Day 2: Ephesus
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2005
1
8
49
Trip End
Dec 15, 2005
Kusadasi,
Turkey
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Ephesus has been rebuilt four times because of the silt river. The city would become too swampy or malaria would break out, causing the citizens to leave and build again. In the ancient days, the sea came all the way up to the city, now because of the silt it is much farther away. Though this is a Greek city, the ruins are more Roman because of the Roman occupation and influence on the city
Ephesus
. Where the ruins lie today, the city was built here due to the Oracle of Delphi. They were told fire, fish, bore. They came to the location by stopping while traveling on the river from the sea. They came on land to eat a fish they had caught, and started a fire to eat the fish. The fire grew out of control and caught a bush on fire which had a bore under it. The bore was shot and they decided this is where the city must be. The first ruin learned about was the Bouleterion Theater. This was a meeting hall for the city council. The theater was used the most in 7th Century AD. The Roman entrance into the theater was through a tunnel that goes to the top of the seating, while the Greek entrance brings you directly into the theater. I went up the Roman entrance and came down the steps to the seating area. The theater was covered and the whole thing was marble. It was able to seat 1,500 people.
We then walked to the town hall. A fire was always lit when the city was fine. There was a huge precession every year to light the fire with a torch. The curettes kept the fire going and the street in front of building is named after them. When the city was under seize and captured, the fire was put out. There were also two Agora's here: a state Agora and a commercial Agora
Library of Ephesus
. The commercial agora was the market place while the state agora was a place to express opinions and discuss issues. Ephesus also had one of the best hospitals, called Asklepion. People came from all over to be healed here because no one died while there. There were hot springs and many other natural remedies to cure people. This is also where the symbol for the snake and cup for medicine originated.
The town was divided into two sections, the common people and the VIP area. The gate of Hercules divided the city and it is said that a person gains strength when walking under the gate. The people of the city were always wanting to be on the good side of the Romans or who ever was in control, so they built different things to honor the rulers. I thought the most impressive monument was the Traian Fountain. It was originally two stories high and there is a foot and ball structure that the water flowed under. It is unknown what the entire structure was or represented but there are many speculations.
From recent excavation, some high class houses were uncovered as well as original mosaics in the street. The houses had a court yard type area, where all the rooms opened up to this area.
In the ancient times, the plumbing system was very impressive. We visited an ancient bath room. It had about seventy toilets, and was a place for socializing. There was a sewage system that took care of the gross stuff and allowed people to wash after going to the bathroom. I got to sit on one of the ancient toilets; it was weird but neat to be sitting there
Theater of Ephesus
. The Library of Calcus was also very impressive. It was built by two slaves who were set free by Augustus, so they built the library to honor him. It also serves as the entrance to the commercial agora. The library was huge and had tunnel passages running underneath that connected different parts of the town. We were able to go into the library and look around.
Our final stop in Ephesus was the Theater of Ephesus. This was amazing to see. It was so beautiful and big. It was used from 3rd C. BC to 7th C. AD. It was able to seat 24,000 people and the acoustics were phenomenal. You can stand at the top of the theater and someone can stand on the stage, talk in a normal voice and the person at the top could hear them. I went to the top of the theater and tested it out. It was so cool because you could hear people's conversations from all over the theater. The theater is mentioned in the bible when Paul was kept out in Acts chapter 19. The theater was originally built by the Greek's on the mountain slope, to have a good view of the sea and surrounding areas. The Romans modified this by making it more round and built a stage area and wall as high as the theater to keep people's attention during a performance. The theater is still used today for very special occasions.
It was neat to be in Ephesus, where Paul and others have been and stayed for a long time. You were basically guaranteed that wherever we walked or explored that Paul had probably been there preaching.
After the tour, we walked through some little shops and did a bit of shopping. Then, we went to a pottery store. We were unable to watch them make pots because of our short amount of time in Ephesus, but the pottery was beautiful. Everything was done by hand there and was original. We made one last stop at the ancient temple of Artemis, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. There are only bits and pieces of the temple left. One pillar has been reconstructed to show where the magnificent temple stood. We barely made it back onto the boat in time to sail to Patmos.
I loved Ephesus and learned so much while here. It has been my favorite stop on the trip. The ruins were so much better then those at the Acropolis because they were real and we were able to explore.
