Ephesus

Looking down the street to the Celsus Library.

Ephesus

 

Video Introduction

INDEX of Sites

As the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire, (after Rome, Antioch and Alexandria), Ephesus  (Ἐφέσος, modern Selçuk)  held a prominent place in Asia Minor (Strabo Geogr. 14.1.24; population 50,000–90,000).  Inscriptions testify that Ephesus was the “first and greatest metropolis in Asia,”  and in the first-century AD the residence for the Roman proconsul of Asia.  The Christian faith came to Ephesus in about AD 53 when Paul left Aquila and Priscilla there, heading for Antioch via Corinth (Acts 18:18–22). During Paul’s second missionary journey, he stayed in Ephesus for two years (Acts 19:8, 10), and later Timothy ministered there (1 Tim 1:3).

The archaeological work that has been done over the years at Ephesus is extensive and includes the "Marble Sacred Street," the "Great Theatre," the "Library of Celsus," the "Facade," the "Commercial Agora," the "Library Square," the "Gate of Augustus," and the "Curetes Street" , just to name a few. .  The official website for this large site is found at Ladstätter, Sabine. "Excavation History of Ephesos. "Austrian Archaeological Institute, 2015 LINK.  Background material is provided by many good Bible Dictionaries (listed below). The archaeological history is presented at "Excavation History. " Ephesus Foundation LINK as well as Jesus Speak to Seven of his Churches. 

 Jesus Speaks to Seven of His Churches Intro Video

 

Most of the site has been excavated and depending on the year there may or may not be anything being done on the site. It is always recommened to examine a good encyclopedia, journal articles, and books that specialize in the subject. This will give you a cross section of material.

• Arnold, Irene Ringwood. “Festivals of Ephesus,” American Journal of Archaeology 76.1 (1972): 17–22. JSTOR
• Brinks, C. L.“ 'Great Is Artemis of the Ephesians’: Acts 19:23–41 in Light of Goddess Worship in Ephesus,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly  71, no. 4 (2009): 776–94. ProQuest
• Cole, Dan P.“ Corinth & Ephesus: Why did Paul spend half his journeys in these cities,” Bible Review 4, no. 6 (December 1988): 20–30. Lookup article in BAS LINK or BR LINK
• Fant, Clyde E., and Mitchell G. Reddish. A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2003. pages 177–206 Look Inside
• Finegan, J., “Ephesus,” The Archaeology of the New Testament: The Mediterranian World of the Early Christian Apostles. Boulder: Westview, 1981, 155–71.
•  Foss, Clive. Ephesus after Antiquity: A Late Antique, Byzantine, and Turkish City. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Look Inside
• Friesen, Steven J. “Ephesus: Key to a Vision in Revelation,” Biblical Archaeology Review 19 no. 3 (May /June 1993): 24–37. LOOKUP or BAR
• _____. Twice Neokoros: Ephesus, Asia and the Cult of the Flavian Imperial Family. Leiden: Brill Academic, 1993. Google Books Preview
• Graves, David E. Key Themes of the New Testament: A Survey of Major Theological Themes. Moncton, N.B.: Electronic Christian Media, 2013. pages 80–83. Look Inside
• Graves, David E. "Appendix B – The Graeco–Roman Literary Context For The Seven Messages Of Revelation,” Pages 335–48 in Key Themes of the New Testament: A Survey of Major Theological Themes. Moncton, N.B.: Electronic Christian Media, 2013. PDF
• Graves, David E. “ Ephesus,” Biblical Archaeology Vol. 1: An Introduction with Recent Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible (Moncton, N.B.: Electronic Christian Media, 2014), 236–38. Google Look Inside
• Graves, David E. “The Statue of Ephesian Goddess Artemeis (Rev 2:1–7),”  Pages 210–13 in Biblical Archaeology Vol. 2: Famous Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible. Toronto, Can.: Electronic Christian Media, 2015. Amazon
• Graves, David E. “The Temple of Artemeis,”  Pages 213–14 in Biblical Archaeology Vol. 2: Famous Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible. Toronto, Can.: Electronic Christian Media, 2015.Amazon
• Graves, David E.“ The Theatre of Ephesus. " Pages 214–15 in Biblical Archaeology Vol. 2: Famous Discoveries That Support the Reliability of the Bible. Toronto, Can.: Electronic Christian Media, 2015. Amazon
• Graves, David E.“ Jesus Speaks to Seven of His Churches, Part 1,”  Bible and Spade 23, no. 2 (Spring 2010): 46–56. PDF or Color Photos LINK
• Graves, David E.“ Jesus Speaks to Seven of His Churches, Part 2,”  Bible and Spade 23, no. 3 (Summer 2010): 66–74. PDF or  Color Photos LINK 
• Graves, David E.  The Seven Messages of Revelation and Vassal Treaties: Literary Genre, Structure, and Function. Gorgias Dissertations Biblical Studies 41. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias, 2009.  Amazon Look Inside
• Koester, Helmut, ed. Ephesos Metropolis of Asia: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Its Archaeology, Religion, and Culture. Harvard Theological Studies 41. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Divinity School, 1995.
• Laale, Hans Willer. Ephesus (Ephesos): An Abbreviated History from Androclus to Constantine XI. Bloomington, Ind.: WestBow, 2011. Google Books Preview
• Ladstatter, Sabine. “Excavation History of Ephesos,” Austrian Archaeological Institute, 2015 LINK
• Lethaby, W. R. “The Earlier Temple of Artemis at Ephesus,” Journal of Hellenic Studies 37 (1917): 1–16. JSTOR
• _____. “The Sculptures of the Later Temple of Artemis at Ephesus,” Journal of Hellenic Studies 33 (1913): 87–96. JSTOR
• _____. “Further Notes on the Sculptures of the Later Temple of Artemis at Ephesus,”  Journal of Hellenic Studies 34 (1914) 76–88. JSTOR
• LiDonnici, Lynn R. “The Images of Artemis Ephesia and Greco–Roman Worship: A Reconsideration,” Harvard Theological Review 85 no.4 (1992): 389–415. JSTOR
• McRay, John. “Ephesus,” Archaeology and the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1991, 250-61.
• McDonagh, Bernard. Blue Guide: Turkey. 3rd ed. London, U.K.: A & C Black, 2001.
• Mitchell, Stephen, and A. W. McNicoll. “Archaeology in Western and Southern Asia Minor 1971–78,” Archaeological Reports, no. 25 (1978): 59–90.
• Mitchell, Stephen. “Archaeology in Asia Minor 1979–84,” Archaeological Reports, no. 31 (1984): 70–105.
• Murphy–O’Connor, Jerome. St. Paul’s Ephesus: Texts and Archaeology. Minneapolis, MN: Liturgical, 2008. Look Inside
• Ramsay, William M. St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel, 1896. LINK
• _____. The Letters to Seven Churches. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1904. LINK There is an newer edition with few differences but not online. Ramsay, William M. The Letters to Seven Churches: Updated Edition. Edited by Mark W. Wilson. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994.
• Ramsay, William M. The Church of the Roman Empire Before AD 170. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 2004. PDF
• Richardson, Terry, “Unearthing Ephesus with John Turtle Wood,” Today’s Zaman, Jan 26, 2010. LINK 
• Roberts, Mark D. “Ancient Ephesus and the New Testament: How Our Knowledge of the Ancient City of Ephesus Enriches Our Knowledge of the New Testament,” Reflections on Christ, Church, and Culture, 2011. LINK 
• Scherrer, Peter. “Ephesus Uncovered From Latrines to Libraries,” Archaeology Odyssey 4, no. 2 (2001): 26–37. Look up in BAS LINK
• Strelan, Rick. Paul, Artemis, and the Jews in Ephesus. 80 Berlin: de Gruyter, 1996. Look Inside
• Trebilco, Paul. The Early Christians in Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2007. Look Inside
• Wilson, Mark W. “The Early Christians in Ephesus and the Date of Revelation, Again,” Neotestamentica 39, no. 1 (2005): 163–93.
• Wood, John Turtle. Discoveries at Ephesus: Including the Sites and Remains of the Great Temple of Diana. London, U.K.: Longmans, Green & Company, 1877. PDF
• Wotschitzky, Alfons. “Ephesus: Past, Present and Future of an Ancient Metropolis,” Archaeology 14, no. 3 (1961): 205–12. JSTOR.
• Yamauchi, Edwin M. “Ephesus,” New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor: Light from Archaeology on Cities of Paul and the Seven Churches of Revelation. Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf & Stock, 2003, 79-114. 

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias:

The list of abbreviations can be found here. LINK

• Aune, David E. “Ephesus,” Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Freedman, David Noel, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck, eds.  Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2000. 
• Bammer, A., 1997. “Ephesus,” OEANE, 2:252–55.
• Blaiklock, E. M.,  1987. “Ephesus,” NIDB, 315–16.
• Blaiklock, E. M. “Ephesus,” in Vol. 2 of Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vols. 1–5. Revised, Full–Color ed. Tenney, Merrill C., and Moisés Silva, eds. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2009, 2:324–32.
• Blaiklock, E. M., 1983. “Ephesus,” NIDBA, 181.
• Blevins, J. L., 1984. “Ephesus,” MDB, 255–56.
• Borchert, G. L., 1995. “Ephesus,”  ISBE2, 2:115–17.
• Boyd, D., 1976. “Ephesus,” IDBSup, 269–71.
• DeVries, L. F., 2006. “Ephesus,” in CBW, 372–79.
• Finegan, J., 1984. “Ephesus,” IDB, 2:114–18.
• Mark, Joshua, “Ephesos,”Ancient History Encyclopedia, Sept. 2, 2009, n.p. LINK
• Miller, C. H., 1996. “Ephesus,” HBD, 270–72.
• Oster Jr., R. E., 1992. “Ephesus,” ABD, 2:542–49.
• Pfeiffer, Charles F., ed. “Ephesus,” pages 229–30 in Wycliffe Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 2000.
• Reddish, M. G., 2003. “Ephesus,” HolBD, 424–28.
• Singer, Isidore, Cyrus Adler, Gotthard Deutsch, Kaufmann Kohler, and Emil G. Hirsch, eds. “Ephesus,” in  The Jewish Encyclopedia. 12 vols. New York, NY: Funk & Wagnalls, 1906. LINK Not to be confused with the Bridger, David, and Samuel Wolk. The New Jewish Encyclopedia. Springfield, NJ: Behrman, 1962.
• Vailhé, S. “Ephesus,” in The Catholic Encyclopedia. 16 vols. Edited by  Condé Bénoist Pallen, Charles George Herbermann, and Edward Aloysius Pace. New York, N.Y.: Appleton Company, 1913. LINK .
• Vos, H., 1966. “Ephesus,” BW, 229–31
• Yavuz, Mehmet Fatih.“Ephesus: Archaeology of Ephesus,” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, edited by Michael Gagarin, 3:79–82 New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2010.

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Modified Nov 7, 2023. Copyright © 2016 Electronic Christian Media.