Ephesus

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Ephesus was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BCE on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek era, it was one of twelve cities that were members of the Ionian League. The city came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BCE.

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Overview

The city was famous in its day for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BCE), which has been designated one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Its many monumental buildings included the Library of Celsus and a theatre capable of holding 24,000 spectators.

Ephesus was also one of the seven churches of Asia cited in the Book of Revelation; the Gospel of John may have been written there; and it was the site of several 5th-century CE Christian Councils (see Council of Ephesus). The city was destroyed by the Goths in 263 CE. Although it was afterwards rebuilt, its importance as a commercial centre declined as the harbour was slowly silted up by the Küçükmenderes River. In 614 CE, it was partially destroyed by an earthquake.

Brief History

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Roman Ephesus
When the Pergamene King Attalos III died in 133 CE, he bequathed his kingdom to the Roman people in his will. The city of Ephesos that possessed the tax-exempt status as civitas libera thus became part of the Roman province of Asia. The fact that Roman rule was not greeted with unanimous consent by the population is indicated by the euphoria with which the Pontic King Mithridates VI's attemp o conquer the province was supported.

All Italians living in the province were sentenced to death, and in 88 BCE in Ephesos alone 80,000 people were violently murdered in a single night. The revolt was suppressed by general Cornelius Sulla and the city's freedom was withdrawn, thus making it liable to pay tribute again. In 33 BC Marc Antony and his wife, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, spent the winter in Ephesus and organized their campaign against Octavian, who later became emperor Augustus. Octavian's victory at Actium not only meant the end of the Republic, but also a reorganization of the province of Asia.

Ephesus became the permanent headquarters of the Roman proincial administration and capital city (metropolis Asiae). The easy access to the sea made the city an economic center of Asia Minor; the harbour served as a reloading point for all kinds of commodities. On the estates of the Artemision agricultural products were cultivaed and traded; in addition, the sanctuary functioned as a credit bank and a pilgrimage centre. The Roman character of the city was further reinforced by purposefully built construction projects which were used as political instruments.

When the Apostle Paul preaced between 52 and 55 CE at Ephesus, he was confronted not only by an active pagan cult, but also by a livey Jewish community. As a result of a rebellion led by the silversmith Demetrios, Paul left the city in order to resume his missionary activities in Corinth.

Ephesus reached its zenith during the second century CE. numerous monuments provide witness to this glorious era; private donations by affluent citizens served the public welfare as well as their own personal commemoration. After 230 CE, an obvious economic decline set in, for which a series of earthqakes, culminating in a catastrophic quake around causes. The Artemision was plundered and the temple itself was burnt down. Clear traces of this destruction are also visible in the city; rebuilding lasted several decades. Ephesos experiencd a final recovery only in the fifth century CE.

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Byzantine Ephesus
Ephesus retained its position as the seat of the provincial governor (proconsul Asiae) and thus also as a political and economic center even after the new organization of the Roman Empire by Diocletian (284-305 CE). However, numerous earthqake disasters around the middle of the fourth century CE resulted in an economic decline from which the city only slowly recovered. With the help of imperial donations and tac exemptions the damage was successfully rapaired and the former prosperity gradually retaurned. This was manifested in the restoration and rebuilding of numerous public and private building. In addition, followng the religious edicts of Theodosius I (most importantly, the declaration of Christianity as the official state religion in 391 CE) a series of splendid churches was erected which changed the cityscape to the great extent.

Theologios His (Ayasoluk/today Selcuk) 2.5 kilometers away, increased the significance and developed into one of the most important pilgrimage cenes of the Byzantine period. During the course of the sevenh century CE, the Basilica eventually took over the liturgical function of the Church of Mary and developed into the main church of the Ephesian archbishop. As the erection of the mighty fortification walls around the Byzantine to the newly created administrative unit, the seat of the (Thema) Thrakesion, the former metropolis of Asia did not lose its earlier primacy completely. The stationing of a legion in the city, given the increasing efforts at expansion by the Arab world, wa a necessity; in fact in circa 654/655 CE Ephesus was attacked by Mua'wiya, the journeys from an unsuccessful siege of Constantinople.

In the first half of the ninth century Ephesos is still described in the ancient sources as the largest fortified city of the military administrative unit, the (Thema) Thrakesion. In 890 CE it lost its political and military supremacy in favour Samos and shorlty after of Smyrna/Izmir. This briefly sketched development did not, however mean that evidence suggests that Ephesos remained settled well into the 13th/14th century CE not however as a homogenous ciic entity but rather more as a scattered group of settlements.

Already in 1090 CE the Seljuk Prince Tengribirms was able to conquer Ephesos and Hagia Theologos (Ayasoluk), which however was soon re-conquered in 1096 by the general John Ducas after a battle not far from the Hagios Theologos Hill. First in 1304 CE the entire region was separated from the Byzantine Empire. The new rulers, the Aydinoglu Family, a Seljuk princely dynasty, were succeeded in the first half of the fifteenth century CE by the Ottoman Dynasty.

Notable Structures

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Temple of Hadrian
The small temple like monument, which according to a building inscription honoured emperor Hadrian (117-138 CE), was donated by Publius Vedius Antonius Sabinus. The colonnade in front of the cella supports a so-called Syrian gable. The reliefs over the door lintel depicting the Ephesian foundation myth belong to a late antique rebuilding. Around 300 CE statues of the emperors Diocletian, Constantius, Maximianus and later Theodosius I were erected, of which inscribed bases are preserved.

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Memmius Monument
The Memmius Monument was built between 50-30 BCE at a particularly prominent spot. It is a honorific monument for Gaius Memmius, a grandson of the Roman dictator Sulla. The reconstruction proposes a tower-like structure with a cone-shapped roof, reliefs between the columns o fthe upper story depicted the virtues of the individual honoured. At present there is no reconstruction at the site, but instead a cubistic modern architectural college.

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Great Theatre
The great theatre of Ephesus was build on the site of an earlier Hellenistic period (circa 3rd to 1st century BCE). In the Roman period there was an extensive rebuilding under the emperors Domitian (81-96 CE) and Trajan (98-117 CE) with at first a two- later three storeyed impressive facade. In addition to theatre performances, assemblies also took place there; in the later imperial period. Before the 7th century the theatre was incorporated into the Byzantine city walls.

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Trajan's Nymphaeum
The building of the Nymphaeum Traiani at Ephesus was donated by Tiberius Claudius Aristion and his wife between 102-114 CE and it was dedicated to Artemis of Ephesos and emperor Trajan (98-117 CE). The original height of the building reconstructed as an architectural trial is 9.5 meters. A two story facade surrounded the founded on three sides, while the statue base of Trajan, with a globe under his feet, stood over the water outlet in the middle.

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Terrace House

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Library of Celsus
The Library of Celsus was built in honor of the Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, completed between 114–117 CE by Celsus’ son, Gaius Julius Aquila. The library was built to house 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a mausoleum for Celsus, who is buried in a crypt beneath the library in a decorated marble sarcophagus. The interior of the library was destroyed, supposedly by an earthquake in 262 CE (though other evidence points to a fire during a Gothic invasion in that same year) and the façade by another earthquake in the tenth or eleventh century CE. It lay in ruins for centuries, until the façade was re-erected by archaeologists between 1970 and 1978.

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Temple of Domitian
The temple and altar served the imperial cult and were dedicated to emperor Domitian (81-96 CE); after his death and condemnation of his memory (demnatio memoriae), however, they were dedicated to the Flavian family. The temple, with its 8x13 columns constructed upon a six-stepped substructure (24x34 meters), was erected on a terrace supported by mighty buttresses. After the victory of Christianity it was torn down to its foundations and today it has almost completely disappeared.

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Cemetery of the Seven Sleepers
The cave-church complex with a cemetary dating back to the 3rd century CE lies on the eastern slope of mount Panayir. According to legend, during the reign of emperor Decius (249-251 CE) seven young men sought refuge in a cave from the persecution, which they avoided by sleeping for centuries. In the mid-5th century CE, abouve the catacomb with chambers, their cult was established and a church was erected. Until well into the Middle Ages the complex, which was frequently expanded, remained a site of Christian pilgrimage.

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Basilica of Saint John
The current structural remains of the Saint John's Basilica date back to the sixth century CE. According to the written sources, the basilica with the wooden roof which includes the grave of Saint John was in poor condition in the sixt century CE. Emperor Justinian (527-565 CE) and Queen Theodora constructed the six-domed church whose ruins are visible today. This church, which is cruciform and measures 130x65 meters, was one of the most impressive religious stuctures built after Artemis Temple in Ephesus. Since it played an important role in the Christian pilgrimage of the Middle Ages, it attained the status of a "church of the Cross".

According to literary sources, the structure was in need of repair in the twelfth century. When Ephesus fell into Turkish handsafter 1304, part of the church was consecrated as a mosque. A severe earthquake leveled it in circa 1365-1370 CE. Excavations of the church and its surroundings have continued since 1921/22 CE.

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Gate of Mazaeus and Mithridates

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Bouleuterioun
The bouleuterioun (odeon) housed the meetings of the council (boule) as well as musical performances and contests. The originally roofed semi-circular auditorium is bonded to a stage wall. The building was erected around 100-150 CE. Publius Vedius Antonius sponsored a new stage building which displayed a portait galley of the imperial family and letters of emperor Antoninus Pius (circa 138-161 CE).

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Church of Mary
The bishop's church, also known as the "Council Church", dedicated to Mary mother of Jesus, was a three aisled basilica, erected in the southern southern stoa of the Olympieion Quarter. Measuring some 145x30 meters it was one of the larger structures in the city The basilica became renowned as the site of the 3rd Ecumenical COuncil in 431 CE. The church was rebuilt numberous times in the late Byzantine period. At the latest in the seventh century CE, the seat of the bishop was transferred to saint John's Basilica, but as a cemeter church the Church of Mary continued to be used well into the Middle Ages.

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Baths of Varius
The baths of Varius were situated between the "bath" and the "academy alley" at the northern side of the curetes street. These were built in the first half of the second century CE. The bathrooms were entered througn a sizeable apsidal hall; over the covered 'Academy Alley' one could reach a public latrine. In late antiquity a Christian named Schlasticia renovated the bath; here seated statue is still located in a niche in the entrance hall.

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Agora Baths
The Roman bathing facility was located at the site of earlier, Hellenistic gymnasium. Four bathing rooms at the northern side were partly hewn out of the bedrock. The caldarium (hot room) lying to the west possessed seven niches furnished with bathing pools. Tho the west and south, colonnades with mosaic floors were adjoined; these served as recreation rooms and lobby halls. Presumably a palaestra (exercise area) exists in the unexcavated terrain to the south, which would have served for physical exercise as well as mental activities.

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House of Pleasures
The so called house of pleasures (brothel) comprises of the three connected "residential" structures discovered in this area. In the middle stood a two story peristyle house which was mistakenly identified as a brothel. This particular house was in use from first century CE well into the third century CE. At its center, like house 1, was an open courtyard surrounded with columns around which rooms were grouped; shops (tabernae) opened on to the street. The exterior of the southern part (house 3) was characterised by the Curetes Hall which was built in the sixth century CE.

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Isa Bey Mosque
The Isa Bey Mosque is one of the most important works of the Turkish Aydin Emirate (Aydinogullari) who ruled in western Anatolia from 1308 to 1426 CE. It was built in 1374 CE (776 Hijri) by Aydinoglu Isa Bey (1360-1390 CE) in his administrative capital of Selçuk, near the historic city of Ephesus. It is the second example of the twin-minaret mosques in Anatolia from the pre-Ottoman principalities period and is larger than many of the mosques of the time. Its architect was Ali bin Mushimish, from Damascus. The mosque was repaired in 1934 CE and restored later in the second half of twentieth century CE.

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Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artemis is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Now lost, it had been built in the areas of Ephesus on a flat area which has over the centuries turned into a swamp. A column and scanty fragments strewn on the ground are all that remains of the seventh wonder of the world. According to Strabo, the Temple of Artemis was destroyed at least seven times and rebuilt just as many times. Archaeological findings instead attest to at least four rebuilding of this temple, starting in the 7th century BCE. The Hellenistic temple was built on a podium, to which one ascended by a plinth formed of thirteen steps. A double colonnade encircled the peristyle and the inside space. The temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution. For years, the sanctuary was visited by merchants, tourists, artisans, and kings who paid homage to the goddess by sharing their profits with her.

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Ayasuluk Castle
The Ayasuluk Castle, regionally referred to as Ayasuluk Kalesi or Selçuk Kalesi, lies on a hill within the city of Selcuk, within the province of Izmir in Turkey, near the famous ancient city of Ephesus. Extensive excavations here concluded in 1998 CE after a quarter-century, proved that there were some sort of fortifications or strong-holds on Ayasuluk Hill going back beyond the original Ephesian settlement to the Neolithic age. The fortress’ partially restored remains, about 350 meters north of the Saint John Church, date from Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods.

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