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History of Ancient Ephesos
The oldest legend of Ephesos is that a temple to the mother goddess
was first established here by the Amazons (about 2000 BC). When Croesus, the
king of Lydia, invaded the area there was a temple to the mother goddess or goddess
of abundance here with a great wooden statue. The temple was ruined during
the invasion. The unnamed mother goddess or goddess of abundance was identified
as Artemis and Croesus had a great stone temple built for her. In 356 BC,
the day Alexander III was born in Pella, a madman named "Herostratus" burned
the temple down in order to become famous. When questioned, he asked "Why
couldn't your goddess protect her temple from destruction by fire". The
reply "because our goddess has gone to Pella to be present at the birth
of the Great Alexander" - Alexander was not yet known as the "Great" at this
time. The temple (one of the 7 wonders of the world) was rebuilt by the most
famous architects of the time. The temple was rebuilt to the original size (425
feet long by 220 feet wide by 60 feet high) with 120 columns. The statue of Artemis,
ornamented with gold and brilliant marble, used to blaze in the night. In 334 BC,
when Alexander came to Ephesos he gave a parade with great pomp dedicated to Artemis
and the temple and offered to pay all expenses of Artemis. The proud citizens of
Ephesos did not want to lose control of their temple and cleverly replied
"it would not benefit a deity like you to build a temple to another deity".
When St. Paul came to the city and stated that idols made by man could not be gods,
the artisans (souvenir sellers) of Artemis created such an outraged crowd that St. Paul
was compelled to leave the city. The temple was sacked by the Goths in 263 AD. By this
time, Christianity had a strong hold on the city and the temple was never rebuilt.
In the 6th century AD, the remaining columns were sent to Constantinople with
many being used in the construction of St. Sophia.
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