About Ephesus Ancient

One day early in the summer of 54 A.D. thousands of ephesians crowded the great theatre, roused by the silver-smith Demetrius. St. Paul’s new teaching that gods made with hands are not gods at all, was threatening the lucrative trade in silver shines of Artemis Ephesia. For two hours they kept shouting “Great is Artemis of the ephesians”. St. Paul, dressed in white and holding a sceptre in one hand, failed to calm the wild crowd. With the help of a few his followers he eventually escaped, barely saving his own life. This day was one of the most important days in the history of ephesus, like the day its founder Androklos came to the city, the times when first the Lydians and later the Persians invaded the city, the days earthquakes struck in the years 17,355,365 and 368 A.D., and the day the Ecumenical Council met in 431. Actually, the screams of “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” were the dying breath of the seven thousand year old mother goddess. www.ephesustoursway.com

The mother goddess whom we know as Artemis Ephesia, acquired her from as an extremely fertile woman, in 7000 B.C., at the hands of the Çatalhöyük people and started her long reign. She was the mother of everything, she was the most powerful being and she ruled everything. Her influence spread to the four corners of Anatolia, then to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Arabia an even to Scandinavia. The mother goddess, after thousands of years of evolition became Artemis Ephesia. The Temple of Artemis built in the honour, was known as the most famous treasure of the past, and Ephesus located in its vicinity, was considered the cradle of civilization from the cultural and social points of view.

Our sources of information on Ephesus are workd of ancient writers thousands of inscriptions unearthed during the excavations, and other archaeological finds. Yet our information on the establishment of the Ephesus is insufficient. Strabo and Pausanias, famous writers of antiquity, indicate that Ephesus was founded by the Amazons, and the majority of the of the population of Ephesus consisted of Carians and Lelegians.

According the historian Herodotus, the Carians considered themselves the oldest inhabitants of Anatolia. They lived in the area called Caria, and Halicarnassus was its most important city. Whereas the Lelegians migrated from Tharece and the Aegean islands into Asia Minor, Amazons occpy an important place in the legends related to the establishment of the city. This may be why Strabo mentions that Ephesus was named after an Amazon.

The Ephesian poet Kallinos who lived during the end of the 7th century and beginnig of the 6th century B.C., wrote that the Amazon who captured Ephesus was named Smyrna (İzmir). According to the poet Hipponax who was from Ephesus, but in 540 B.C. was expelled from the city by Athenagoras, a section of Ephesus was called Smyrna.

Strabo indicates that Smyrna was located between Lepre Akte and Thrakeia and that Lepre Akte was Mt. Koressos (Panayır Dağı). Later Smyrnaians left Ephesus and resettled near today’s İzmir and established the city of İzmir. The interest of Ephesus in the amazons lasted troughout history. That is why in the 5th century B.C., a competition called the Amazon Statue Competition was held among the leading sculptors of the age, to choose the statue to be placed at the Temple of Artemis (see Temple of Artemis). The relics from a Mycenaean grave excavated near the Church of St. John and exhibited at the Ephesus Museum, are the earliest examples of archaeological finds discovered so far in Ephesus. These have been dated to 1400-1300 B.C.. Based on this information we must accept that Ephesus was established about this time. The bowls unearthed, used to be marketed in the colonies Mycenaeans established along the shores of the Mediterranean and Western Anatolia, and they display the most advanced techniques of the day. These bowls were found along the shore stretching from Troy to Halicarnassus. Those found in Miletus near Ephesus have been dated to 1600 B.C. and they are considered the oldest. Professor Akurgal and other archaeologists suggest that the late Kingdom of Ahhiyava which is mentioned in the 13th and 14th century B.C. Hittite sources, was located near the region of Miletus. If this is proven, then, due to its location, Ephesus must have been an important city in the kingdom , in other words, it must have been the city called Apasas in the Hittite tablets. But so far, no Mycenaean settlement in Ephesus has been discovered.

The years between 1300-1100 B.C. were a period of instability in Anatolia, Syria and Egypt. Hittites who ruled in Central Anatolia were faced with uprisings in the states under their rule.

After the fall of Troy and ensuing looting, the Tracian started migrating south. They joined the other Tracian groups who came from the sea and settled in Western Anatolia, forming colonies. The written Egyptian sources of the 12th century, mention the destruction of cities during these migrations with deep sorrow. During the time of these migrations, regions called Aeolis and Ionia appeared on the map. The region of Ionia where Ephesus is located is referred to as “Yavan” in the Bible “Yavnai” in the Assyrian inscriptions and as “Yauna” in the Persia insriptions. To ensure their security, the immigrandts preferred to settle on islands near the coast and peninsulas. The colonization of Ephesus, as in the other Ionian cities, was completed in the 10th century B.C. Strabo and pausanias tell the story of the settlement: Androklos, son of Kodros (the King of Athens), and his friends who were about to migrate to Anatolia, could not decide on the location of the new city they were going to esblish. They consuled the oracle of Apollo, which told them to esblish their new city at the location which would be indicated by afish and boar. Androklos and his friends who came to the region wanted to cook fish, but the fish they were frying jumped off the pan, scattering flames that set the dry bushes on fire. A boar ran out of the burning bushes and Androklos started to chase the boar, caught it and killed it. Convinced that the prophesy of the oracle had come true, Androklos and friends established their new city in this location at the northern foot of Mt. Pion which was like an inner harbour then. To commemorate the occasion, they built the Temple of Athena on the spot where the boar had been killed. The exact location of that temple is stil unknown.

Kondros, the King of Athens and father of Androklos, was famous for his courage. Before a war with his neighbours, he consulted the Delphi oracle, which told him “The armies of the king who dies first will be the victors”. During the fighting, King Kondros had himself killed intentionally by the enemy. The ensuing figth for thethroneof Athens between Androklos and his stepbrothers who were kings in the cities near Athens, triggered his emigration to Anatolia.

Ephesus existed here for 400 years and was ruled by Androklos and descendents. When Androklos died during a war with the Carians he was buried near the Magnesia Gate and heroon (a shine dedicated to a deified person) was built on the site.

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