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( ῎Åöåóïò , according to one legend from ἔöåóéò , the permission given by Hercules to the Amazons to settle here), an illustrious city (Athen. 8:361) in the district of Ionia ( ðüëéò É᾿ùíßáò ἐðéöáíåóôÜôç , Steph. Byz. s.v.), on the western coast of the peninsula commonly called Asia Minor — not that this geographical term was known in the first century. The ASIA of the N.T. was simply the Roman province which embraced the western part of the peninsula. Of this province Ephesus was the capital. SEE ASIA MINOR.
1. History. — It was one of the twelve Ionian cities in Asia Minor in the mythic times (Herod. 1:142), and said to have been founded by the Amazons, but in later times inhabited by the Carians and Leleges (Strabo, 14:640), and taken possession of by the Ionians under Androclus, the son of Codrus (Cramer, Asia Miswr, 1:363). Besides the name by which it is best known, it bore successively those of Samorna, Trachea, Ortygia, and Ptelea. Being founded by Androclus, the legitimate son of Codrus, it enjoyed a pre-eminence over the other members of the Ionian confederacy, and was denominated the royal city of Ionia. The climate and country which the colonists from Attica had selected as their future abode surpassed, according to Herodotus (1:142), all others in beauty and fertility; and, had the martial spirit of the Ionians corresponded to their natural advantages, they might have grown into a powerful independent nation. The softness, however; of the climate, and the ease with which the necessaries of life could be procured, transformed the hardy inhabitants of the rugged Attica into an indolent and voluptuous race: hence they fell successively under the power of the Lydians (B.C. 560) and the Persians (B.C. 557); and, though the revolt of Histioeus and Aristagoras against the Persian power was for a time successful, the contest at length terminated in favor of the latter (Herod. 6:7-22). The defeat of the Persians by the Greeks gave a temporary liberty to the Ionian cities; but the battle of Mycale transferred the virtual dominion of the country to Athens. During the Peloponnesian war they paid tribute indifferently to either party, and the treaty of Antalcidas (B.C. 387) once more restored them to their old masters the Persians. They beheld with indifference the exploits of Alexander and the disputes of his captains, and resigned themselves without a struggle to successive conquerors. Ephesus was included in the dominions of Lysimachus; but, after the defeat of Antiochus (B.C. 190), it was given by the Romans to the kings of Pergamum. In the year B.C. 129 the Romans formed their province of Asia. The fickle Ephesians took part with Mithridates against the Romans, and massacred the garrison: they had reason to be grateful for the unusual clemency of L. Cornelius Sulla, who merely inflicted heavy fines upon the inhabitants. Thenceforward the city formed part of the Roman empire. While, about the epoch of the introduction of Christianity, the other cities of Asia Minor declined, Ephesus rose more and more. It owed its prosperity in part to the favor of its governors, for Lysimachus named the city Arsinoe in honor of his second wife, and Attalus Philadelphus furnished it with splendid wharves and docks; in part to the favorable position of the place, which naturally made it the emporium of Asia on this side the Taurus (Strabo, 14:641, 663). Under the Romans, Ephesus was the capital not only of Ionia, but of the entire province of Asia, and bore the honorable title of the first and greatest metropolis of Asia (Bockh, Coap. Inscript. Graec. 2968-2992). The bishop of Ephesus in later times was the president of the Asiatic dioceses, with the rights and privileges of a patriarch (Evagr. Hist. Ecc_3:6). Towards the end of the 11th century Ephesus experienced the same fate as Smyrna; and, after a brief occupation by the Greeks, it surrendered in 1308 to sultan Saysan, who, to prevent future insurrections, removed most of the inhabitants to Tyriaeum, where they were massacred
2. Biblical Notices. — That Jews were established there in considerable numbers is known from Josephus (Ant. 14:10, 11), and might be inferred from its mercantile eminence; but it is also evident from Act_2:9; Act_6:9. In harmony with the character of Ephesus as a place of concourse and commerce, it is here, and here only, that we find disciples of John the Baptist explicitly mentioned after the ascension of Christ (Act_18:25; Act_19:3). The case of Apollos (Act_18:24) is an exemplification further of the intercourse between, this place and Alexandria. The first seeds of Christian truth were possibly sown at Ephesus immediately after the great Pentecost (Act_2:1-47). Whatever previous plans Paul may have entertained (Act_16:6), his first visit was on his return from the second missionary circuit (Act_18:19-21), and his stay on that occasion was very short; nor is there any proof that he found any Christians at Ephesus, but he left there Aquila and Priscilla (Act_18:19), who both then and at a later period (2Ti_4:19) were of signal service. In Paul's own stay of more than two years (Act_19:8; Act_19:10; Act_20:31), which formed the most important passage of his third circuit, and during which he labored, first in the synagogue (Act_19:8), and then in the school of Tyrannus (Act_19:9), and also in private houses (Act_20:20), and during which he wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians, we have the period of the chief evangelization of this shore of the AEgean. The direct narrative in Act_19:1-41 receives but little elucidation from the Epistle to the Ephesians, which was written after several years from Rome; but it is supplemented in some important particulars (especially as regards the apostle's personal habits of self-denial, Act_20:34) by the address at Miletus. This address shows that the Church at Ephesus was thoroughly organized under its presbyters. On leaving the city, the apostle left Timothy in charge of the Church there (1Ti_1:3), a position which he seems to have retained for a considerable period, as we learn from the second epistle addressed to him. SEE TIMOTHY. Among Paul's. other companions, two, Trophimus and Tychicus, were natives of Asia (Act_20:4), and the latter probably (2Ti_4:12), the former certainly (Act_21:29), natives of Ephesus. In the same connection we ought to mention Onesiphorus (2Ti_1:16-18) and his household (4:19). On the other hand must be noticed certain specified Ephesian antagonists of the apostle, the sons of Sceva and his party (Act_19:14), Hymenaeus and Alexander (1Ti_1:20; 2Ti_4:14), and Phygellus and Hermogenes (2Ti_1:15). SEE PAUL. Ephesus is also closely connected with the apostle John, not only as being the scene (Rev_1:11; Rev_2:1) of the most prominent of the churches of the Apocalypse, but also in the story of his later life as given by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. 3:23, etc.). According to a tradition which prevailed extensively in ancient times, John spent many years in Ephesus, where he employed himself most diligently for the spread of the Gospel, and where he died at a very old age, and was buried. SEE JOHN (THE APOSTLE). Possibly 'his Gospels and Epistles were written here. There is a tradition that the mother of our Lord was likewise buried at Ephesus, as also Timothy. Some make John bishop of the Ephesian communities, while others ascribe that honor to Timothy. In the book of Revelation (Rev_2:1) a favorable testimony is borne to the Christian churches at Ephesus. Ignatius addressed one of his epistles to the Church of this place ( ôῇ ἐêêëçóßᾷ ôῇ ἀîéïìáêáñßóôῳ , ôῇ ïὔóῃ ἐí Å᾿öÝóῳ ôῆò Á᾿óßáò , Hefele, Pat. Apostol. page 154), which held a conspicuous position during the early ages of Christianity, and was in fact, the metropolis of the churches of this part of Asia.
3. Location. — Ephesus lay on the Egoean coast, nearly opposite the island of Samos, 320 stadia from Smyrna (Strabo, 14:632). The ancient town seems to have been confined to the northern slope of Coressus (Herod. 1:26), but in the lapse of time the inhabitants advanced farther into the plain, and thus a new town sprang up around the temple (Strabo, 14:640). All the cities of Ionia were remarkably well situated for the growth of commercial prosperity (Herod. 1:142), and none more so than Ephesus. With a fertile neighborhood (Strabo, 14:637) and an excellent climate, it was also most conveniently placed for traffic with all the neighboring parts of the Levant. In the time of Augustus it was the great emporium of all the regions of Asia within the Taurus (Strabo, 14:950); its harbor (named Panormus), at the mouth of the Cayster, was elaborately constructed, though alluvial matter caused serious hinderances both in the time of Attalus and in Paul's own time (Tacitus, Ann. 16:23). The apostle's life alone furnishes illustrations of its mercantile relations with Achaia on the W., Macedonia on the N., and Syria on the E. At the close of his second missionary circuit, he sailed across from Corinth to Ephesus (Act_18:19), when on his way to Syria (Act_18:21-22): some think that he once made the same short voyage over the AEgaean, in the opposite direction, at a later period. SEE CORINTHIANS, FIRST EP. TO. On the third missionary circuit, besides the notice of the journey from Ephesus to Macedonia (Act_19:21; Act_20:1), we have the coast voyage on the return to Syria given in detail (20, 21), and the geographical relations of this city with the islands and neighboring parts of the coast minutely indicated (Act_20:15-17). To these passages we must add 1Ti_1:3; 2Ti_4:12; 2Ti_4:20; though it is difficult to say confidently whether the journeys implied there were by land or by water. See likewise Act_19:27; Act_20:1.
As to the relations of Ephesus to the inland regions of the continent, these also are prominently brought before us in the apostle's travels. The "upper coasts" ( ôὰ ἀíùôåñéêὰ ìÝñç , Act_19:1), through which he passed when about to take up his residence in the city, were the Phrygian table- lands of the interior; and it was probably in the same district that on a previous occasion (Act_16:6) he formed the unsuccessful project of preaching the Gospel in the district of Asia. Two great roads at least, in the Roman times, led eastward from Ephesus; one through the passes of Tmolus to Sardis (Rev_3:1), and thence to Galatia and the N.E., the other round the extremity of Pactyas to Magnesia, and so up the valley of the Mieander to Iconium, whence the communication was direct to the Euphrates and to the Syrian Antioch. There seem to have been Sardian and Magnesian gates on the E. side of Ephesus corresponding to these roads respectively. There were also coast-roads leading northwards to Smyrna, and southwards to Miletus. By the latter of these it is probable that the Ephesian elders traveled when summoned to meet Paul at the latter city (Act_20:17-18). Part of the pavement of the Sardian road has been noticed by travelers under the cliffs of Gallesus. SEE LEAKE'S ASIA MINOR, AND MAP.
Among the more marked physical features of the peninsula are the two large rivers, Hermus and Mseander, which flow from a remote part of the interior westward to the Archipelago, Smyrna (Rev_2:8) being near the mouth of one, and Miletus (Act_20:17) of the other. Between the valleys drained by these two rivers is the shorter stream and smaller basin of the Cayster, called by the Turks Kutschuk-Mendere, or the Little Maeander. Its upper level (often called the Caystrian meadows) was closed to the westward by the gorge between Gallesus and Pactyas, the latter of these mountains being a prolongation of the range of Messogis, which bounds the valley of the Maeander on the north, the former more remotely connected with the range of Tmolus, which bounds the valley of the Hermus on the south. Beyond the gorge and towards. the sea the valley opens out again into an alluvial flat (Herod. 2:10), with hills rising abruptly from it. The plain is now about 5 miles in breadth, but formerly it must have been smaller, and some of the hills were once probably islands. Here Ephesus stood, partly on the level ground and partly on the hills.
Of the hills, on which a large portion of the city was built, the two most important were Prion and Coressus, the latter on the S. of the plain, and being, in fact, almost a continuation of Pactyas, the former being in front of Coressus and near it, though separated by a deep and definite valley. Further to the N.E. is another conspicuous eminence. It seems to be the hill mentioned by Procopius (De AEdif. 5:1) as one on which a church dedicated to the apostle John was built; and its present name Ayasaluk is absurdly thought to have reference to him, and to be a corruption of his traditionary title ὁ ἄãéïò èåüëïãïò . (See generally Cellarii Notit. 2:80.)
4. Government. — It is well known that Asia was a proconsular province; and in harmony with this fact we find proconsuls ( ἀíèýðáôïé , A.V. "deputies") specially mentioned (Act_19:38). Nor is it necessary to inquire here whether the plural in this passage is generic, or whether the governors of other provinces were present in Ephesus at the time. Again, we learn from Pliny (5:31) that Ephesus was an assize-town (Jorum or conventus); and in the N.T. narrative (Act_19:38) we find the court- days alluded to as actually being held ( ἀãïñáῖïé ἄãïíôáé , A.V. " the law is open") during the uproar; though perhaps it is not absolutely necessary to give the expression this exact reference as to time (see Wordsworth in loc.). Ephesus itself was a "free city," and had its own assemblies and its own magistrates. The senate ( ãåñïõóßá , or âïõëή ) is mentioned not only by Strabo, but by Josephus (Ant. 14:10, 25; 16:6, 4 and 7); and Luke, in the narrative before us, speaks of the äῆìïò (Act_19:30; Act_19:33, A.V. "the people") and of its customary assemblies ( ἐííüìῳ ἐêêëçóßᾷ , Act_19:39, A.V. "a lawful assembly"). That the tumultuary meeting which was gathered on the occasion in question should take place in the theater (Act_19:29; Act_19:31) was nothing extraordinary. It was at a meeting in the theater at Caesarea that Agrippa I received his death-stroke (Act_12:23), and in Greek cities this was often the place for large assemblies (Tacitus, Hist. 2:80; Val. Max. 2:2).
We even find conspicuous mention made of one of the most important municipal officers of Ephesus, the "town-clerk" (q.v.) ( ãñáììáôåýò ), or keeper of the records, whom we know from other sources to have been a person of great influence and responsibility. It is remarkable how all these political and religious characteristics of Ephesus, which appear in the sacred narrative, are illustrated by inscriptions and coins. An ἀñ÷åῖïí , or state-paper office, is mentioned on an inscription in Chishull. The ãñáììáôåýò frequently appears; so also the Á᾿óéÜñ÷áé and ἀíèýðáôïé . Sometimes these words are combined in the same inscription; see, for instance, Bockh, Corp. Inscr. 2999, 2994, 2996. The later coins of Ephesus are full of allusions to the worship of Diana in various aspects. The word íåùêüñïò (warden, A.V. "worshipper") is of frequent occurrence. That which is given last below has also the word ἀíèýðáôïò (proconsul, A.V. "deputy"); it exhibits an image of the temple, and, bearing as it does the name and head of Nero, it must have been struck about the time of Paul's stay in Ephesus. The one immediately preceding it bears the name (Cusinius) of the acting ãñáììáôåýò ("town-clerk") at the time.
5. The Asiarchs. — Public games were connected with the worship of Diana at Ephesus. The month of May was sacred to her. The uproar mentioned in the Acts very probably took place at this season. Paul was certainly at Ephesus about that time of the year (1Co_16:8), and Demetrius might well be peculiarly sensitive if he found his trade failing at the time of greatest concourse. However this may be, the Asiarchs (
Á᾿óéÜñ÷áé
, A.V. "chiefs of Asia") were present (Act_19:31). These were officers appointed, after the manner of the aediles at Rome, to preside over the games which were held in different parts of the province of Asia, just as other provinces had their Galatarchs, Lyciarchs, etc. Various cities would require the presence of these officers in turn. In the account of Polycarp's martyrdom at Smyrna (Hefele, Pat. Apost. page 286) an important part is played by the Asiarch Philip. It is a remarkable proof of the influence which Paul had gained at Ephesus that the asiarchs took his side in the disturbance. See Dr.Wordsworth's note on Act_19:31. SEE ASIARCH.
6. Religion. — Conspicuous at the head of the harbor of Ephesus was the great temple of Diana or Artemis, the tutelary divinity of the city. She was worshipped under the name of Artemis. There was more than one divinity which went by the name of Artemis, as the Arcadian Artemis, the Taurian Artemis, as well as the Ephesian Artemis. (See Dougtsei Analect. 2:91; Miinter, Relig. d. Karthag. page 53.) Her worship in this instance was said to have originated in an image that fell from heaven (
äéïðåôÝò
, Act_19:35; comp. Clem. Alex. Protrept. page 14; Wetstein in loc.), and believed to have been an object of reverence from the earliest times (Pliny, 16:79). The material of which it was composed is disputed, whether ebony, cedar, or otherwise (see Spanheim, ad Callim. Dian. verse 239). She was represented as many-breasted (
ðïëýìáóôïò
, multimamia, see Gronovii Thesaur. 7; Zorn, Biblioth. Antiq. 1:439 sq.; Creuzer, Symbol. 2:176 sq.), although different explanations are given of her figure in this respect. The following is the description given by Mr. Falkener (Ephesus, pages 290, 291) of an antique statue of the Ephesian Diana now in the Naples Museum: "The circle round her head denotes the nimbus of her glory; the griffins inside of which express its brilliancy. In her breast are the twelve signs of the zodiac, of which those seen in front are the ram, bull, twins, crab, and lion; they are divided by the hours. Her necklace is composed of acorns, the primeval food of man. Lions are on her arms to denote her power, and her hands are stretched out to show that she is ready to receive all who come to her. Her body is covered with various beasts and monsters, as sirens, sphinxes, and griffins, to show she is the source of nature, the mother of all things. Her head, hands, and feet are of bronze, while the rest of the statue is of alabaster, to denote the ever-varying light and shade of the moon's figure... . Like Rhea, she was crowned with turrets, to denote her dominion over terrestrial objects." It will be seen, from the figure given, that this last differed materially from the Diana, sister of Apollo, whose attributes are the bow, the quiver, the girt-up robe, and the hound; whose person is a model of feminine strength, ease, and grace, and whose delights were in the pursuits of the chase. SEE DIANA.Around the image of the goddess was erected, according to Callimachus (Hymn. in Dian. 248), her large and splendid temple. This building was raised (about B.C. 500) on immense substructions, in consequence of the swampy nature of the ground. The earlier temple, which had been begun before the Persian war, was burnt down in the night when Alexander the: Great was born (B.C. 355), by an obscure person of the name of Eratostratus, who thus sought to transmit. his name to posterity (Strabo, 14:640; Plutarch, Alex. 3; Solin, 43; Cicero, De Nat. Deor. 2:27); and, as it seemed somewhat unaccountable that the goddess should permit a place which redounded so much to her honor to be thus recklessly destroyed, it was given out that Diana was so engaged with Olympias in aiding to bring Alexander into the world that she had no time nor thought for any other concern. At a subsequent period Alexander made an offer to rebuild the temple, provided he were allowed to inscribe his name on the front, which the Ephesians refused. Aided, however, by the whole of Asia Minor, they succeeded in erecting a still more magnificent temple, which the ancients have lavishly praised and placed among the' seven wonders of the world. It took two hundred and twenty years to complete. Pliny (Hist. Nat. 36:21), who has given a description of it, says it was 425 feet in length, 220 broad, and supported by 127 columns, each of which had been contributed by some prince, and were 60 feet high; 36 of them were richly carved. Chersiphron, the architect, presided over the undertaking, and, being ready to lay violent hands on himself in consequence of his difficulties, was restrained; by the command of the goddess, who appeared to hint during the night, assuring him that she herself had accomplished that which had brought him to despair. The altar was the work of Praxiteles. The famous sculptor Scopas is said by Pliny to have chiselled one of the columns. Apelles, a native of the city, contribated a splendid picture of Alexander the Great.
The rights of sanctuary, to the extent of a stadium in all directions round the temple, were also conceded, which, in consequence of abuse, the emperor Tiberius abolished. The temple was built of cedar, cypress, white marble, and even gold, with which it glittered (Spanh. Observat. in Hymn. in Dian. 353). Costly and magnificent offerings of various kinds were made to the .goddess and treasured in the temple, such as paintings, statues, etc., the value of which almost exceeded computation. The fame of the temple, of the goddess, and of the city itself, was spread not only through Asia, but the world, a celebrity which was enhanced and diffused the more readily because sacred games were practiced there, which called competitors and spectators from every country. In style, too, this famous structure constituted an epoch in Greek art (Vitruv. 4:1), since it was here first that the graceful Ionic order was perfected. The magnificence of this sanctuary was a proverb throughout the civilized world (Philo Byz. Spect. Mund. 7). All these circumstances give increased force to the architectural allegory in the great epistle which Paul wrote in this place (1Co_3:9-17), to the passages where imagery of this kind is used in the epistles addressed to Ephesus (Eph_2:19-22; 1Ti_3:15; 1Ti_6:19; 2Ti_2:19-20), and to the words spoken to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Act_20:32). The temple was frequently used for the safe custody of treasure. Of more questionable character was the privilege which, in common with some other Greek temples, it enjoyed of an asylum, within the limits of which criminals were safe .from arrest (Strabo, 14:641; Plutarch, De cere al. c. 3; Apollon. Ephesians epist. 65). By Alexander this asylum was extended to a stadium, and by Mithridates somewhat further; fmark Antony nearly doubled the distance; but the abuses hence arising became so mischievous, that Augustus was compelled to abolish the privilege, or at least restrict it to its ancient boundary. Among his other enormities, Nero is said to have despoiled the temple of Diana of much of its treasure. It continued to conciliate no small portion of respect till it was finally burnt by the Goths in the reign of Gallienus. (See Hirt, Der Tempel der Diana zu Ephesus, Berlin, 1809.)
The chief points connected with the uproar at Ephesus in the case of Paul (Act_19:23-41) are mentioned in the articles DIANA SEE DIANA and PAUL SEE PAUL ; but the following details must be added. In consequence of this devotion, the city of Ephesus was called íåùêüñïò (Act_19:35) or " warden" of Diana (see Van Dale, Dissert. page 309; Wolf and Kuinol, in loc.). This was a recognized title applied in such cases, not only to individuals, but So communities. In the instance of Ephesus, the term is abundantly found both on coins and on inscriptions. Its neocorate was, in fact, as the "town-clerk" said, proverbial. Another consequence of the celebrity of Diana's worship at Ephesus was that a large manufactory grew up there of portable shrines ( íáïß , Act_19:24, the ἀöéäñýìáôá of Dionys. Halicarn, 2:2, and other writers), which strangers purchased. and devotees carried with them on journeys or set up in their louses. Of the manufacturers engaged in this business, perhaps Alexander the "coppersmith" ( ὁ ÷áëêåýò , 2Ti_4:14) was one. The case of Demetrius the "silversmith" ( ἀñãõñïðïῖïò in the Acts) is explicit. He was alarmed for his trade when he saw the Gospel, under the preaching of Paul, gaining ground upon idolatry and superstition, and he spread a panic among the craftsmen of various grades, the ôå÷íßôáé (2Ti_4:24) or designers, and the ἐñãÜôáé (2Ti_4:25) or common workmen, if this is the distinction between them. (See Schmid, Templa Denmetrii argentei, Jena, 1695; Wilisch, Íáú v äéá vett. Lips. 1716.) SEE DEMETRIUS.
6. Magical Arts. — Among the distinguished natives of Ephesus in the ancient world may be mentioned Apelles and Parrhasius, rivals in the art of painting, Heraclitus, the man-hating philosopher, Hipponax, a satirical poet, Artemidorus, who wrote a history and description of the earth. The claims of Ephesus, however, to the praise of originality in the prosecution of the liberal arts are but inconsiderable, and it must be content with the dubious reputation of having excelled in the refinements of a voluptuous and artificial civilization. With culture of this kind, a practical belief in and a constant use of those arts which pretend to lay open the secrets of nature, and arm the hand of man with supernatural powers, have generally been found conjoined. Accordingly, the Ephesian multitude were addicted to sorcery; indeed, in the age of Jesus and his apostles, adepts in the occult sciences were numerous: they traveled from country to country, and were found in great numbers in Asia, deceiving the credulous multitude and profiting by their expectations. They were sometimes Jews, who referred their skill and even their forms of proceeding to Solomon, who is still regarded in the East as head or prince of magicians (Josephus, Ant. 8:2,5; Act_8:9; Act_13:6; Act_13:8). In Asia Minor Ephesus had a high reputation for magical arts (Ortlob, De Ephes. Libris combustis, Lips. 1708). This also comes conspicuously into view in Luke's narrative (Act_19:11-20). The peculiar character of Paul's miracles ( äõíÜìåéò ïὐ ôὰò ôõ÷ïýóáò , Act_19:11) would seem to have been intended as antagonistic to the prevalent superstition. The books mentioned as being burned by their possessors in consequence of his teaching were doubtless books of magic. How extensively they were in use may be learned from the fact that "the price of them" was "fifty thousand pieces of silver" (more than $30,000). Very celebrated were the Ephesian letters ( Å᾿öÝóéá ãñÜììáôá ), which appear to have been a sort of magical formulae written on paper or parchment, designed to be fixed as amulets on different parts of the body. such as the hands and the head (Plut. Sym. 7; Lakemacher, Obs. Philol. 2:126; Deyling, Observ. 3:355). Erasmus (Adag. Cent. 2:578) says that they were certain signs or marks which rendered their possessor victorious in every thing. Eustathius (ad Hom. Odys. 10:694) states an opinion that Croesus, when on his funeral pile, was very much benefited by the use of them; and that when a Milesian and an Ephesian were wrestling in the Olympic games, the former could gain no advantage, as the latter had Ephesian letters bound round his heel; but, these being discovered and removed, he lost his superiority, and was thrown thirty times. The faith in these mystic syllables continued, more or less, till the sixth century (see the Life of Alexander of Tralles, in Smith's Dict. of Class. Biog. s.v.). We should enter on doubtful ground if we were to speculate on the Gnostic and other errors which grew up at Ephesus in the later apostolic age, and which are foretold in the address at Miletus, and indicated in the epistle to the Ephesians, and more distinctly in the epistles to Timothy. SEE CURIOUS ARTS.
7. Modern Remains. — The ruins of Ephesus lie two short days' journey from Smyrna, in proceeding from which towards the south-east the traveler passes the pretty village of Sedekuy; and two hours and a half onwards he comes to the ruined village of Danizzi, on a wide, solitary, uncultivated plain, beyond which several burial-grounds may be observed; near one of these, on an eminence, are the supposed ruins of Ephesus, consisting of shattered walls, in which some pillars, architraves, and fragments of marble have been built. The soil of the plain appears rich. It is covered with a rank, burnt-up vegetation, and is everywhere deserted and solitary, though bordered by picturesque mountains. A few corn-fields are scattered along the site of the ancient city, which is marked by some large masses of shapeless ruins and stone walls. Towards the sea extends the ancient port, a pestilential marsh. Along the slope of the mountain and over the plain are scattered fragments of masonry and detached ruins, but nothing can now be fixed upon as the great temple of Diana. There are some broken columns and capitals of the Corinthian order of white marble: there are also ruins of a theater, consisting of some circular seats and numerous arches, supposed to be the one in which Paul was preaching when interrupted by shouts of "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." The ruins of this theater present a wreck of immense grandeur, and the original must have been of the largest and most imposing dimensions. Its form alone can now be spoken of, for every seat is removed, and the proscenium is a hill of ruins. A splendid circus (Fellows's Reports, page 275) or stadium remains tolerably entire, and there are numerous piles of buildings, seen alike at Pergamus and Troy as well as here, by some called gymnasia, by others temples; by others again, with more propriety, palaces. They all came with the Roman conquest. No one but a Roman emperor could have conceived such structures. In Italy they have parallels in Adrian's villa near Tivoli, and perhaps in the pile upon the Palatine. Many other walls remain to show the extent of the buildings of the city, but no inscription or ornament is to be found, cities having been built out of this quarry of worked marble. The ruins of the adjoining town, which arose about four hundred years ago, are entirely composed of materials from Ephesus. There are a few huts within these ruins (about a mile and a half from Ephesus), which still retain the name of the parent city, Asaluk — a Turkish word, which is associated with the same idea as Ephesus, meaning the City of the Moon (Fellows). A church dedicated to St. John is thought to have stood near, if not on the site of the present mosque. Arundell (Discoveries, 2:253) conjectures that the gate, called the Gate of Persecution, and large masses of brick wall which lie beyond it, are parts of this celebrated church, which was fortified during the great Council of Ephesus. The tomb of St. John was in or under his church, and the Greeks have a tradition of a sacred dust arising every year, on his festival, from the tomb, possessed of miraculous virtues: this dust they term manna. Not far from the tomb of St. John was that of Timothy. The tomb of Mary and the seven ðáéäßá (boys, as the Synaxaria calls the Seven Sleepers) are found in an adjoining hill. At the back of the mosque, on the hill, is the sunk ground-plan of a small church, still much venerated by the Greeks. The sites of two others are shown at Asaluk. There is also a building, called the Prison of St. Paul, constructed of large stones without cement. The situation of the temple is doubtful, but it probably stood where certain large masses remain on the low ground, full in view of the theater. The disappearance of the temple may easily be accounted for, partly by the rising of the soil, and partly by the incessant use of its materials for medieval buildings. Some of its columns are said to be in St. Sophia at Constantinople, and even in the cathedrals of Italy.
Though Ephesus presents few traces of human life, and little but scattered and mutilated remains of its ancient grandeur, yet the environs, diversified as they are with hill and dale, and not scantily supplied with wood and water, present many features of great beauty. Arundell (2:244) enumerates a great variety of trees, which he saw in the neighborhood, among which may be specified groves of myrtle near Ephesus. He also found heath in abundance, of two varieties, and saw there the common fern, which he met with in no other part of Asia Minor. Dr. Chandler (page 150, 4to) gives a striking description of Ephesus, as he found it on his visit in 1764: "Its population consisted of a few Greek peasants, living in extreme wretchedness, dependence, and insensibility, the representatives of an illustrious people, and inhabiting the wreck of their greatness — some the substructure of the glorious edifices which they raised, some beneath the vaults of the stadium, once the crowded scene of their diversions; and some in the abrupt precipice, in the sepulchers which received their ashes. Such are the present citizens of Ephesus, and such is the condition to which that renowned city has been reduced. It was a ruinous place when the emperor Justinian filled Constantinople with its statues, and raised the church of St. Sophia on its columns. Its streets are obscured and overgrown. A herd of goats was driven to it for shelter from the sun at noon, and a noisy flight of crows from the quarries seemed to insult its silence. We heard the partridge call in the area of the theater and of the stadium. The pomp of its heathen worship is no longer remembered; and Christianity, which was then nursed by apostles, and fostered by general councils, barely lingers on, in an existence hardly visible." However much the Church at Ephesus may (Rev_2:2), in its earliest days, have merited praise for its "works, labor, and patience," yet it appears soon to have "left its first love," and to have received in vain the admonition — "Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove: thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." If any repentance was produced by this solemn warning, its effects were not durable, and the place has long since offered an evidence of the truth of prophecy, and the certainty of the divine threatenings, as well as a melancholy subject for thought to the contemplative Christian. Its fate is that of the once flourishing seven churches of Asia: its fate is that of the entire country — a garden has become a desert. Busy centers of civilization, spots where the refinements and delights of the age were collected, are now a prey to silence, destruction, and death. Consecrated first of all to the purposes of idolatry, Ephesus next had Christian temples almost rivaling the pagan in splendor, wherein the image of the great Diana lay prostrate before the cross; and, after the lapse of some centuries, Jesus gave place to Mohammed, and the crescent glittered on the dome of the recently Christian church. A few more scores of years, and Ephesus had neither temple, cross, crescent, nor city, but was 6a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness." Even the sea has retired from the scene of devastation, and a pestilential morass, covered with mud and rushes, has succeeded to the waters which brought up ships laden with merchandise from every part of the known world. (See Herod. 1:26; 2:148; Livy, 1:45; Pausanias, 7:2. 4; Philo Byz. Deu_7:1-26 Orb. Mirac.; Creuzer, Symbol. 2:13; Hassel, Erdbeschr. 2:182.)
7. Literature. — The site of ancient Ephesus has been visited and examined by many travelers during the last 200 years, and descriptions, more or less copious, have been given by Pococke, Tournefort, Spon and Wheler, Chandler, Poujoulat, Prokesch, Beaujour, Schubert, Arundell (Seven Churches, Lond. 1828, page 26), Fellows (Asia Minor, Lond. 1839, page 274), and Hamilton. The fullest accounts are, among the older travellers, in Chandler (Travels, Oxford, 1775, page 131), and, among the more recent, in Hamilton (Researches, Lond. 1842, 2:22). Some views are given in the second volume of the Ionian Antiquities, published by the Dilettanti Society. Leake, in his Asia Minor (Lond. 1824, pages 258, 346), has a discussion on the dimensions and style of the temple. In Kiepert's Hellas is a map, more or less conjectural, the substance of which will be found in Smith's Dict. of Class. Geog. s.v. Ephesus. The latest and most complete work is Falkener's Ephesus and the Temple of Diana (London, 1862, 8vo). A railway now renders Ephesus accessible from Smyrna (Pressense, Land of Gospel, page 215). To the works above referred to must be added Perry, De rebus Ephesiorum (Gott. 1837), a slight sketch; Guhl, Ephesiaca (Berl. 1843), a very elaborate work, although his plans are mostly from Kiepert; Hemsen's Paulus (Gott. 1830), which contains a good chapter on Ephesus; Biscoe, On the Acts (Oxf. 1829), pages 274- 285; Mr. Akerman's paper on the Coins of Ephesus in the Trans. of the Numismatic Soc. 1841; Gronovius, Antiq. Graec. 7:387-401; and an article by Ampere in the Rev. des Deux Mondes for January 1842. Other monographs are Anon. Acta Pauli cum Ephesiis (Helmst. 1768); Epinus, De duplici bapt. discip. Ephesinor. (Altorf, 1719); Benner, De bapt. Ephesiorum in nonzen Christi (Giess. 1733); Bircherode, De cultu Diance Ephes. (Hafn. 1723); Conrad, Acta Pauli Ephes. (Jena, 1710); Deyling, De tumultu a Demetrio (in his Obss. sacr. in, 362 sq.); Lederlin, De templis Diance Ephesiorum (Argent. 1714); Schurzfleish, De literis Ephesior. (Viteb. 1698); Siber, De ðåñéåñãἱᾷ Ephesiorum (Viteb. 1685); Wallen, Acta Pauli Ephes. (Grybh. 1783); Stickel, De Ephesiis literis linguae Semiticae vindicandis (Jeh. 1860). SEE EPHESIANS, EPISTLE TO.
Ephesus, General Council Of.
The third oecumenical council, convoked by the emperor Theodosius II, was held at Ephesus in 431, upon the controversy raised by Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, who objected to the application of the title of Èåïôüêïò to the Virgin Mary. For the circumstances which led to the convocation of this council, see the articles NESTORIUS SEE NESTORIUS , NESTORIANS SEE NESTORIANS , PELAGIUS SEE PELAGIUS . Celestine, the pope, not seeing fit to attend in person, sent three legates, Arcadius and Projectus, bishops, and Philip, a priest. Among the first who arrived at the council was Nestorius, with a numerous body of followers, and accompanied by Ireneus, a nobleman, his friend and protector. Cyril of Alexandria also, and Juvenal of Jerusalem came, accompanied by about fifty of the Egyptian bishops; Memnon of Ephesus had brought together about forty of the bishops within his jurisdiction; and altogether more than two hundred bishops were present. Candidianus, the commander of the forces in Ephesus, attended, by order of the emperor, to keep peace and order; but by his conduct he greatly favored the party of Nestorius. The day appointed for the opening of the council was June 7th; but John of Antioch, and the other bishops from Syria and the East not having arrived, it was delayed till the 22d of the same month. At the first session of the council (June 22), before the Greek and Syrian bishops had arrived, Cyril and the bishops present condemned the doctrines of Nestorius, and deposed and excommunicated him. This sentence was signed by one hundred and ninety-eight bishops, according to Tillemont, and by more than two hundred according to Fleury; it was immediately made known to Nestorius, and published in the public places. At the same time, notice of it was sent to the clergy and people of Constantinople, with a recommendation to them to secure the property of the Church for the successor of the deprived Nestorius. As soon, however, as Nestorius had received notice of this sentence, he protested against it, and all that had passed at the council, and forwarded to the emperor an account of what had been done, setting forth that Cyril and Memnon, refusing to wait for John and the other bishops, had hurried matters on in a tumultuous and irregular way. On the 27th of June twenty-seven Syrian bishops arrived, chose John of Antioch for their president, and deposed Cyril in their turn. In August, count John, who had been sent by Theodosius, arrived at Ephesus, and directed the bishops of both synods to meet him on the following day.
Accordingly, John of Antioch and Nestorius attended with their party, and Cyril with the orthodox; but immediately a dispute arose between them the latter contending that Nestorius should not be present, while the former wished to exclude Cyril. Upon this, the count, to quiet the dispute, gave both Cyril and Nestorius into custody, and then endeavored, but in vain, to reconcile the two parties. And thus matters seemed as far from a settlement as ever. The emperor at last permitted the fathers of the council to send to him eight deputies, while the Orientals or Syrians, on their part, sent as many. The place of meeting was Chalcedon, whither the emperor proceeded, and spent five days in listening to the arguments on. both sides; and here the Council of Ephesus may, in. fact, be said to have terminated. Nothing is known of what passed at Chalcedon, but the event shows that Theodosius sided with the Catholics, since upon his return to Constantinople he ordered, by a letter, the Catholic deputies to come there, and to proceed to consecrate a bishop in the place of Nestorius, whom he had already ordered to leave Ephesus, and to confine himself to his monastery near Antioch. Afterwards he directed that all the bishops at the council, including Cyril and Memnon, should return to their respective dioceses. The judgment of this council was at once approved by the whole Western Church, and by far the greater part of the East, and was subsequently confirmed by the (Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, consisting of six hundred and thirty bishops. Even, John of Antioch and the Eastern bishops very soon acknowledged it. But Nestorius protested to the last that he did not hold the heretical opinions anathematized by the council. SEE NESTORIUS.
Of the other councils of Ephesus, the following are all that need be mentioned: 1, in 245 (?), against the Patropassian Noetus; 2, in 400, under Chrysostom, where Heraclidus was consecrated bishop of Ephesus, and six simoniacal bishops deposed; and the ROBBER COUNCIL (see next article). — Landon, Manual of Councils, page 235; Mansi, Conc. 4:1212, 1320, et al.; Gieseler, Ch. History, § 88; Neander, Church Hist. 2:468 sq.; Murd. Mosheim, Church Hist. 1:358; Palmer, On the Church, 1:385 sq.; Cunningham, Historical Theology, 1:328 sq.; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, 2:161 sq. ; Smith, Tables of Church History; Christian Examiner, 54:49.