paid for out of the proceeds of the See also:sequestration of the See also:property of a See also:rich Lydian See also:merchant, Sadyattes, which Croesus presented to Ephesus. (Nic. Damasc. fr. 65). To counteract, perhaps, the growing Lydian See also:influence, See also:Athens, the mother-city of Ephesus, despatched one of her noblest citizens, See also:Aristarchus, to restore See also:law on the basis of the Solonian constitution. The labours of Aristarchus seem to have See also:borne See also:fruit. It was an Ephesian follower of his, Hermodorus, who aided the See also:Decemviri at See also:Rome in their compilation of a See also:system of law. And in the same See also:generation Heraclitus, probably a descendant of Codrus, quitted his hereditary magistracy in See also:order to devote himself to See also:philosophy, in which his name became almost as great as that of any Greek. See also:Poetry had See also:long flourished at Ephesus. From very early times the Homeric poems found a See also:home and admirers there; and to Ephesus belong the earliest elegiac poems of See also:Greece, the See also:war songs of See also:Callinus, who flourished in the 7th century B.C. and was the See also:model of See also:Tyrtaeus. The city seems to have been more than once under tyrannical See also:rule in the early Ionian period; and it See also:fell thereafter first to Croesus of Lydia, and then to See also:Cyrus, the See also:Persian, and when the Ionian revolt against See also:Persia See also:broke out in the See also:year 50o B.C. under the See also:lead of See also:Miletus, the city remained submissive to Persian rule. When See also:Xerxes returned from the See also: Henceforth Ephesus remained subject to the Romans, See also:save for a See also:short period, when, at the'instigation of See also:Mithradates Eupator of See also:Pontus, the cities of Asia Minor revolted and massacred their Roman residents. The Ephesians even dragged out and slew those Romans who had fled to the precinct of Artemis for See also:protection, notwithstanding which See also:sacrilege they soon returned from their new to their former masters, and even had the effrontery to See also:state, in an inscription preserved to this See also:day, that their defection to Mithradates was a See also:mere yielding to See also:superior force. See also:Sulla, after his victory over Mithradates, brushed away their pretexts, and inflicting a very heavy See also:fine told them that the See also:punishment fell far short of their deserts. In the See also:civil See also:wars of the 1st century B.C. the Ephesians twice supported the unsuccessful party, giving shelter to, or being made use of by, first, See also:Brutus and
IX. 22Cassius, and afterwards Antony, for which partisanship or weakness they paid very heavily in fines.
All this time the city was gradually growing in See also:wealth and in devotion to the service of Artemis. The See also:story of St See also:Paul's doings there illustrates this fact, and the sequel is very suggestive, —the burning, namely, of books of sorcery of great value. Addiction to the practice of occult arts had evidently become See also:general in the now semi-orientalized city. The See also:Christian See also: See also:Ramsay), the latter showed a dangerous tendency to lightness and reaction, and later events show that the See also:pagan tradition of Artemis continued very strong and perhaps never became quite See also:extinct in the Ephesian See also:district. It was, indeed, long before the spread of See also:Christianity threatened the old local cult. The city was proud to be termed neocorus or servant of the goddess. Roman emperors vied with wealthy natives in lavish gifts, one Vibius Salutaris among the latter presenting a quantity of gold and See also:silver images to be carried annually in procession. Ephesus contested stoutly with See also:Smyrna and Pergamum the See also:honour of being called the first city of Asia; each city appealed to Rome, and we still possess rescripts in which the emperors endeavoured to mitigate the bitterness of the rivalry. One See also:privilege Ephesus secured; the Roman See also:governor of Asia always landed and first assumed See also:office there: and it was long the provincial centre of the See also:official cult of the See also:emperor, and seat of the Asiarch. The Goths destroyed both city and temple in the year A.D. 262, and although the city revived and the cult of Artemis continued, neither ever recovered its former splendour. A general See also:council of the Christian Church was held there in 431 in the great See also:double church of St See also:Mary, which is still to be seen. On this occasion See also:Nestorius was condemned, and the honour of the Virgin established as Theotokus, amid great popular rejoicing, due, doubtless, in some measure to the hold which the cult of the virgin Artemis still had on the city. (On this council see below.) Thereafter Ephesus seems to have been gradually deserted owing to its See also:malaria; and life transferred itself to another and higher site near the Artemision, the name of which, Ayassoluk (written by early Arab geographers Ayathulukh), is now known to be a corruption of the See also:title of St John Theolbgos, given to a great See also:cathedral built on a rocky See also: 1333; but few traces are now visible. The ruins of the Artemision, after serving as a See also:quarry to local builders, were finally covered deep with mud by the river Cayster, or one of its left See also:bank tributaries, the See also:Selinus, and the true site remained unsuspected until 1869. Excavations.—The first See also:light thrown on the See also:topography of Ephesus was due to the excavations conducted by the architect, J. T. See also:Wood, on behalf of the trustees of the See also:British Museum, during the years 1863-1894. He first explored the See also:Odeum and the Great See also:Theatre situate in the city itself, and in the latter See also:place had the See also:good See also:fortune to find an inscription which indicated to him in what direction to See also:search for the Artemision; for it stated that processions came to the city from the temple by the Magnesian See also:gate and returned by the Coressian. These two See also:gates were next identified, and following up that road which issued from the Magnesian gate, Wood lighted first on a ruin which he believed to be the See also:tomb of Androclus, and afterwards on an See also:angle of the peribolus wall of the time of Augrstus. After further tentative explorations, he struck the actual See also:pavement of the Artemision on the last day of 1869. The Artemision.—Wood removed the whole stratum of superficial See also:deposit, nearly 20 ft. deep, which overlay the huge See also:area of the temple, and exposed to view not only the scanty remains of the latest edifice, built after 350 B.C., but the See also:platform of an earlier temple, now known to be that of the 6th century to which Croesus contributed. Below this he did not find any remains. He discovered and sent to See also:England parts of several tr sculptured drums (columnae caelatae) of the latest temple, and archaic sculptures from the drums and See also:parapet of the earlier building. He also made accurate measurements and a See also:plan of the Hellenistic temple, found many See also:inscriptions and a few See also:miscellaneous antiquities, and had begun to explore the Precinct, when the great expense and other considerations induced the trustees of the British Museum to suspend his operations in 1874. Wood made two subsequent attempts to resume See also:work, but failed; and the site lay desolate till 1904, when the trustees, wishing to have further See also:information about the earlier strata and the Precinct, sent D. G. See also:Hogarth to re-examine the remains. As a result of six months' work, Wood's " earliest temple was re-cleared and planned, remains of three earlier shrines were found beneath it, a rich deposit of offerings, &c., belonging to the earliest shrine was discovered, and tentative explorations were made in the Precinct. This deep digging, however, which reached the See also:sand of the See also:original See also:marsh, released much ground See also:water and resulted in the permanent flooding of the site. The history of the Artemision, as far as it can be inferred from the remains, is as follows. (r) There was no temple on the plain previous to the Ionian occupation, the primeval seat of the nature-goddess having been in the See also:southern hills, at Ortygia (near mod. Arvalia). Towards the end of the 8th century B.c. a small shrine came into existence on the plain. This was little more than a small platform of See also:green schist with a sacred See also:tree and an See also:altar, and perhaps later a wooden See also:icon (See also:image), the whole enclosed in a See also:temenos: but, as is proved by a great treasure of See also:objects in See also:precious and other metals, See also:ivory, See also:bone, crystal, See also:paste, See also:glass, terra-See also:cotta and other materials, found in 1904-1905, partly within the platform on which the cult-statue stood and partly outside, in the lowest stratum of deposit, this early shrine was presently enriched by Greeks with many and splendid offerings of Hellenic workmanship. A large number of See also:electron coins, found among these offerings, and in See also:style the earliest of their class known, combine with other See also:evidence to date the whole treasure to a period considerably anterior to the reign of Croesus. This treasure is now divided between the museums of See also:Constantinople and See also:London. (2) Within a short time, perhaps after the Cimmerian See also:sack (? 65o B.C.), this shrine was restored, slightly enlarged, and raised in level, but not altered in See also:character. (3) About the close of the century, for some reason not known, but possibly owing to collapse brought about by the marshy nature of the site, this was replaced by a temple of See also:regular Hellenic See also:form. The latter was built in relation to the earlier central statue-See also:base but at a higher level than either of its predecessors, doubtless for dryness' sake. Very little but its See also:foundations was spared by later builders, and there is now no certain evidence of its architectural character; but it is very probable that it was the early temple in which the Ionic order is said to have been first used, after the colonists had made use of Doric in their earlier constructions (e.g. in the Panionion); and that it was the work of the Cnossian See also:Chersiphron and his son, See also:Meta-genes, always regarded afterwards as the first builders of a regular Artemision. Their temple is said by See also:Strabo to have been made bigger by another architect. (4) The latter's work must have been the much larger temple, exposed by Wood, and usually known as the Archaic or Croesus temple. This overlies the remains of No. 3, at a level higher by about a See also:metre, and the area of its See also:cella alone contains the whole of the earlier shrines. Its central point, however, was still the primitive statue-base, now enlarged and heightened. About See also:half its pavement, parts of the cella walls and of three columns of the See also:peristyle, and the foundations of nearly all the platform, are still in position. The visible work was all of very fine See also: N.E., near the See also:modern Kos Bunar. Fragments of See also:relief-sculptures belonging to the parapet and columns, and of fluted drums and capitals, cornices and other architectural members have been recovered, showing that the workmanship and Ionic style were of the highest excellence, and that the building presented a variety of See also:ornament, rare among Hellenic temples. The whole ground-plan covered about 8o,000 sq. ft. The height of the temple is doubtful, the measurements of columns givenus by later authority having reference probably to its successor, the height of which was considered abnormal and marvellous. Judged by the See also:diameter of the drums, the columns of the Croesus temple were not two-thirds of the height of those of the Hellenistic temple. This See also:fourth temple is, beyond question, that to which Croesus contributed, and it was, therefore, in See also:process of building about 540 B.C. Our authorities seem to be referring to it when they tell us that the Artemision was raised by See also:common contribution of the great cities of Asia, and took 120 years to complete. It was dedicated with great ceremony, probably between 430 and 420 B.C., and the famous See also:Timotheus, son of Thersander, carried off the magnificent See also:prize for a lyric See also:ode against all corners. Its original architects were, probably, See also:Paeonius of Ephe- See also:sus, and See also:Demetrius, a iepos of the shrine itself: but it has been suggested that the latter may have been rather the actual contracting builder than the architect. Of this temple See also:Herodotus speaks as existing in his day; and unless See also:weight be given to an isolated statement of See also:Eusebius, that it was burned about 395 B.C., we must assume that it survived until the See also:night when one H ~~f 6 Herostratus, desirous of acquiring eternal fame if only by a great See also:crime, set it alight. This is said to have happened in 356 B.C. on the See also:October night on which Alexander the Great came into the See also:world, and, as Hegesias said, the ° tf7 goddess herself was absent, assisting at the See also:birth; but the exactness of this portentous synchronism makes the date suspect. (5) It was succeeded by what is called the Hellenistic temple, begun almost immediately after the See also:catastrophe, according to plans See also:drawn by the famous See also:Dinocrates the architect of See also:Alexandria. The platform was once more raised to a higher level, some 7 ft. above that of the Archaic, by means of huge See also:foundation blocks bedded upon the earlier structures; and this increase of See also:elevation necessitated a slight expansion of the area all See also:round, and ten steps in place of three. The new columns were of greater diameter than the old and over 6o ft. high; and from its great height the whole structure was regarded as a marvel, and accounted one of the wonders of the world. Since, however, other Greek temples had colonnades hardly less high, and were of equal or greater area, it has been suggested that the Ephesian temple had some distinct See also:element of grandiosity, no longer known to us—perhaps a lofty sculptured parapet or some imposing form of See also:podium. See also:Bede, in his See also:treatise De See also:sept. mire mundi, describes a stupendous erection of several storeys; but his other descriptions are so fantastic that no See also:credence can µms—_ Stale of Feet 4 ro eo Ss do Se (p ~o Bo qo r4o Ground plan of the 6th Century ("Croesus") Temple at Ephesus, conjecturally restored by A. E. See also:Henderson. be attached to this. The fifth temple was once more of Ionic order, but the finish and style of its details as attested by existing remains were inferior to those of its predecessor. The great sculptured drums and pedestals, now in the British Museum, belong to the lower part of certain of its columns: but nothing of its See also:frieze or pediments (if it had any) has been recovered. Begun probably before 350 B.C., it was in building when Alexander came to Ephesus in 334 and offered to See also:bear the cost of its completion. It was probably finished by the end of the century; for See also:Pliny the See also:Elder states that its See also:cypress-wood doors had been in existence for 400 years up to his time. It stood intact, except for very partial restorations, till•A.D. 262 when it was sacked and burned by the Goths: but it appears to have been to some extent restored afterwards, and its cult no doubt survived till the See also:Edict of See also:Theodosius closed the pagan temples. Its material was then quarried extensively for the construction of the great cathedral of St John Theol6gos on the neighbouring hill (Ayassoluk), and a large See also:Byzantine building (a church?) came into existence on the central part of its denuded site, but did not last long. Before the See also:Ottoman conquest its remains were already buried under several feet of silt. The organization of the temple See also:hierarchy, and its customs and privileges, retained throughout an Asiatic character. The priestesses of the goddess were irapO vot (i.e. unwedded), and her priests were compelled to See also:celibacy. The chief among the latter, who bore the Persian name of Megabyzus and the Greek title Neocorus, was doubtless a power in the state as well as a dignitary of See also:religion. His official See also:dress and spadonic See also:appearance are probably revealed to us by a small ivory statuette found by D. G. Hogarth in 1905. Besides these there was a vast throng of dependents who lived by the temple and its services—theologi, who may have expounded sacred legends, hymnodi, who composed See also:hymns in honour of the deity, and others, together with a great See also:crowd of hieroi who performed more See also:menial offices. The making of shrines and images of the goddess occupied many hands. To support this greedy See also:mob offerings flowed in in a See also:constant stream from votaries and from visitors, who contributed sometimes See also:money, sometimes statues and See also:works of See also:art. These latter so accumulated that the temple became a rich museum, among the chief treasures of which were the figures of Amazons sculptured in competition by See also:Pheidias, See also:Polyclitus, See also:Cresilas and Phradmon, and the See also:painting by See also:Apelles of Alexander holding a thunderbolt. The temple was also richly endowed with lands, and possessed the See also:fishery of the Selinusian lakes, with other large revenues. But perhaps the most important of all the privileges possessed by the goddess and her priests was that of See also:asylum. Fugitives from See also:justice or vengeance who reached her precincts were perfectly safe from all pursuit and See also:arrest. The boundaries of the space possessing such virtue were from time to time enlarged. Mithradates extended them to a bowshot from the temple in all directions, and See also:Mark Antony imprudently allowed them to take in part of the city, which part thus became See also:free of all law, and a haunt of thieves and villains. See also:Augustus, while leaving the right of asylum untouched, diminished the space to which the privilege belonged, and built round it a wall, which still surrounds the ruins of the temple at the distance of about a See also:quarter of a mile, bearing an inscription in Greek and Latin, which states that it was erected in the proconsulship of Asinius See also:Gallus, out of the revenues of the temple. The right of asylum, however, had once more to be defended by a deputation sent to the emperor Tiberius. Besides being a place of See also:worship, a museum and a sanctuary, the Ephesian temple was a great bank. Nowhere in Asia could money be more safely bestowed, and both See also:kings and private persons placed their treasures under the guardianship of the goddess. The City.—After Wood's superficial explorations, the city remained desolate till 1894, when the See also:Austrian Archaeological See also:Institute obtained a concession for excavation and began systematic work. This has continued regularly ever since, but has been carried down no farther than the imperial stratum. The See also:main areas of operation have been: (I) The Great Theatre. The See also:stage buildings, See also:orchestra and lower parts of the caved havebeen cleared. In the process considerable additions were made to Wood's find of sculptures in marble and See also:bronze, and of inscriptions, including missing parts of the Vibius Salutaris texts. This theatre has a See also:peculiar See also:interest as the See also:scene of the tumult aroused by the See also:mission of St Paul; but the existing remains represent a reconstruction carried out after his time. (2) The Hellenistic See also:Agora, a huge square, surrounded by porticoes, lying S.W. of the theatre and having fine public halls on the S. It has yielded to the Austrians fine See also:sculpture in marble and bronze and many inscriptions. (3) The Roman Agora, with its large halls, lying N.W. of the theatre. Here were found many inscriptions of Roman date and some statuary. (4) A See also:street See also:running from the S.E. angle of the Hellenic Agora towards the Magnesian gate. This was found to be lined with pedestals of honorific statues and to have on the west See also:side a remarkable building, stated in an inscription to have been a library. The tomb of the founder, T. See also:Julius See also:Celsus, is hard by, and some fine Roman reliefs, which once decorated it, have been sent to See also:Vienna. (5) A street running See also:direct to the port from the theatre. This is of great breadth, and had a Horologion half-way down and fine porticoes and shops. It was known as the Arcadiane after having been restored at a higher level than formerly by the emperor See also:Arcadius (A.D. 395). It leaves on the right the great Therrnae of See also:Constantine, of which the Austrians have cleared out the south-See also:east part. This huge See also:pile used to be taken for the Artemision by early visitors to Ephesus. Part of the quays and buildings round the port were exposed, after See also:measures had been taken to drain the upper part of the marsh. (6) The Double Church of the Virgin " Deipara " in the N.W. of the city, wherein the council of 431 was held. Here interesting inscriptions and Byzantine architectural remains were found. Besides these excavated monuments, the See also:Stadion; the See also:enceinte of fortifications erected by Lysimachus, which runs from the See also:tower called the " See also:Prison of St Paul " and right along the crests of the Bulbul (Prion) and Panajir hills; the round See also:monument miscalled the " Tomb of St See also:Luke "; and the Opistholeprian gymnasium near the Magnesian gate, are worthy of See also:attention. The work done by the Austrians enables a good See also:idea to be obtained of the appearance presented by a great Graeco-Roman city of Asia in the last days of its prosperity. It may be realized better there than anywhere how much architectural splendour was concentrated in the public quarters. But the restriction of the clearance to the upper stratum of deposit has prevented the acquisition of much further knowledge. Both the Hellenistic and, still more, the original Ionian cities remain for the most part unexplored. It should, however, be added that very valuable topographical exploration has been carried out in the environs of Ephesus by members of the Austrian expedition, and that the Ephesian district is now mapped more satisfactorily than any other district of ancient interest in Asia Minor. The See also:Turkish See also:village of Ayassoluk (the modern representative of Ephesus), more than a mile N.E. of the ancient city, tas revived somewhat of See also:recent years owing to the development of its fig gardens by the See also:Aidin railway, which passes through the upper part of the plain. It is noteworthy for a splendid ruined See also:mosque built by the Seljuk, Isa See also:Bey II., of Aidin, in 1375, which contains magnificent columns: for a See also:castle, near which See also:lie remains of the pendentives from the See also:cupola of the great cathedral of St John, now deeply buried in its own ruins: and for an See also:aqueduct, Turkish See also:baths and mosque-tombs. There is a See also:fair See also:inn managed by the Aidin Railway See also:Company. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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