Site Catalog Name: Ephesos

Physical Description:

Ephesos was originally established at the base of Mount Pion, on a natural harbor at the delta of the Cayster river. The second site, the unfortified late Archaic and Classical city was farther inland, closer to the location of modern Selcuk. With the exception of some Archaic graves, there has been little exploration of the Archaic or Classical settlements.

The location selected by Lysimachos at the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. is represented by the ruins visible today. Hellenistic Ephesos was planned on a grid system at the W base of Mt. Pion and in the narrow valley S of Mt. Pion and NW of Mt. Koressos. The city was enclosed by massive fortification walls reaching a height of 10 m and extending over a distance of 9.6 km. The ancient harbor lay to the NW of the city center and was approached by a broad, straight avenue. This 600 m long avenue was provided, at the start of the 5th century A.D., with flanking porticoes and mosaic sidewalks, marble pavement, and 100 street lamps.

The harbor area was dominated by a large gymnasium and bath complex, warehouses, and a long narrow building, thought to have been a grain exchange. The city's center, at the E end of the long avenue (the Arcadian Way), contained the 24,000 seat theater, the commercial or lower agora, the Library of Celsus, and possibly the official residence of the Roman governor.

A non-aligned major street (the Street of Curetes or the Marble Way) follows a winding route between Mt. Pion and Mt. Koressos to the upper agora (the State Agora) and the Magnesian Gate. This section of the city contained the East Gymnasium, Baths of Varius, the Bouleuterion, the Prytaneion, and most of the temples, monuments, fountains and other public buildings of the city. In the main part of the city, between the lower and the upper agora, the Street of Curetes separates luxurious residential houses to the SW from the brothel and public baths and latrine to the the NE. At the extreme N of the city was a fourth large gymnasium and the Roman stadium.

On the lower NE slope of Mt. Pion, beyond the city walls, are a rustic sanctuary of the Mother Goddess and the Christian shrine of the Seven Sleepers. From the Magnesian Gate a sacred way led to the Artemision, 1 km to the NE. The structures at this sanctuary consisted of the monumental temple to Artemis and a single large altar.

The location of the Artemision was discovered by J.T. Wood in the mid 19th century and his work there was followed by Hogarth at the beginning of the 20th century. Austrian excavations at the Artemision and at Ephesos began first in 1896 and continue today.

PECS, 306-310; McDonagh 1989, 261-285

RE v (1905) 2773ff. RE Suppl. xii (1970) 248ff, 297ff, 1588ff. C.H. Picard, Ephèse et Claros (1922). F. Miltner, Ephesos, Stadt der Artemis und des Johannes (1958). W. Alzinger, Die Stadt des 7. Weltwunders (1962); Sonderschriften d. ÖAI (1972). W. Alzinger and D. Knibee, Ephesos, Ein Rundgang durch die Ruinen (1972). J. Keil, Führer durch Ephesos (1964, 5th ed.). E. Akurgal, Ancient Civilizations and Ruins of Turkey (1969) 142-71. J.T. Wood, Discoveries at Ephesus (1877). D.G. Hogarth, Excavations at Ephesus (1908).

(Donald R. Keller)

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