|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Travel Ephesus |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Around Ephesus |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Celsus Library |
|
| |
|
|
| |
 One
of the fully-restored structures at Ephesus is the
Celsus Library. Around 92 AD Roman Consul Tiberius
Julius Polemaeanus was responsible for public
buildings in the city of Rome, and was from 105 to
107 Proconsul for the province of Asia, the capital
of which was Ephesus. When the man Celsus died in
114 at the age of 70, his son, Tiberius Julia Aquila
built he library for a monument to his father. The
construction was finished in 117. The sarcophagus,
made of exquisite marble, was buried under the
apsidal wall. Garlands, figures of Eros, Nike, and
rosettes decorate the sarcophagus. In 1904 the
sarcophagus was opened and a second lead casket was
found inside. The structure of the building reflects
the period of the emperor Hadrian with its emphasis
on the front of the building. The façade is
two-storied. The lower floor had pairs of Corinthian
columns with nine steps leading up to the entrance
level that had a 21 m entrance porch. There were
three richly ornamented doors between the columns,
with the center door being the widest and highest.
The statues in the niches between the doors are copies of originals,
which were taken to Vienna during the time of
excavation. The statues represented various virtues,
as inscribed on their pedestals. The virtues of
Celsus symbolized here were Sophia (wisdom),
Episteme (science), Ennoia (intelligence), and Arete
(excellence). The columns on the second floor were
smaller with triangular and semicircular capitals.
Sophia (wisdom) Episteme (science) Ennoia (intelligence) Arete
(excellence)
The interior of the library, measuring 10.92m by 16.72m, is lined with
decorative marble. The section of the west wall over
Celsus' remains is aspidal. A statue of Celsus, or
of his son, was found during excavation and is still
on exhibition in Istanbul at the Archeology Museum
and was thought to have rested in this niche. On the
walls were niches for the scrolls of the library.
From the niches in the upper wall it is understood
that the interior was not two-floored but that there
was a mezzanine balcony instead. The space behind
the walls was left open to guard the scrolls from
moisture.
The niches could have held as many as 12,000 scrolls. Because the library
was built after the buildings on either side of it,
it was a bit squeezed in. Thus, the desired
monumental effect was enhanced by certain tricks
played with the perspective. The podium on which the
columns rest, for example, was built with a raised
center and lowered sides. The capitals and rafters
on the end columns were made smaller to appear to be
farther from the center than they are, giving the
building the appearance of being wider than it
really is.
The interior of the library was completely burned when the Goths invaded
in 262 AD, leaving the façade intact. The façade was
restored along with other buildings in the 4th
century and a small fountain was placed next to the
steps. The façade itself came down in the 10th
century because of an earthquake.
During excavation frieze blocks were found on either
side of the fountain depicting scenes from the
Parthian wars. The thoery was put forward that the
frieze belonged to an altar found on the south of
the courtyard of the library. With the steps leading
down from the library on one side and the steps
leading from the street on the other, the total
appearance of the courtyard is that of a small
amphitheater.
The wall and gate in the center of the square made in a slipshod way of
plaster and debris were part of the city wall when
the population of Ephesus was low in the 6th or 7th
century. The sarcophagus in one corner of the square
was found in 1968 during library excavation.
According to the inscription on the cover it once
belonged to Tiberius Claudius Flavianus Dionysuis in
the 2nd century. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Ephesus Yesterday & Today |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
)
