Ephesus
by: cemcansever | Total views: 215 | Word Count: 626 | View PDF | Print View
Ephesus (Greek: Έφεσος, Turkish: Efes) was an Ionian Greek city in ancient Anatolia, founded by colonists from Athens in the 10th century BC[1]. The city was located in Ionia, where the Cayster River (Küçük Menderes) flows into the Aegean Sea, and was part of the Panionian League. Today the archaeological site lies 3 km south of the Selçuk, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. The ruins of Ephesus are favourite international and local tourism attractions, due to easy accessibility via İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport and via the port of Kuşadası. Ephesus hosted one of the seven churches of Asia, addressed in the Book of Revelation(2:1–7)It is also the site of a large Gladiator graveyard.
It is assumed by scholars that Ephesus was founded on the Hittite settlement of Apasa (or Abasa), a Bronze Age-city mentioned in 14th century BC Hittite sources as the capital of the kingdom of Arzawa[2]. The city of Ephesus itself was founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC[2]. The mythical founder of the city was Androklos, a prince of Athens[2], though later Greek historians such as Pausanias and Strabo assigned the city's mythological foundation to the Amazons[2]. Androklos was said to have maintained friendly relations with the native Carian and Lelegian inhabitants of the land. The famous Greek goddess of Artemis and the great Anatolian goddess of Kybele were resembled together in the name of Artemis of Ephesus[2]. The many-breasted "Lady of Ephesus", identified with Artemis, was venerated in the Temple of Artemis, the largest building of the ancient world, according to Pausanias (4.31.8) and one of the Seven Wonders of the World, of which scarcely a trace remains (illustration, left).
Ephesus was attacked by Cimmerians and Lydians during the 7th and 6th centuries BC. The Lydian King Croesus conquered the city but treated the Greeks with respect, and even contributed to the construction of the temple of Artemis[2]. Later in the same century, Cyrus the Great defeated the Lydians and incorporated the Greek cities of Asia Minor into the Achaemenid Empire. In the early 5th century BC the Ephesians participated in the Ionian Revolt against the Persian rule (see Battle of Ephesus), an event which instigated the Greco-Persian wars. During the Peloponnesian War, Ephesus was allied to Athens.
Ephesus was an important center for early Christianity. Paul used it as a base. He became embroiled in a dispute with artisans, whose livelihood depended on the Temple of Artemis there (Acts 19:23–41), and wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus. Later Paul wrote to the Christian community at Ephesus.
Curtis Hudwalker notes, "the Apostle and Evangelist John lived in Asia Minor(Anatolia) in the last decades of the first century and from Ephesus had guided the Churches of that province...After Domitian's death the Apostle returned to Ephesus during the reign of Trajan, and at Ephesus he died about 100 AD at a great age". Ephesus was one of the seven cities addressed in Revelation (2:1–7).
There is also a letter written by 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 house of the Virgin Mary (Turkish: Meryem Ana, meaning "Mother Mary"), about 7 km from Selçuk, is believed to have been the last home of Mary, mother of Jesus and is a popular place of pilgrimage which was visited by Pope two times also.
The Church of Mary close to the harbour of Ephesus was the setting for the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, which resulted in the condemnation of Nestorius.
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cemcansever
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