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Travel Ephesus |
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Around Ephesus |
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Temple of Artemis
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 To
the right of the road leading to Kuşadasi can be
seen the ruins of the Temple of Artemis (Diana), one
of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Artemis,
the virgin goddess of nature, and protectress of
women in childbirth is mentioned in the Iliad with
the phrase: Praise be to Artemis! She, who would
water her horses at the reed-filled Meles river,
then pass speedily through Smyrna on her golden
chariot towards the vineyards of Coloros."
The mention
of Smyrna in this description would suggest that the
goddess Artemis is of Anatolian origin. At another
point in his Iliad, Homer gives the birthplace of
Artemis as Ortygie. Ortygie" means quail in ancient
Greek, and might also have been related to the Mount
Nightingale (Bülbüldag) which was the site of the
original city of Ephesus. Furthermore, the Ephesians
at one point had a resolution passed in the Roman
senate stating that their place of origin was
Ortygie, and Artemis their patron goddess. It is
perhaps for this reason that the Ephesians erected
such a magnificent temple to this goddess. Artemis
is not, in fact, a word of Greek origin, but a
derivative of "artems", meaning "untouched", or
'unspoiled' in an ancient local tongue.
In Ephesus,
Artemis was considered as one and the same as
Cybele, the goddess from whom the land of Anatolia
is said to have been born. She is depicted as a
multi breasted figure with many facets, and bears
the model of a temple on her head, in the form of a
crown. This triple-storeyed crown indicates that she
is the protector of cities, while the crescent on
her forehead indicates that she is the moon goddess.
The breasts, at the same time, link her to the
fertility cult. Artemis also bore the symbol of the
bee, the emblem of Ephesus, which indicates that she
is a unique product of Anatolian mythology. The
ruined Artemision contained a total of 127 columns,
the 36 façade columns being decorated with reliefs.
It was 115 metres long, 55 metres wide and 18 metres
high.
The earliest
traces of the Artemision building date to the 7th
century B.C. The original temple was destroyed by
the Cimmerians, and was re-built during the 6th
century B.C Destroyed once more during the reign of
the mad king Herostratos in the year 356 B.C,
Ephesus began to rebuild its cult centre on an even
grander scale after that date. Alexander passed
through Ephesus at about that time and learning that
the temple had been destroyed and burnt down on his
birthday, he expressed the Desire to assist with its
re-construction.
He wished,
the new temple to be dedicated to him. But the
Ephesians could not assent to this and undertook the
reconstruction of the temple without his aid. The
new temple of Artemis measured 105 metres by 55
metres, and was 25 metres in height, covering an
area 6000 square metres in all. Alexander extended
the temenos to include an inhabitated area around
the temple as part of the sacred compound. This
sacred area was preserved through the rule of
several different kings and governors, was expanded
and finally abolished by the emperor Augustus. In
263 AD., the temple was sacked and destroyed during
the invasion of the Goths. |
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Ephesus Yesterday & Today |
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