Ephesus
Ephesus was a city located in Western Anatolia (modern day Turkey). The area surrounding it was already inhabited during the Neolithic Age (circa 6000 BC). During the Bronze Age, it may have been called Apasa, the capital of the Kingdom of Arzawa mentioned in Hittite sources. In 1954, a burial ground dating from the Mycenaean era (1500-1400 BC) was discovered close to the ruins of the basilica of St. John. Ephesus was founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC on the Ayasuluk Hill. The mythical founder of the city was a prince of Athens, Androklos, who had to leave his home city after the death of his father. According to legend, he founded Ephesus on the spot where the Delphian oracles pronouncement became reality. The Artemis worshipped at Ephesus was a fusion of the Greek goddess Artemis and the Anatolian goddess Kybele. Her statue was many-breasted and venerated in the Temple of Artemis, one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. Circa 650 BC, Ephesus was attacked by the Cimmerians. After they were driven away, the city was ruled by a series of tyrants. A council ruled it after a revolt. Notable figures who came from the city included the elegiac poet Callinus, the iambic poet Hipponax, the philosopher Heraclitus, the great painter Parrhasius, the grammarian Zenodotos, and the physicians Soranus and Rufus. Around 560 BC, Ephesus was conquered by the Lydians led by King Croesus, who treated the people with respect and became a main contributor to the reconstruction of the temple of Artemis. After the defeat of Lydia by the Persians, the Ionians offered to make peace. Cyrus insisted they surrender and become part of the empire. They were defeated by the Persian general Harpagos in 547 BC, with the Greek cities of Asia Minor incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire. When taxes were raised under Cambyses II and Darius, the Ephesians participated in the Ionian Revolt against Persian rule in the Battle of Ephesus (498 BC). In 479 BC, the Ionians, together with Athens, were able to oust the Persians from the shores of Asia Minor. The next year, the Ionian cities formed the Delian League with Athens against the Persians. During the Peloponnesian War, Ephesus was first allied to Athens, but later sided with Sparta (which had received the support of the Persians). The cities of Ionia were ceded to Persia. In 356 BC, the temple of Artemis was burnt down, by an arsonist named Herostratus according to legend. An even larger and grander one was built in its place. After Alexander the Great defeated the Persians at the Battle of Granicus in 334 BC, the Greek cities in Asia Minor were liberated. Seeing that the temple of Artemis was not yet completed, he proposed to finance it and have his name inscribed on the front. The Ephesians did not accept his proposal, claiming that it was not fitting for one god to build a temple to another. After Alexanders death in 323 BC, Ephesus came under the rule of one of his generals, Lysimachus in 290 BC. The river Cayster silted the harbor and the resulting marshes caused malaria among the people. They were forced to move to a new settlement two kilometres (1.2miles) away, officially named Arsinoea after Lysimachus second wife. Lysimachus was defeated and killed at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. The town was again named Ephesus and it became part of the Seleucid Empire. Ptolemy III invaded and Ephesus fell under Egyptian rule between 263 and 197 BC. When Seleucid King Antiochus III the Great tried to regain the Greek cities in Asia Minor, he came into conflict with Rome. He was eventually defeated by Scipio Asiaticus at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. Ephesus came under the rule of the Attalid King of Pergamon, Eumenes II. When his grandson Attalus III died without a male heir, he left his kingdom to the Roman Empire. Taxes rose considerably and the treasures of the city were plundered. In 88 BC, Ephesus welcomed Archelaus, a general of Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, when he conquered Roman Asia. Around 80,000 Roman citizens were slaughtered. When the Ephesians saw how badly the people of Chios were treated by another of Mithridates general Zenobius, they refused entry to their city to his army. Ephesus became for a time, self-governing. After the defeat of Mithridates by Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Ephesus went back to Roman rule in 86 BC. Sulla imposed a huge indemnity, along with five years of back taxes. When Augustus became emperor in 27 BC, he made Ephesus the capital of proconsular Asia. The city entered an era of prosperity, becoming the seat of the governor and a major center of commerce. Strabo claimed it was second in importance and size only to Rome. The population of Ephesus at this time is calculated to be between 138,000 and 172,500, with an alternate estimate giving the city a range of 33,600 to 56,000 inhabitants. The city was known for its Temple of Artemis, the Library of Celsus, and a theater capable of holding 25,000 spectators (later used for gladiatorial combat). Ephesus was sacked by the Goths in 263 AD, marking the decline of the citys splendor. The Emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected a new public bath. The Basilica of St. John was built during the reign of Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. The importance of the city as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the river. The ruins of the temples were used as building blocks for new homes. Sacks by the Arabs in the years 654-655 and in 700 and 716 hastened the citys decline further. When the Seljuk Turks conquered Ephesus in 1090, it was but a small village. The Byzantines resumed control in 1097 and kept it until 1304. The town surrendered to a Turkish warlord, Sasa Bey. Contrary to the terms of the surrender, the Turks pillaged the church of St. John and deported most of the local population to Thyrea, Greece. The town experienced a short period of prosperity during the 14th century under the Seljuks. Ephesus was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire for the first time in 1390. After the defeat of the Ottomans by Tamerlane in 1402, the region reverted back to the Anatolian beyliks. It was once more incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1425. By the 15th century, Ephesus was completely abandoned. In 1863, the British architect John Turtle Wood, with the sponsorship of the British Museum, began to search for the Temple of Artemis. The pavement was discovered in 1869, but excavations stopped in 1874. In 1895, German archaeologist Otto Benndorf resumed excavations at Ephesus. In 1898, he founded the Austrian Archaeological Institute, which plays a leading role in Ephesus today. Finds from the site are exhibited in the Ephesos Museum in Vienna, the Ephesus Archaeological Museum in nearby Selçuk, and the British Museum. In 2015, Ephesus was declared a World Heritage Site. It is a popular tourist attraction in the area.
