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THE 7 CITIES		 The City of Ephesus
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Ephesus, the chief city of the province of Ionia, was an illustrious city, with a very prosperous commercial sea port. It was located at the west end of an overland trade route to the far east. A huge volume of east-west trade passed through Ephesus. Now the harbour is silted up and the city is in ruins. Its ruins are very extensive.

It was a free city-state, a proconsular province and an assize town with its own assemblies and magistrates. It housed a barracks for the praetorian guard. As well as having a temple to the emperor Hadrian and to Roma (the personification of the city of Rome) it was famous for its temple to the goddess Artemis (the huntress), one of the "seven wonders of the world." Astarte was the city deity. [Acts 19:15-41]

The multibreasted idol was supposed to have fallen from heaven. [Acts 19:35]  Their boast was that she was worshipped world wide. Enormous profit was made from the manufacture and widespread sale of copies of her image and silver shrines. Games were held specifically in her honour.

The Romans called Artemis by the name Diana. To them she was the goddess of rivers pools and harbours but to the Ephesians she was the goddess of fertility. This cult was derived from the worship of the eastern goddess Astarte.

The word Easter is derived from the name Astarte. Her spring festivities nearly coincided with the time of the Passover. They were adopted and re-interpreted to celebrate the Lord Jesus's resurrection by the church of Rome and are celebrated by most denominations. This could explain why, in Acts 12:4, the word for "Passover" is wrongly translated "Easter" in the King James/Authorised Version of the Bible.

And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter ["the Passover"  Greek: to pasca] to bring him forth to the people. [Acts 12:4 AV/KJV]

The city's theatre was enormous, seating 25,000 people, probably one of the largest in the world.. This would be where drama in honour of Artemis was staged.

RUINS OF THE THEATRE AT EPHESUS

In well equipped Greek theatres there was machinery for suspending actors in the air to make it look as though they were flying. There were also high level trap doors in the roof above the skene, through which actors would appear at high level as if from nowhere.

The skene at Ephesus appears to have been three or more stories high. The grandeur of the architecture and the use of elaborate machinery would contribute to the impression of virtual reality for the audience.

TYPICAL GREEK THEATRE LAYOUT

The theatre would not only be used for staging religious drama but also for large civic assemblies.

An inscription in the stone of a seat in the theatre at Miletus, a city south of Ephesus, indicates that seats were reserved for Jews. It reads "For Jews and God-fearers only" There was a large well established Jewish community in Ephesus. There were also followers of John the Baptist. [Acts 18:25]

THE APOSTLE PAUL AND EPHESUS

Paul's companion Tychicus was a native of Ephesus [Acts 21:29]  as was Onesiphorus' household. [2.Timothy 1:16-19]

Paul suffered severe antagonism from Sceva's sons,[Acts 19:14]   Hymenaeus and Alexander, [[1.Timothy 1:20,  2.Timothy 4:14]  and Phygellus and Hermogenes. [2.Timothy 1:15]

Later, en route back to Jerusalem (before his arrest and first imprisonment) breaking his journey in Miletus he made his farewell message to the elders of Ephesus . [Acts 20:17-18]   When imprisoned in Rome Paul wrote his letter to "the saints at Ephesus."

The apostle John spent several of his later years in Ephesus. It is believed that the mother of Jesus, the apostle John and Timothy were buried in Ephesus.

In the hills above Ephesus are the remains of a large baptistery which is supposed to be on the site of the building where the Apostle John worshipped.

Click here to see other ancient baptisteries for full immersion

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