The Fall of Ephesus: Silt, Saint Paul, and the Temple of Artemis

this video is brought to you by squarespace from websites and online stores to marketing tools and analytics squarespaces the all-in-one platform to build a beautiful online presence and run your business check out squarespace through the link in the description below more about them in a bit i have set eyes on the wall of lofty babylon on which is a road for chariots and the statue of zeus the alpheus and the hanging gardens and the colossus of the sun and the huge labor of the high pyramids and the vast tomb of morseless but when i saw the house of artemis that mounted to the clouds those other marvels lost their brilliancy and i said lo apart from olympus the sun never looked so grand that is how the greek poet antipater of siodon described one of the original seven wonders of the world it was the temple of artemus a glorious greek shrine to the mother goddess of the hunt nature the moon and also chastity in today's geographics we're going to visit the ancient city where artemis ruled the minds of her people for centuries the magnificent city of ephesus the region surrounding ephesus has been inhabited since the neolithic era this corresponds to modern-day selkirk on the eastern mediterranean coast of turkey even 9 000 years ago the area was prime real estate close to the sea with access to spring water and a fertile hinterland naturally humans settled there very early on artifacts dating back from the neolithic trade colitic and early bronze age gave us an idea of quite a sophisticated society the presence of obsidian tools imported from the island of milos and tuna fishbones a clue that these early inhabitants liked to travel and had the means to do so they also had an established religious system centered around the worship of mother goddesses deities associated with the presence of natural springs who look after crops and offer shelter to those in need in the 3rd millennium bc the prehistoric settlement was abandoned it is not clear why but hittite sources from the second millennium mentioned the foundation of an urban center on isilok hill a city called a passer it may have been that a passer simply attracted inhabitants from the surrounding areas and it could be to the very name apassa later morphed into ephesus during the first millennium bce the region of epassa welcomed a growing number of greek immigrants who would come to be known as ionians these migrants took in the local anatolian culture adopting and morphing some of their practices and beliefs the greeks adopted the religion of the local mother goddess kaibal and gave her the name artemis the fulcrum of her worship was not a temple nor a shrine not even a statue most likely it was a simple lone tree stump at the center of a sacred grove on mount panajirdaag the grove was so important that several villages and small towns sprouted around it these smaller centers would later coalesce into the larger city known as ephesus the stump was replaced by a temple in the 7th century bce and the grove gave way to what would become the agora of ephesus as the city grew in size and importance so did the cult of artemis and her temple it was the legendary lydian king creases richest of the bridge who ordered for a huge shrine to be erected around 550 bce designed by the architect chesiphron the temple of artemis was entirely made of marble and measured some 115 meters in length and 55 meters in width it was constructed on marshy ground so as not to be endangered from earthquakes with the foundation laid on a bed of charcoal and sheepskins the temple had 127 columns each 18 meters high the columns were arranged in a double row on all four sides eight or nine on the short sides and 20 or 21 on the long sides those columns on the facades were decorated with relief figures from greek mythology the decorative freeze of the temple carried scenes involving amazons who were in greek mythology supposed to have sought shelter at ephesus from hercules continuing this tradition the temple was said to offer sanctuary to all those who were persecuted by justice by injustice or by invading armies [Music] when the persian empire first invaded anatolia or modern-day turkey it was 547 bce work at the temple had started only three years prior and would go on for more than a century so ephesians could not really seek sanctuary there just yet caught very literally between the mighty and protracted struggle that opposed the persians and the greek city-states ephesus opted for neutrality a clever move which ensured that their city remained stable and prosperous during hard times the ancient city clearly benefited from its coastal location the port of ephesus was one of the main trading hubs of the eastern mediterranean and a natural gateway halfway between greece and persia europe and asia moreover the cult of artemis continued to thrive attracting thousands of visitors and pilgrims that same culture received a hard blow in july 356 bce when the great temple was burned to the ground according to legend the fire took place on the night in which alexander the great was born according to plutarch artemis herself had left the shrine assisting in the delivery of alexander the disaster had allegedly been the result of arson committed by a man named hirostratus his motive well he just wanted to go down in history mission accomplished we suppose but next time why not invent the horse mill or something in reality this story is probably more myth in fact hirostratus may have never existed and the fire may have been caused by something as mundane as a lightning bolt the temple was rebuilt between 355 and 330 bce according to another myth alexander the great offered to pay for the construction work when his troops entered ephesus but according to historian strabo the offer was refused by the ephesians who said that it was inappropriate for a god to dedicate offerings to gods now that's how you do flattery ephesus again became a magnet for spiritual pilgrims who came to admire the new temple of artemis one of the seven wonders of antiquity the city was not done with construction projects though after the death of alexander one of his generals called elias marcus became ruler of the region around 320 bce began a renewal and development plan for ephesus according to the plan ephesus was renamed it was now arseneau after lysimerhus's wife arsenau everything beyond the new name was a massive undertaking first lysomarcus ordered for the whole city to be moved three kilometers southwest to a more defensible area the ephesians were not thrilled about a relocation so the crafty ruler had the sewage system blocked during a storm when the citizens were ankle deep in their own filth they realized the new location was actually rather nice next by samarkas had the city and suburbs surrounded by a nine kilometer long fortification he constructed a new harbor as the old one could not cope with a burgeoning amount of shipping traffic and was also marred by constant silting in 188 bce the city named ephesus once again was under the rule of the athletes the kings of pergamon who expanded the harbor once again and gave the city its great theater in 129 bc the last king of pergamon atlas bequeathed ephesus to the roman republic this marked the beginning of a new phase for the city where it would reach its cultural heights and you know it's pretty unlikely that anyone will ever bequeath you the perfect website for your big pet project or your side hustle you're going to need to do that yourself unfortunately well there's squarespace with the new year coming up couple of things you need to keep in mind one maybe you've got an idea for a website or a business or a podcast something like that knocking around in your mind well two the only way to figure out whether it's worth doing is to get it out there to the world and i know that can be daunting because it's scary to pursue new things but not knowing how to set up a website is no excuse 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of a website or a domain ephesus continued to explode in size splendor and importance in time it was named as the capital of the roman province of asia which is mostly just modern-day turkey the drivers of this ever-increasing prestige were the commercial ports and the temple of artemis which attracted both commercial activity and private benefactors under the management of the romans ephesus was enriched with architectural wonders some of which are still visible today buildings like the terraslope houses for example private residences for the urban elite or the forum modeled after the original in rome complete with its basilica and temples dedicated the emperors this prosperity however shouldn't fool us as ephesus did go through some pretty hard times 40 years after the onset of roman rule in 88 bce ephesians rebelled against their rulers and the high taxes they imposed they welcomed mithridates king of pontus as a liberator his armies entered ephesus and with the help of the local population they massacred tens of thousands of latin-speaking citizens the city was soon reconquered by the ruthless and skilled roman general lucius cornelius sula the city in 84 bce allowing his soldiers to sack ephesus then arranging for the rebels to be tried and executed ephesus had to withstand another type of trial somewhere between 17 and 23 ce when a massive earthquake inflicted severe damage on the city while contending with revolts invasions and earthquakes ephesus had to deal with yet another enemy this one silent but tenacious silt the gradual and continuous process of sedimentation in the bay of ephesus needed to be addressed with help from rome the basins and the canals of the port were cleaned and dredged constantly lest the harbor become unstable and the city lose a major economic lifeline the romans also helped ephesians in rebuilding the city after the earthquake thanks to massive civic engineering investment ephesus appeared richer than ever according to historian arrestio the city maintained its status as the most important center for trade and culture in asia attracting many of the best and brightest minds from across the mediterranean among them was an orator from tarsus modern day southeastern turkey he was traveling the length of the empire spreading the tenets of a new religion that he had once helped persecute he was born as saul but reborn as paul or saint paul as we know him today arriving in ephesus in 52 ce all addressed its citizens several times in an effort to convert them to christianity he did so via letters which are now part of the new testament or in person through public speeches in houses of worship an apocryphal tradition features paul speaking to crowds of pagans at the great theatre one of the jewels of the ephesian crown marble structure still splendidly preserved but the reality is actually different paul had managed to gather numerous law followers thanks to his rotary skills so many in fact as to threaten the worship of artemis and the related businesses flourishing around the temple one business owner in particular was not happy about it this was the jeweler demetrius who would build his wealth on the commerce of silver statues of the goddess feeling threatened by the new religion he had assembled thousands of pagans and staged a massive anti-christian protest at the great theater paul intended to show up at the theater and confront the pagans but was dissuaded from doing so by his followers who feared for his safety paul would die as a martyr some 15 years later in rome but that day the theater crowds were spared a gruesome spectacle of death and that to be honest was quite commonplace at the great theater as it was home to a reliable roman staple gladiatorial combat [Music] the great theater was first built by the atlas and it was later expanded by the romans from 41 to 117 ce at its apex the theater had a width of 145 meters and the highest order of seats stood at 30 meters high up to 24 000 spectators could enjoy the shows on stage the theater was used to stage comedies tragedies and even more spectacular events some studies suggest that water ducts may have been used to flood the amphitheater to stage spectacular mock naval battles one type of show that did take place for certain were gladiatorial fights the first ones were held in 69 ce under the patronage of roman governor lucellus gladiators enjoyed a special status much like sports stars today and even had a dedicated cemetery at the foot of panier hill discovered in 1993 the graveyard was the object of a fascinating study published in 2009 by two researchers of vienna medical university fabian cans and karl grossmit like csi detectives on a very very cold case they identified the remains of 68 individuals of which 66 were males aged between 20 and 30. several of these men presented massive perimortal traumas or injuries occurring at or near the time of death three of them presented fractures on their skulls indicating their opponents had smashed their shields on their faces evidence that like roman legionaries gladiators used their shield as an offensive weapon ten more bodies revealed fatal traumas on the skull dealt by other means considering the quality of helmets worn by gladiators this high rate of head injuries appeared suspicious to cans and grossmith they linked these clues to contemporary accounts of mortally wounded gladiators being finished off with a death blow struck by an arena servant with a hammer in a touch of morbid theatrics this servant was apparently dressed as the roman god of the underworld the vienna team continued their analysis to identify the weapons used by the ephesian gladiators the majority of the injuries point to the use of standard gladiatorial weapons such as the gladias or the trident but a single finding showed four small equal imprints each separated by a distance of just over a centimeter these lesions are compatible with the cubic forward end a legendary weapon similar to modern day brass knuckles and anecdotally used in the eastern provinces of the empire the use of the four dents suggests that some gladiators engaged in combat at very close range further inspection of the bones showed that the arena fighters enjoyed great medical care 26 individuals showed perfectly healed injuries all over their bodies from the skull to the radius further proof that gladiators were costly commodities and the death in the arena was a much rarer occurrence than ridley scott would like us to believe in fact death or severe injury may have been a secondary worry to ephesian gladiators their main concern apparently might have been tooth decay the stars of the great theater had a much higher incidence of painful cavities compared to non-combatants the reason may have been reduced saliva production due to sustained physical and psychological stress it's difficult not to experience a dry mouth when maximus wants to bash your skull in another cause may have been the gladiatorial diet which was pulpy and rich in carbs their muscular physique may lead you to believe the gladiators gorged on protein-rich meat but the vienna team found high levels of strontium in their bones and the more meat you eat the less strontium the conclusion is that ephesian fighters followed an almost vegan diet consisting of barley and pulses so high quality carbs for quick bursts of energy coupled with plant-based protein this is consistent with a nickname frequently associated with gladiators horidari or barleymen in addition to these vegan meals ephesian gladiators integrated their diets with a sort of energy drink a mineral supplement concocted with bone ash [Music] the roman years were good to the ephesians who enjoyed three centuries of relative tranquility but two thousand years ago nothing ever stayed good for too long and ephesus was long overdue for a bit of a serving of catastrophe the year 262 ce was a terrible one for ephesians this is when another earthquake hits this time much harder than in previous years the city was reduced almost entirely to rubble the public buildings that remained standing faced the wrath of a gothic invasion force who descended on the city in the same year among other masterpieces the goths burn down the library of chelsea second in importance only to its peer in alexandria the library was built between 114 and 117 ce in honor of tiberius julius celes polymanias a senator general and pro-consul of ephesus the library stood at the very heart of the city just by the agora it was built in the style prevalent under emperor hadrian this was a style that placed emphasis on highly decorative facades with multiple tears false windows corinthian pillars relief carvings and statues the facade of the library still visible is 21 meters wide however it was built to appear even wider by having the lower floor rest on a gently convex podium and by using slightly smaller columns at the sides the library had three entrances each topped with a window and flanked by statues set inside niches there are four statues in total representing four qualities associated with the late celsius as well as the institution of the library wisdom intelligence knowledge and virtue the interior of the library covered about 180 square meters of floor space paved with richly decorated marble the walls were lined with niches storing around 12 000 precious scrolls which were intended to be consulted on the spot i can imagine how ancient ephesians procrastinated rows on end while scrolling forever on these ancient texts the interior now lost must have been light and airy as the entrance was exposed to the east this guaranteed exposure to natural light and a dry environment ideal to preserve the scrolls despite the external appearance there was no second floor inside the library instead there was just a raised balcony running around the interior wall at the second story level this gave access to further niches and shelves these storage units were alternated with empty niches another effective measure to protect the vessels of knowledge from excess humidity but what of excessive fire [Music] five years after the flames had consumed the library the goths returned this time they burned down what had been the symbol of ephesus its major landmark the temple of artemis the fourth century ce was indeed a dark era for ephesians after the earthquake and the goth invasion they lived among rubble for decades heavily damaged structures were only superficially restored but no new buildings were erected a program of reconstruction only started in the early 5th century ce under theodosius ii roman emperor in the east by now the empire had adopted christianity as its main religion and so the emperor put great emphasis on sacred buildings but he did find the time and money to restore the library of celsius to its previous glory christianity paid great importance to the written word in the form of sacred texts and commentaries as opposed to the oral tradition of pagan beliefs to that end the library played a key role in preserving and disseminating christian thought in asia minor in the meantime the cult of artemis had disappeared but a new age of christian pilgrimage brought renowned wealth back to ephesus visitors were attracted by holy places such as the basilica of saint john the apostle believed to have died in ephesus another lesser-known shrine was the cemetery of the seven sleepers the sleepers which are also mentioned in the quran were seven pious young men who had sealed themselves in a cave during the persecutions of christians after the decades of sleeping they had emerged still youthful in a world where christianity had supplanted paganism but the most attractive site for visitors was the house of the virgin mary who according to tradition spent her last years of life in ephesus this tradition originates from the new testament itself while dying on the cross jesus pointed at john and said to his mother woman here is your son according to historical writings john later came to ephesus where he finally died it is assumed that he brought with him his adopted mother according to this tradition mary lived there until her assumption according to catholic doctrine or dormition according to the orthodox beliefs however the evidence that mary lived in ephesus is not very strong and other sources indicate that her final home was in jerusalem the worship of the virgin mary in ephesus may in fact be a simple thematic continuation of previous pagan beliefs life in the ancient city had always revolved around the worship of female and maternal deities from the early anatolian goddess to artemis it was not uncommon in paleochristian times for attributes of local pagan deities to be merged with stories of the early saints it was similar typical for early christian communities to completely wipe out any vestige of previous religions based on the works of christian paulinus of nola we know that around 402 ce what was left of the temple of artemis the seventh wonder was completely dismantled torn down piece by piece by a mob of monks priests and ordinary citizens according to cyril patriarch of alexandria this act of religious violence was against the wishes and the laws of the emperor and constantinople instead the instigator had been the archbishop of that city john kyra sostrom cyril alexandria later visited ephesus in 431 ce to preside over the third council of christian bishops the council was convened to solve the dispute created by nestorianism a doctrine which claimed that the virgin mary should be considered the mother of christ but not of god the council eventually decreed that mary was to be recognized as the mother of god and declared necessarianism to be heresy mary's prominence gave ephesus a sort of spiritual full circle story from its status as home of the mother goddess all the way to the city where mary was recognized as mother of god but by the following century ephesus was again on the decline for a time it had been an important garrison town within the byzantine empire but then other centers like samos and smyrna took over it in terms of political and military prominence in the meanwhile incessant silting of the harbor had forced the once glorious city to finally capitulate as the romans used to say gutter covert lapidem in other words drop by drop water can carve the stone in the case of ephesus grain by grain sand and mud had taken over the water killing the viability of the commercial port the old city of ephesus was completely abandoned in the 14th century and its few remaining inhabitants settled in the nearby al-assault hill ephesus may have been abandoned but was never forgotten celebrated in historiography and literature to name just one example william shakespeare's comedy of errors is set in ephesus but it took centuries before its ruins were rediscovered by british architect john turtle wood who led excavations there from 1863 to on behalf of the british museum today the archaeological site is a unesco world heritage site definitely worth visiting if you have been lucky enough to see the great theater the library of celsius or the lone surviving column of the temple of artemis let us know in the comments and as usual thank you for watching please do check out our fantastic sponsor there is a link below and i'll see you next time you

Channel: Geographics

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Length: 23min 37sec (1417 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 08 2020