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Gallery of Ephesus,
ancient Greek capital in now-Muslim Turkey: a window into
the past
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)
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this Article • About
the Author • Bibliography/Sources
Ephesus, located now in Kuşadası,
Turkey, is among the most well-preserved archaeological and
historic sites available in the world. Whereas Rome, Athens,
and Luxor offer sparse (yet magnificent) treasures in generally
poor condition, now-Muslim Ephesus allows the opportunity
for one to traverse through an ancient city virtually in its
original preserved entirety. The city's treasures can be reached
via a half-hour ride over a long and curving mountain range
from the port of Kuşadası (Koosh-a-dasuh).
Before the commercial and
military expansion of the Greek tribes, Anatolia (where today
Muslim Turkey lies) was ruled by a number of Iranian empires
before and during their Zoroastrian religious period. The
Iranian Scythians, the Hittites, their Lydian successors,
and finally the unified Zoroastrian Persian Empire all extended
military rule over nearly all of Anatolia from roughly 1400BCE
until 500BCE. On the far western coastline of Anatolia facing
the Greek tribes, the ancient city of Ephesus is believed
to have been founded by ethnic Greek settlers before the 9th
century BCE. The ancient city was generally attributed in
worship to the goddess Artemis, whom is revered in monuments
throughout the city. The city thrived as a coastal commercial
center, though its development was later hampered by assaults
from local Iranian and Turkic legions from the east and north,
respectively. Predictably, the Zoroastrian Iranian expansion
of the god-king Shahs of Persia towards the Greek tribes set
Ephesus in the middle of brutal and desperate conflict from
which the Zoroastrians emerged relatively victorious. The
heroic stand of the so-called "300" as depicted
with great nationalism in Greek culture against the invading
"barbarians" occurred nearby during this conflict
at Thermopylae. This volatile conquest was displaced by a
series of wars between the Greek city-states in the Peloponnesian
War of the 5th century BCE. Around this time, the Temple of
Diana, one of today's Seven Wonders of the World, was built
at Ephesus, later to be destroyed by foreign conquest and
entropy alike. Only a few pillars endure upright today. The
eastern campaign of Alexander the Greek in the 4th century
BCE reversed the victories of the Iranians, as the Greek tribes
became unified with authority over western Anatolia (including
Ephesus).
By the 2nd century BCE, the
new superpower in the west of the Romans had conquered the
Greek tribes and the split domains of Alexander's succeeding
ilk. Ephesus was a thriving commercial, cultural, and academic
city of the eastern Roman domains, and one of the largest
occupied cities in the world at the time. The city endured
German, Turkic, and Slavic assaults that threatened the late
Roman empire before its destruction and collapse. The region
is among the world's most important and historic Christian
sites, as today's Kuşadası was used as a site of Christian
pilgrimage, proselytism, and conversion since the times of
the early popes and saints shortly after the execution of
Jesus. On the way to Ephesus, the House of the Virgin Mary
can be visited as a world site of pilgrimage for centuries.
Alleged to be the original final resting place of the Virgin
Mary, a nearby prayer wall is adorned with thousands and thousands
of notes and donations placed by Catholic and Orthodox visitors
to reach Mary and Jesus in the skies above. Though there is
no evidence that this is Mary's original home in Anatolia,
the Catholic church places great primacy to the very innocuous
home with ancient stone walls and a collapsing roof. The exterior
is distinguished between original stone and restored stone
by a faint red paint line denoting the age differentiation.
With the ascension of Constantinople
under the new Christian emperor Constantine the Great, assaults
from the Jihad of the Arabs after the birth of Muhammad, and
a buildup of silt and grime in the city's distant shipping
yard, Ephesus began to stale as as a thriving city of the
past. The Jihad of the Selchuk Turks (pre-Ottoman) throughout
the 11th century, which devoured the former domains of the
Orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire, effectively felled the
importance of this most ancient coastal port city. This authority
of the Muslims passed to the Ottomans (Asmali) after the Turks
wrested themselves of Mongol authority. Nearly all Christian
churches and synagogues were burnt, though the institutions
themselves often survived as practical effort to control such
a massive empire rivaling the size of the Roman domain.
Despite this vast history
of triumph and decline under the pre-Christian Greek, Roman,
Orthodox Christian, and finally Islamic religions in succession,
the ancient provincial capital of Ephesus remains arguably
the world's greatest archaeological site in preservation along
with Pompeii in Italy. Local scholars report that only roughly
15% of it is unearthed. Several kilometers of walking through
the city reveal a wide array of temples to the old Greek and
later Roman gods, multiple large amphitheatres, elaborate
Roman baths, pillared walkways, stone-paved roads, latrines
and wasterooms, prayer temples, arched and domed structures,
and advanced pipe systems for water delivery and heating for
showers and cooking. Ephesus offers the opportunity to step
back in time. The Roman Celsus Library, the largest bibliotheque
in the world at the time before that of Alexandria, Rome,
Damascus, and Baghdad, surpasses the Parthenon in the minds
of many. Therein lay over 7,000 books until being incinerated
by foe or fire (local historians disagree).
Below are photos from my
vacation to Muslim Turkey and to the lovely capital.
a dilapidated building. (click to enlarge)
a felled temple. (click to enlarge)
a magnificent arch to a "pagan" temple. (click
to enlarge)
a closeup of the arch of the temple. (click to enlarge)
a massive amphitheatre undergoing restoration. Concerts are
held here today. (click to enlarge)
another angle of the amphitheatre. (click to enlarge)
a Greek-language inscription on a pillar.
the main walkway in the city of Ephesus. (click to
enlarge)
a mighty temple complete with statues of the goddess Artemis.
(click to enlarge)
the magnificent Roman Celsus Library, the largest in the world
other than that of Alexandria at the time.. (click
to enlarge)
a closeup of the Celsus Library with Greek inscriptions. (click
to enlarge)
the House of the Virgin Mary. Is it legitimate??
a wall of Catholic prayer notes to Mary. They are burnt after
a period.
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ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is the owner
and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working
for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic
and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures,
ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical
evolution in relation to and against each other.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
Personal observations, photographs.
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