Ancient Ephesus

By

Brian Freeman

• Ephesus was once a major trade centre of the ancient world, and a religious centre of the early Christianity.

• Ephesus remains a sacred site for Christians due to its association with several biblical figures, including St. Paul, St. John the Evangelist and the Virgin Mary.

• Ephesus was also the home of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Sadly only lone surviving column and foundation remain.

• Interesting: The "Seven Sleepers" were seven young men who had been walled up in a cave during the persecutions under Decius (c.250A.D.). They fell asleep, miraculously waking up around 435A.D. in the time of Theodosius II.

• The Basilica of St. John was a great church in Ephesus constructed by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. It stands over the believed burial site of St. John, who is identified as the apostle, evangelist (author of the Fourth Gospel) and prophet (author of Revelation).

The Theater is built into the northern base of

Panayirdag (Mt. Pion).

• This Great Theater is where Paul preached to the pagans.

• Paul delivered a sermon condemning pagan worship in this theater, and according to the Acts of the Apostles (19:23-41), the theater was the site of the "riot of the silversmiths" in which those who made silver figures of Artemis rioted because Paul's preaching was bad for business: