About 650BC, Ephesus was attacked by the Cimmerians who razed the city, including the temple of Artemis. It is also said to have been the place where Mary . The town knew again a short period of prosperity during the 14th century under these new Seljuk rulers. For them to hesitate or to doubt was to be lost (Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches, 300). BEST VALUE in digital Bible study. To compromise would ultimately have set Christ, where Emperor Severus ultimately placed himin a chapel along with the images of Jupiter, Augustus, and Abraham. Upon the death of Attalus II (Philadelphus), king of Pergamos, it was bequeathed to the Roman Empire; and in 190, when the Roman province of Asia was formed, it became a part of it. Where is Ephesus located in the Bible? The Greek goddess Artemis and the great Anatolian goddess Kybele were identified together as Artemis of Ephesus. 25 He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: "You know, my friends, that we receive a good income . He joined Paul during one of Paul's later missionary journeys. The ruins of the temples were used as building blocks for new homes. He invited the leaders of the church to meet him at Miletus (had he given some promise to the Asiarchs not to return to Ephesus?). Try it free today. History Ephesus enters history in the mid-7th century bce, when it was attacked by the Cimmerians. Acts 19:24 - The Riot in Ephesus - Bible Hub [53] Initially, according to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul attended the Jewish synagogue in Ephesus, but after three months he became frustrated with the stubbornness of some of the Jews, and moved his base to the school of Tyrannus. Inscriptions from the first two centuries CE describe Ephesus as the capital of Asia, its first and greatest metropolis (IEph 7.2.647, 1541, 1543). According to the legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of Delphi became reality ("A fish and a boar will show you the way"). The early second-century Acts of the Apostles stages a dramatic conflict between Pauls contingent and the silversmith Demetrius (Acts 19:23-41). That is to say, at specified times the Roman governor came there and great cases of justice were tried. The ruins have been identified in a marsh, one and a half miles NE of the city, after the discovery of Ephesus main boulevard in 1870. Although Acts is not a historical account, the story displays how religious change can affect economy, civic pride, and social clout. Fragments of the columns that he donated, inscribed with his name, are in the British Museum. By the time of Justinian, five centuries later, the battle with sand, silt, and mud was lost, and Ephesus was falling to ruins in a swampy terrain. > Prophecy > Ephesus (Seven Churches of Revelation) Ephesus Seven Churches of Revelation Ephesus - Smyrna - Pergamos Thyatira - Sardis - Philadelphia Laodicea - Map of Locations! And then the angel names the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Ephesus also had several major bath complexes, built at various times while the city was under Roman rule. Ephesus is not again mentioned till near the close of Pauls life, when he writes to Timothy exhorting him to abide still at Ephesus (1 Tim. Ayasoluk became an important harbour, from which piratical raids to the surrounding Christian regions were organised, both official by the state and private.[51]. Its location, therefore, favored its religious, political and commercial development, and presented a most advantageous field for the missionary labors of Paul. "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" ( Ephesians 5:21 ). About 560BC, Ephesus was conquered by the Lydians under king Croesus, who, though a harsh ruler, treated the inhabitants with respect and even became the main contributor to the reconstruction of the temple of Artemis. Even with these much lower population estimates, Ephesus was one of the largest cities of Roman Asia Minor, ranking it as the largest city after Sardis and Alexandria Troas. EPHESUS (Focus Multimedia). Epiphanius, however, was keen to point out that, while the Bible says John was leaving for Asia, it does not say specifically that Mary went with him. Ephesus was recipient city of one of the Pauline epistles; one of the seven churches of Asia addressed in the Book of Revelation;[9] the Gospel of John may have been written there;[10] and it was the site of several 5th-century Christian Councils (see Council of Ephesus). Ephesus was completely abandoned by the 15th century. It was colonized principally from Athens. Not only did the temple bring vast numbers of pilgrims to the city, as does the Kaaba at Mecca at the present time, but it employed hosts of people apart from the priests and priestesses; among them were the large number of artisans who manufactured images of the goddess Diana, or shrines to sell to the visiting strangers.Such was Ephesus when Paul on his 2nd missionary journey in Acts (18:19-21) first visited the city, and when, on his 3rd journey (19:8-10; 20:31), he remained there for two years preaching in the synagogue (19:8, 10), in the school of Tyrannus (19:9) and in private houses (20:20). Colossae was a city in Phrygia, in the Roman province of Asia (part of modern Turkey), about 100 mile east of Ephesus in the region of the 7 churches of Rev. Hence in 88BC Ephesus welcomed Archelaus, a general of Mithridates, king of Pontus, when he conquered Asia (the Roman name for western Anatolia). [30] The new settlement was officially called Arsinoea (Ancient Greek: [31] or [32]) or Arsinoe (),[33][34] after the king's second wife, Arsinoe II of Egypt. Passing beyond the village one comes to the ruins of the old aqueduct, the fallen city walls, the so-called church of John or the baths, the Turkish fort which is sometimes called Paul's prison, the huge theater which was the scene of the riot of Paul's time, but which now, with its marble torn away, presents but a hole in the side of the hill Prion. Hanson estimated the inhabited space to be smaller, at 224 hectares (550 acres). This archive mentions an assembly (ekklesia) of Ephesians in Christ hosted in the home of a couple named Prisca and Aquila (1Cor 16:19). institution, and charged with the maintenance and protection of the Caesar cult (see Emperor Worship) in Asia. Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content Acts 20:13-37 New International Version Paul's Farewell to the Ephesian Elders 13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. In time the temple possessed valuable lands; it controlled the fishcries; its priests were the bankers of its enormous revenues. [44] Hanson and Ortman (2017)[45] estimate an inhabited area to be 263hectares and their demographic model yields an estimate of 71,587inhabitants, with a population density of 276inhabitants per hectare. During the Peloponnesian War, Ephesus was first allied to Athens[27] but in a later phase, called the Decelean War, or the Ionian War, sided with Sparta, which also had received the support of the Persians. Where is Ephesus, and What is the significance in the Bible? Such a large estimate would require population densities seen in only a few ancient cities, or extensive settlement outside the city walls. It was known as The Treasure House of Asia and someone has called her, The Vanity Fair of Asia Minor.. Ancient sources seem to indicate that an older name of the place was Alope (Ancient Greek: , romanized:Alp).[23]. Five Minutes in the Word scriptures for today: Acts 19:17-18. ), who there had her chief shrine; and for its . This the priests of Ephesus were unwilling to permit, and they politely rejected his offer by saying that it was not fitting for one god to build a temple to another. [79] The temple was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 20million lira banknote of 20012005[80] and of the 20 new lira banknote of 20052009. History gives the answer. All the seven churches mentioned in the apocalyptic letters (Rev 2 and 3) were no doubt established during the same period of apostolic ministry. Many Ephesians denounce satanic practices after in incident with the sons of Sceva. Answer Ephesus was the capital city of a Roman province in Asia. (vi) The greatest glory of Ephesus was the Temple of Artemis. Resources: enduringword.com; biblehub.com; logos.com; Matthew Henry Commentary; and Life Application Study Bible. They were silver models of the famous temple of Diana at Ephesus, and were carried as charms on journeys and placed in people's houses to ensure to them the protection of the goddess (Meyer). Ephesus - Encyclopedia of The Bible - Bible Gateway (iv) It was the home of criminals. Bible Map: Ephesus What is behind this message Christ gave to Ephesus that is vitally important for . 12, 25). Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the - Bible Gateway The building itself was 425 ft. long and 220 ft. wide; each of its 127 pillars which supported the roof of its colonnade was 60 ft. high; like the temples of Greece, its interior was open to the sky. During the eleven years of his excavations at Ephesus, 80,000 were spent, and few cities of antiquity have been more thoroughly explored. What are the 7 churches of Revelation? | Bibleinfo.com In 478BC, the Ionian cities with Athens entered into the Delian League against the Persians. That is to say, any criminal reaching the area round the temple was safe. When the son of Codrus, last king of Athens, founded the city, he placed his colonists near the shrine of an ancient Anatolian goddess whom the Greeks, following the religious syncretism common in the ancient world, called after their own goddess Artemis. Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus: 1 Timothy 1:3 As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine. The Greeks called a colony an emporion, or a way in, because their concept of such settlement was that of a gateway by which an active self-governing community could tap the trade and resources of a foreign hinterland. 86, 87). of the Christian era. Multitudes came to visit the temple of Artemis, a cult that requires explanation. Tarkasnawa King of Mira: Tarkendemos, Boazky Sealings, and Karabel., Jaan Puhvel (1984). In those days trade followed the river valleys. The coast, with continual soil erosion of the hinterland, became malarial. He argues that population densities of 150~250people per hectare are more realistic, which gives a range of 33,60056,000inhabitants. He was a successful warrior, and as a king he was able to join the twelve cities of Ionia together into the Ionian League. The harbor works of Ephesus may be traced today seven m. from the sea. And when Decius the emperor came into Ephesus for the persecution of Christian men, he commanded to edify the temples in the middle of the city, so that all should come with him to do sacrifice to the idols, and did do seek all the Christian people, and bind them for to make them to do . Ephesus - The Seven Churches of Revelation! - Bible Study Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. Ephesus was a major port city on the western coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). It was a perilous situation, not only for Paul and his little party, but also for the Jews at large, who had every reason to fear a pogrom. The church at Ephesus had given their support for Ignatius, who was taken to Rome for execution. In the time of the Romans it bore the title of "the first and greatest metropolis of Asia." It was distinguished for the Temple of Diana (q.v. [35], King Ptolemy XII Auletes of Egypt retired to Ephesus in 57BCE, passing his time in the sanctuary of the temple of Artemis when the Roman Senate failed to restore him to his throne. [81], The Temple of the Sebastoi (sometimes called the Temple of Domitian), dedicated to the Flavian dynasty, was one of the largest temples in the city. Domitian, at the end of the 1st cent., appears to have been the last ruler to attempt to repair the harbor of Ephesus, but trade had obviously declined two centuries before. The city of Ephesus lay at the mouth of the Cayster, between the Koressos Range and the sea, on the western coast of Asia Minor. b.c. Although there is not the intimate insight into the doings and problems of the Ephesian Christian community, as the Corinthian epistles give, the NT provides a series of glimpses of considerable interest. Definition of Ephesus in the Bible - Bible Study It endured until the Goths sacked Ephesus in a.d. 263. It is, perhaps, not without significance that the same coin bears the image of a small oar-propelled boat, an officials barge, not the deep-hulled merchantmen that mark the citys pride in her sea-borne trade on the coins of earlier centuries. Leloux, Kevin. What is the significance of Ephesus in the Bible? The Riot in Ephesus. Celsus paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth[67] and is buried in a sarcophagus beneath it. What is the significance of the Babylonian Empire in biblical history. It was a small salon for plays and concerts, seating about 1,500 people. Paul preached the gospel for the first time in Acts 18:19 (about 54 A.D.). New International Version (NIV). Ephesus and the Apostle Paul - Bible Study It became a seat of bishops, where a notable council was held as late as a.d. 431. at the beginning of his mighty drive to the East, contributed largely to the new temple, which was destined to be a shrine of unrivaled splendor and to rank as one of the wonders of the world. Ephesus - Wikipedia Ephesus, as part of the kingdom of Pergamon, became a subject of the Roman Republic in 129 BC after the revolt of Eumenes III was suppressed. They added important architectural works such as the sa Bey Mosque, caravansaries and Turkish bathhouses (hamam). In the ancient world, Ephesus was a center of travel and commerce. Acts 19:26 You see and hear, that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands. It was colonized principally from Athens. The Library of Celsus, the faade of which has been carefully reconstructed from original pieces, was originally built c. 125 in memory of Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, an Ancient Greek[64][65][66] who served as governor of Roman Asia (105107) in the Roman Empire. This marked the decline of the city's splendour. Among them were certainly women, enslaved people, and formerly enslaved people (called freedpersons, or apeleutheroi in Greek). The city lay alongside the Lycus River, not far from where it flowed into the Maender River. In his second epistle to Timothy, Paul speaks of Onesiphorus as having served him in many things at Ephesus (2 Tim. Most scholars identify these letters from Ephesus as 1 Corinthians and parts of 2 Corinthians; other scholars include Galatians, Philippians, and Philemon. Coins of Ephesus sometimes show a date palm, sacred to Artemis, and the symbol of the goddess beneficent activity. Ludwig Burchner estimated this area with the walls at 1000acres. Ephesus | Ancient City, Turkey & Roman Ruins | Britannica [26] They were defeated by the Persian army commander Harpagos in 547BC. They kept control of the region until 1308. The peculiar feature in the case of Ephesus was that the cult was associated with a meteoric stone, the image which fell down from Jupiter of the guild-masters clever speech reported by Luke (Acts 19 ASV). [48] The loss of its harbour caused Ephesus to lose its access to the Aegean Sea, which was important for trade. Like all the river valleys around the great blunt end of the Asian continents westward protrusion, that of the Cayster was a highway into the interior, the terminal of a trade route that linked with other roads converging and branching out toward the separated civilizations of the E and the Asian steppes. Those who accepted Johns rigid rule came through that persecution refined and strengthened. Ephesus and Pergamos, the capital of Asia, were the two great rival cities of the province. Paul wrote 2 Timothy from a Roman prison cell. Today the site of Ephesus is several miles from the Turkish coast. The church died with the city. When the Jews of Ephesus opposed Paul's teaching in the synagogue, where he had boldly preached for three months about the kingdom of God, he and his followers withdrew to the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This would have been impossible at Ephesus because of the mountain ranges, coastline and quarries which surrounded the city.[42]. This chapter focuses on three major events: (1) the meeting of the "12 disciples" and their coming to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, receiving baptism as an evidence of their faith, and being baptized by the Spirit as an evidence of God's reception of them into His church (verses 1-7). And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" ( Ephesians 2:21-22 ). Ephesus was devoted to the goddess Artemis. cities, the choking up of her waterway passed beyond repair. At the close of his second missionary journey (about A.D. 51), when Paul was returning from Greece to Syria (Acts 18:18-21), he first visited this city. Answer Artemis was a goddess worshiped in the ancient world. The cult thus recognized was that of a nature-goddess, associated with carnal fertility rituals, orgiastic rites, and religious prostitution. He cites Josiah Russell using 832acres and Old Jerusalem in 1918 as the yardstick estimated the population at 51,068 at 148.5persons per hectare. Another incident is the apostles advice to the elders. Ephesus was an ancient port city whose well-preserved ruins are in modern-day Turkey. The importance of the city as a commercial centre further declined as the harbour, today 5kilometres inland, was slowly silted up by the river (today, Kk Menderes) despite repeated dredging during the city's history. In 1308 the Turks took possession of the little that remained of the city, and deported or murdered its inhabitants. The Apo stle John was called in Gr. He also sent Tychicus to Ephesus (2 Tim. "Ephesus After Antiquity." These people discussed teachings and ethics, supported itinerant preachers with money and provisions, and maintained a community in Ephesus when their teachers were gone. She researches early Christian deathscapes in the fourth-century Mediterranean. Though Ephesus was built and expanded during this time, about 500 years later, a rival nation ravaged the city . Biblical Riot at Ephesus: The Archaeological Context Ephesus was founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC on a hill (now known as the Ayasuluk Hill), three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the centre of ancient Ephesus (as attested by excavations at the Seljuk castle during the 1990s). - Of for for, A.V. September 11, 2015 Gregg Caruso. Perhaps, too, they saw in the Caesar-cult only a harmless ritual of loyalty, and not an issue of man-worship on which a Christian need stake life and livelihood. Ephesus remained the most important city of the Byzantine Empire in Asia after Constantinople in the 5th and 6th centuries. In 356BC the temple of Artemis was burnt down, according to legend, by a lunatic called Herostratus. In 2015, the ruins were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Acts 20:13-37 NIV - Paul's Farewell to the Ephesian - Bible Gateway July 1, 2023. Many in Ephesus Denounce Their Satanic Practices. Acts 19 Previously, the site was excavated by the British Museum from 1863-1874. But when they saw how badly the people of Chios had been treated by Zenobius, a general of Mithridates, they refused entry to his army. The facade was reconstructed during 1970 to 1978 using fragments found on site or copies of fragments that were previously removed to museums. Among the paintings was one by the famous Apelles, a native of Ephesus, representing Alexander the Great hurling a thunderbolt. Because of its strength the people stored there their money for safe-keeping; and it became to the ancient world practically all that the Bank of England is to the modern world.In 356 B.C., on the very night when Alexander the Great was born, it was burned; and when he grew to manhood he offered to rebuild it at his own expense if his name might be inscribed upon its portals.