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to ancient historians the myth of the foundation of Ephesus goes back to
the period before the Ionian colonization. As it was customary in
ancient times to consult the oracle before any important event,
Androclus, the son of Codrus, the legendary King of Athens did this
about where to settle or found a settlement. The answer was simple: "at
the place which will be indicated by a fish and a wild boar". After
colonists landed in Anatolia, they were camping somewhere near Ephesus
and were grilling fish. A burning fish set a bush on fire causing a boar
to leap out of the bush and run away. Remembering the words of the
oracle the colonists decided to found their settlement there. |
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Some
sources say That the city was founded by the Amazons. In mythology, the
Amazons were a race of woman warriors who lived in Anatolia and fought
with the Trojans against the Achaeans in the Trojan War. At That time,
their queen was killed by the Achaean hero Achilles. According to legend
the Amazons dealt with men for only two reasons, procreation and battle,
and they reared only their female young. The Amazons were frequently
depicted by artists as being in battle with men.
The city was an Ionian colony formed sometime after 1000 BC. Some
authorities have suggested That the history of the city goes back to the
Hittite period, c. 1400 BC, and it was the city which the Hittites
called Apasas. The earliest archeological evidence is the Mycenaean
ceramics found on the Ayasuluk Tepesi (Hill). This does not imply That
there had been a Mycenaean settlement in the region of Ephesus.
Mycenaean ceramics were popular and found in many other places. |
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Ephesus has
been located at different places in different times. Ephesus I was located
on Ayasuluk Hill and inhabited by ancient Anatolians, Carians and Lelegians.
At That time there was a cult of the Great Earth Mother which acted like a
magnet attracting pilgrims and settlers even before the Ionian migration.
Ephesus II was on the north slope of Panayir Dagi (Mount Pion). As with
other cities of the Aegean coast of Anatolia, Ephesus came to be ruled by
Croesus of
Lydia in the mid-6C BC, before passing to the Persians after 546 BC. It
joined the Delian League after the Persian Wars. In 334 BC it fell to
Alexander the Great and subsequently to his successors: Lysimachus and
Seleucid rulers. In the 4C BC the harbor threatened to silt up the
settlement and it was moved to a new location between Panayir Dagi and
Bulbul Dag (Mount Coressus) by Lysimachus to form Ephesus III. The remains
of city walls from this period can still
be seen at the foothill of Bulbul Dag (The Nightingale Mountain). Later it
was controlled by Pergamum, eventually passing into Roman hands in 133 BC.
During this period Ephesus became the capital of province of Asia Minor and
the population reached a quarter of a million. After the 6C AD, due to the
persistent silting up of the harbor and repeated raids by Arabs, the city
changed its location back to Ayasuluk Hill forming Ephesus IV.
Ephesus and Christianity.
Ephesus is vividly alluded to in Acts 19-20 in connection with St. Paul’s
extended ministry at Ephesus. Apostle Paul probably spent two and a half
years in Ephesus during his third missionary journey, until a riot forced
him to leave the city rapidly. Some authorities believe That St. Paul was
imprisoned in the so-called Prison of St. Paul in Ephesus. Eventually the
belief in Christ and the veneration of his Blessed Mother replaced the
worship of Artemis and the other deities.
Ephesus was the site of the third ecumenical council of 431 AD at which the
question of the Virgin Mary being the Mother of God was debated. In this
council it was decided That Christ had a double nature as God and man, and
the Virgin Mary was theotokos, god-bearer.
" To the Angel" of the congregation in Ephesus; these are the things that he
says, who holds the seven starts in his right hand, who walks in the midst
of the seven golden lampstands. Therefore remember from where you have
fallen, and repent and do to the former deeds. If you do not, I am coming to
you and I will remove your lampsstand from its place, unless you repent
still you do home this, that you hate the deeds of the sect of Nicolous
which I also hate. (Revelation 1:2)
The Library of Celsus :
Inscriptions in both Greek and Latin record that the libraray was
founded in A.D 110 by the consul Gaius Julius Aquila as a funeraray monument
to his father Gaius Celsus Polemaenus, who had been a Roman senator and
proconsul of the province of Asia. The libraray stands over vaulted
substructures on a podium 21 meters in width at the western end of a marble
courtyard, approached by a flight on nine steps that were once flanked by
statues of Celsus.The facade is in two stories, at the front of each of of
which there are eight Corinthian columns
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