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According to ancient historians the myth of the foundation of Ephesus
goes back to the period before the Ionian colonization. Before any important
event it was
customary in ancient times to consult the oracle, Androclus, the son of Codrus, the legendary King of Athens.
He was asked where to settle or found a settlement. The answer was
simple: "at the place which will be indicated by a fish and a
wild boar." After colonists landed in Anatolia, they were camping
somewhere near Ephesus and were grilling fish. A burning fish set a
bush on fire causing a boar to leap out of the bush and run away.
Remembering the words of the oracle the colonists decided to found
their settlement there.
Some sources say that the city was founded by the Amazons. In
mythology, the Amazons were a race of woman warriors who lived in
Anatolia and fought with the Trojans against the Achaeans in the
Trojan War. At that time, their queen was killed by the Achaean hero
Achilles. According to legend the Amazons dealt with men for only two
reasons, procreation and battle, and they reared only their female
young. The Amazons were frequently depicted by artists as being in
battle with men.
The city was an Ionian colony formed sometime after
1000 B.C. Some authorities have suggested that the history of the city
goes back to the Hittite period, c.1400 B.C., and it was the city which
the Hittites called Apasas. The earliest archeological evidence is the
Mycenaean ceramics found on the Ayasuluk Tepesi (Hill). This does not
imply that there had been a Mycenaean settlement in the region of
Ephesus. Mycenaean ceramics were popular and found in many other
places.
Ephesus has been located at different places in different times.
Ephesus I was located on Ayasuluk Hill and inhabited by ancient
Anatolians, Carians and Lelegians. At that time there was a cult of
the Great Earth Mother which acted like a magnet attracting pilgrims
and settlers even before the Ionian migration. Ephesus II was on the
north slope of Panayir Dagi (Mount Pion). As with other cities of the
Aegean coast of Anatolia, Ephesus came to be ruled by Croesus of Lydia
in the mid-6th Century B.C., before passing to the Persians after 546
B.C. It
joined the Delian League after the Persian Wars. In 334 B.C. it fell to
Alexander the Great and subsequently to his successors: Lysimachus and
the Seleucid rulers. In the 4th Century B.C. the harbor threatened to silt up the
settlement and it was moved to a new location between Panayir Dagi and
Bulbul Dag (Mount Coressus) by Lysimachus to form Ephesus III. The
remains of city walls from this period can still be seen at the
foothill of Bulbul Dag (The Nightingale Mountain). Later it was
controlled by Pergamum, eventually passing into Roman hands in 133
B.C. During this period Ephesus became the capital of the province of Asia
Minor and the population reached a quarter of a million. After the 6th
Century A.D., due to the persistent silting up of the harbor and repeated raids
by Arabs, the city changed its location back to Ayasuluk Hill forming
Ephesus IV.
Ephesus and Christianity
Ephesus is vividly alluded to
in Acts 19-20 in connection with St. Paul’s extended ministry at
Ephesus. Apostle Paul probably spent two and a half years in Ephesus
during his third missionary journey, until a riot forced him to leave
the city rapidly. Some authorities believe that St. Paul was
imprisoned in the so-called Prison of St. Paul in Ephesus. Eventually
the belief in Christ and the veneration of his Blessed Mother replaced
the worship of Artemis and the other deities.
Ephesus was the site of the third ecumenical council of 431
A.D. at
which the question of the Virgin Mary being the Mother of God was
debated. In this council it was decided that Christ had a double
nature as God and man, and the Virgin Mary was theotokos, god-bearer.
"To the Angel of the congregation in Ephesus; these are
the things that he says, who holds the seven starts in his right hand,
who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. Therefore
remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do to the former
deeds. If you do not, I am coming to you and I will remove your
lampstand from its place, unless you repent still you do home this,
that you hate the deeds of the sect of Nicolous which I also hate."
(Revelation 1:2)