Ephesus

Location

Ephesus lay on the western coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), at the mouth of the Cayster river. In the first century it was the capital of the Roman province of Asia and the third city of the empire after Rome and Alexandria. Its great temple of Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world (Acts 19:27).

Biblical importance

Ephesus is the setting of Paul's longest stay in Acts (three years — Acts 20:31), the destination of the Epistle to the Ephesians, the base from which 1 Corinthians was written (1 Corinthians 16:8), a city addressed in the seven letters of Revelation (Revelation 2:1-7), and by Christian tradition the home of the apostle John and (in one strand of tradition) of Mary in her later years.

Historical timeline

• c. 550 BC — The temple of Artemis is built at Ephesus (later destroyed and rebuilt multiple times).
• 133 BC — The kingdom of Pergamon (including Ephesus) is bequeathed to Rome; Ephesus becomes part of the Roman province of Asia.
• c. AD 52 — Paul visits Ephesus briefly with Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:19-21).
• c. AD 52-55 — Paul's three-year ministry at Ephesus (Acts 19).
• c. AD 54-55 — Paul writes 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:8).
• c. AD 55 — The riot of the silversmiths (Acts 19:23-41).
• c. AD 60-62 — Paul writes the Epistle to the Ephesians (traditionally from Rome; the destination-address is contested).
• Traditional c. AD 60s-90s — The apostle John is at Ephesus, tradition holds. Irenaeus (c. AD 180) writes that John 'the disciple of the Lord' lived in Ephesus and died there in the time of Trajan (Adv. Haer. II.22.5, III.3.4).
• c. AD 95 — John writes the Book of Revelation on Patmos; the first of the seven churches addressed is Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7).
• AD 431 — The Council of Ephesus — the Third Ecumenical Council — affirms Mary as Theotokos and condemns Nestorius.
• AD 449 — The 'Robber Council' of Ephesus.
• Later centuries — The harbour silts up; the city declines and is eventually abandoned. Ayasoluk (modern Selçuk) succeeds it.

Important biblical events

• Acts 18:19-21 (KJV) Paul comes to Ephesus with Aquila and Priscilla, reasons in the synagogue, and leaves.
• Acts 18:24-28 (KJV) Apollos, an Alexandrian, comes to Ephesus and is instructed by Aquila and Priscilla.
• Acts 19:1-7 (KJV) Paul finds certain disciples at Ephesus who have only known the baptism of John.
• Acts 19:8-10 (KJV) Paul disputes daily in the school of one Tyrannus 'by the space of two years.'
• Acts 19:11-20 (KJV) The sons of Sceva; the burning of the books of curious arts.
• Acts 19:23-41 (KJV) Demetrius the silversmith stirs up a riot: 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians.'
• Acts 20:17-38 (KJV) Paul's farewell to the Ephesian elders at Miletus: 'take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.'
• 1 Corinthians 15:32 (KJV) 'I have fought with beasts at Ephesus.'
• 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 (KJV) 'But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me.'
• Ephesians 1:1 (KJV) 'To the saints which are at Ephesus...' (KJV; the address is textually contested in modern editions but stands in the KJV).
• 1 Timothy 1:3 (KJV) 'I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia.'
• 2 Timothy 1:18 (KJV) Onesiphorus 'ministered unto me at Ephesus.'
• Revelation 1:11 (KJV) The first of the seven churches addressed.
• Revelation 2:1-7 (KJV) 'Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars...'

Important Christian events

• Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180) records that the apostle John lived at Ephesus until the time of the emperor Trajan (Adv. Haer. II.22.5, III.3.4).
• The tradition of the Dormition (or Assumption) of Mary places her final years at Ephesus in one strand; another places them in Jerusalem. The Atlas notes both traditions.
• The Council of Ephesus (AD 431) — the Third Ecumenical Council — met in the Church of St Mary at Ephesus and affirmed the term Theotokos ('God-bearer') for Mary.
• The Basilica of St John at Ephesus — a large sixth-century Justinianic basilica — was built over the traditional tomb of the apostle John.

Related Scripture

• Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV) 'For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.'
• Ephesians 6:10-18 (KJV) 'Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.'
• Revelation 2:4 (KJV) 'Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.'

Related biblical people

• Aquila and Priscilla.
• Apollos.
• Timothy — left at Ephesus by Paul (1 Timothy 1:3).
• The Ephesian elders (Acts 20).
• Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 1:16-18).
• The apostle John — by tradition.
• Mary the mother of the Lord — by one strand of tradition.
• Cyril of Alexandria — presiding at the Council of Ephesus (AD 431).

Related Journeys

• Journey — the travels of Paul (future)
• Journey — the seven churches of Revelation (future)

Historical churches

• The Basilica of St John (Justinianic, sixth century, now ruins) at Ayasoluk — over the traditional tomb of the apostle John.
• The Church of St Mary at Ephesus (the Council church, largely archaeological) — where the Council of Ephesus met in AD 431.
• The traditional House of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana, small chapel on a hill above the ancient city) — a nineteenth-century Catholic re-identification based on the visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich; the tradition is much later than the earliest sources.

Historic monasteries

• The historic monasteries of Asia Minor were dissolved after 1923; monastic Christian presence in modern Turkey is largely limited to Istanbul and a few smaller communities.

Museums and archaeological collections

• The Ephesus Museum in Selçuk (Turkey) — a major collection of Ephesian artefacts, including the ivory frieze of Artemis.
• The Ephesus Archaeological Site itself — one of the largest excavated cities of antiquity.
• The British Museum (London) and Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum hold Ephesian material from nineteenth- and early twentieth-century excavations.

Pilgrimage today

Ephesus is a major archaeological site and a Christian pilgrimage destination. The House of the Virgin Mary receives many visitors, though the historical basis for the identification is late. CrossAIHub does not recommend a tour operator.

Related liturgical seasons

• Feast of St John the Evangelist — 27 December (Latin) / 26 September (fall of the Beloved Disciple, Eastern).
• Feast of the Council of Ephesus — associated with Marian feasts, notably the Dormition (15 August, Eastern; also Latin 15 August).

Images (public-domain, to be added)

Historic maps (public-domain, to be added)

Further reading

• Acts 19-20, Ephesians, 1-2 Timothy, Revelation 1-3 (KJV).
• Irenaeus, Against Heresies II.22, III.3 (Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1).
• The Acts of the Council of Ephesus (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series II vol. 14).