Ephesus: The Nursery of Christianity

Ephesus

The Nursery of Christianity

Edgar Stubbersfield

Ephesus

The Nursery of Christianity

Copyright © 2022 Edgar Stubbersfield. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

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paperback isbn: 978-1-6667-4132-2

hardcover isbn: 978-1-6667-4133-9

ebook isbn: 978-1-6667-4134-6

12/13/22

Table of Contents

Title Page

Abbreviations

Ephesus, the Nursery of Christianity

1. Geography

2. Ephesian History

3. Ephesian Freedom

4. Ephesian Artemis

5. Other Pagan Religions

6. Judaism and Christianity in Ephesus

Conclusion

Source of Illustrations

Bibliography

This book is dedicated to Jim McDonald

A Police Officer, Councilor, Mayor, and Member of Parliament

but above all a friend when I needed one.

Abbreviations

1 Apol First Apology

Anc Res Gestae Divi Augusti (Monumentum Ancyranum)

Ag. Ap. Against Apion

Ann. The Annals

Ant. Antiquities of the Jews

Anth. Pal. Palatine Anthology (Greek Anthology)

Cal. Gaius Caligula

De Arch. On Architecture

Demetr. Life of Demetrius

Descr. Description of Greece

Eph. To the Ephesians

Geogr. Geography

Haer. Against Heresies

HH. Homeric Hymns

Hist. The Histories

Hist. eccl. Ecclesiastical History

Hist. rom. Roman History

Hymn Del. Hymn to Delos

Hymn. Dian. Hymns to Diana or Artemis

Imag. Imagines

Leuc. Clit. The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon

Mil. Glo. Miles Gloriosus (The Braggart Captain)

Mith. Mithridatic Wars

Nat. The Natural Histories

Nat. an. On the Nature of Animals

Or. Orations

Sat. Satires

Var. hist. Various Histories

Vit. Apoll. Life of Apollonius of Tyana

Vit. Soph. Life of the Sophists

Ephesus, the Nursery of Christianity

Welcome to the long-abandoned glories of the Greek city of Ephesus in what is now Turkey. While Jerusalem has been called the cradle of Christianity, Ephesus was surely its nursery. One writer summed up the importance of this city to Christianity when he said, for one momentous generation, Ephesus was the literary focus of early Christianity, and by its compilations . . . influenced Christianity more than Jerusalem, Antioch, or Rome.¹ This ancient city played a pivotal part in the formation of the New Testament with at least six of its books having or claiming to have a connection. Paul ministered in Ephesus longer than in any other city and legend has it that John lived the last of his very long life in Ephesus. It is also where these same legends say that Timothy became the city’s first bishop and was martyred and where the runaway slave Onesimus² would eventually succeed him. Legend also says that Mary, the mother of Jesus, saw out her last days in this city.

The provenance and even the recipients of some of the New Testament letters is contested, but the traditional understanding of the authorship and recipients or destinations of the letters shows a very strong association with Ephesus as:

•Both Corinthian letters were written from here,

•Romans was written shortly after Paul left Ephesus,³

•First and Second Timothy were written to Paul’s assistant ministering in Ephesus,

•There is a letter bearing the name of the city,

•John’s Gospel and letters are associated with his stay in Ephesus, and

•The Apocalypse was written on an island close to Ephesus.

If Paul wrote his prison epistles from Ephesus,⁴ Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians would also be associated with the city. Colossae, also in Asia Minor, was about 200 kilometers from Ephesus but was connected by important trade routes and the Lycus River so its culture would have been similar.

I hope you enjoy this short trip back to a world and culture that was very different from our own. Without an understanding of this city, its lifestyles, and the beliefs of its community and of those living in locations around it, we cannot start to comprehend what theologians call the sitzenbleiben. We would simply refer to the life situation that Paul and John were writing into. Without understanding what the books said to the intended recipients we can easily read into them a meaning not necessarily intended by the author.

1

. Goodspeed, New Chapters,

49

.

2

. Ign. Eph.

6

.

3

. It is suggested that our letter to the Romans may actually be a copy of the original that was sent to Ephesus as the greetings in the final chapter are to people we expect to be living in Asia. Koester, Ephesus,

123

.

4

. Now widely but not universally accepted.

1. Geography

Location of Ephesus

It is hard to comprehend that the archaeological site of Ephesus, which is now eight kilometers inland, was once one of the ancient world’s great seaports! In classical times, Ephesus was essentially a coastal city situated on the Cayster River (also known as the Küçük Menderes) in Anatolia, Turkey, between where it empties into the Aegean Sea and the Koressos Mountains. Long after the founding of Ephesus, Polybius wrote about its strategic importance saying, King Antiochus was very anxious to get possession of Ephesus because of its favorable site, as it may be said to stand in the position of a citadel both by land and sea for anyone with designs on Ionia and the cities of the Hellespont and is always a most favorable point of defense against Europe for the kings of Asia.⁵

Ephesus, which faced the Greek world to the west, was ideally situated for commerce. Strabo,⁶ the great Greek geographer, wrote that Ephesus’s location with an accessible harbor and being effectively the start of the Persian royal road was the main reasons for its economic growth and rise to prominence.⁷ Further, with the city also being sited on the north-south coastal road, and with links by mountain passes to the Hermos River Valley (Modern Gediz River) its strategic and economic situation made Ephesus a prize for successive conquering empires.

Aerial view of Ephesus showing the Roman harbor and canal connecting it to the Cayster River

Three hills, now known as Panayir Dagh (155 meters and central in the aerial view), Bulbul Dagh (358 meters and to the right in the aerial view), and Ayasoluk (near the Temple of Artemis known as the Artemision), govern the topography with the city built on their slopes and between their narrow valleys. This topography and the silting of earlier harbors⁸ dictated the growth of the city and its water supply. Refer to pages 26 and 27 for their location.⁹

The city tourists know as Ephesus was not the Ephesus of classical Greece but was moved because the original city was not built in an ideal location. It was first situated near the Artemision, and was built on the floodplain of the Marnas (modern Degirmen) and Selinous (modern Abu-hayat) rivers. These two rivers could flood the whole plain at times. The situation by the fourth century BC has been described as, when it was not flooded, the area directly south and east of the Artemision must have been wet in winter, swampy during the spring, and generally pestilential during the summer.¹⁰

5

. Polybius, Histories,

18

.

40

a. Polybius (ca.

200

–

118

BC) was a historian of the Hellenistic period and is important because of his discussion of the separation of powers in government.

6

. Strabo (ca.

54

BC–AD

24

), a native of Pontus studied philosophy and became a Stoic. He was an eyewitness of much of his geographical information making it invaluable for people in the higher departments of administration and international politics. He was well-acquainted with history and the mythological traditions of his nation and was a devout admirer of Homer and acquainted with the other great poets.

7

. Strabo, Geogr.

14

.

1

.

24

. The road was likely not paved till Roman times.

8

. Zabehlicky, Preliminary Views,

202

.

9

. A larger topographical map with details that are easier to read can be found at https://web.archive.org/web/

20210628014030

/http://homepage.univie.ac.at/elisabeth.trinkl/forum/forum

0897

/

04

plan.htm.

10

. Rogers, Mysteries of Artemis,

65

.

2. Ephesian History

The Name, Ephesus

Silver tetradrachm ca.

405

–

325

BC

Little is known of the prehistory of the city though Mycenaean graves and artefacts (1400–1500 BC) have been found indicating a long settlement period. As well, Hittite cuneiform tablets have been found at Miletus¹¹ which refer to a village Apasus, possibly this city.¹² Not surprisingly, the origin of the city’s name has been lost in time, but it may derive from apis, which is Greek for bee and the city did have a strong association with bees in its iconography and terminology. Some of its coins carried the image of a bee¹³ and Ephesian hoplites, heavily armed foot soldiers, are known to have the bee on their shields.¹⁴

The priestesses and chief priest at the temple of Artemis were known as melissai, another Greek word for bee, and the King Bee respectively.¹⁵ Alternatively, Artemis Ephesia was the full name of the leading local deity which could also explain the city’s name, i.e., it is named after the god, not the god after the city. The goddess’ name is also said to come from a Greek adjective meaning safe and sound¹⁶ which would be an ideal name for a city which makes people feel artimeas. Pausanias¹⁷ refers to the founding of the first large temple in the city by Croesus¹⁸ and a man called Ephesus who was thought to be a son of the river Cayster.¹⁹ This is also a suggested origin of the name. Strabo says the name originates from the Amazons though he does not say how.²⁰

Mythological Founding of Ephesus

Strabo visited Ephesus not many years before Paul.²¹ He records in his Geography,²² both the historical and the mythological accounts of the founding of the city. The myth links Ephesus to Smyrna, an Amazon, a member of the mythological race of fierce women warriors, who took control of the city. Amazons were so committed to martial arts²³ that they removed their right breasts, which would otherwise impede their javelin throwing.²⁴ It was said that after its capture, the Amazon leader Hippolyte set up the statue of Artemis and started an annual dance around the city with weapons and shields.²⁵ The Amazons, the equal of men,²⁶