Day 11: Paul and the Ephesians spring into life

There is nothing better than waking and looking out the window to find beautiful clear blue skies and crystal still water when looking out the hotel window. Pity the waters weren’t quite so still yesterday. Bit of a sleep-in this morning, as we didn’t have to board the bus til 8.30 am, destination the Ephesus archaeological site. Paul spent almost three years in Ephesus preaching to the locals and converting many to the Way…but more about that later.

 

Had to have a giggle as we arrived at the site. Like everywhere around there are tacky souvenir stalls selling all manner of Turkish bric a brac made in China. The sign over one of the buildings said it all … “Genuine Fake Watches”. But there was nothing fake where we were headed. Like with Miletus yesterday, there has been a settlement in this area well into the millennium before Christ so this is OLD. Ephesus used to be almost on the harbour, but subsequent years of alluvial flow and river siltation have closed out the harbour so that now Ephesus is approximately 8 km from the coast. This is probably a good thing because it has meant that it is an incredibly well preserved site, in that the stones have not been taken elsewhere and recycled into other building programs as we had seen throughout Greece. So this is probably one of the best examples of an ancient city and it certainly gave me a fantastic insight into roman architecture, but also into the cosmopolitan world that Paul encountered in his preaching in Ephesus. The bus dropped us at the top of the site and we progressively made our way down. The upper area was reserved for the governors and officials and the shops provided facilities only for the wealthy of the town. The first ruin we came upon was the Odeon. This was the theatre of public meeting where the discussions and political decisions of the hierarchy would have been made. Walking beyond the Odeon we saw a very well preserved original arch with its keystone still intact. Gives a very good idea of the biblical notion of the keystone being the thing that supports. A little further down we saw a temple and then into view came the amazing Library of Celsius. Oh my, it was such an imposing edifice. En route to view the library we passed a fountain which would have originally been topped with the large stone featuring the goddess Nike, holding her laurel wreath in her hand. Aret our guide joked that she was the goddess of running shoes. We passed through the Hercules gate and viewed the road with its marble slabs where chariot indentations can still be viewed. The road of colonnade would have been lined with shops for the rich and there was evidence of pipework and running water that existed in this area. At this point Aret was at pains to point out that lining the pipes with lead was not such a good idea and the Romans soon changed tact. We even made a “toilet stop”, not literally, at the Roman toilets… bit uncomfortable me thinks.

The temple of Hercules would have been an impressive construction in its day, as was Hadrian’s gate and the temple to Hadrian, but by far the thing I was most keen to explore was the library of Celsius, which at the height of its usage was to have housed 12000 scrolls. There are many figures carved on the outside, but my favourite is Sophia and so Juliette and I posed for a photo op with the aforesaid goddess, copping a bit of flak from photographer Steve. It is just an amazing building, and puts learning in the centre of Roman life in Ephesus. I was overwhelmed by its size and grandeur.

Beyond the library lay the remnants of the Roman Stadium, place of chariot races. While it was in bad disrepair, you could almost imagine the chariots fanging it around the arena and then , before our eyes, the huge amphitheatre where Paul addressed the Ephesians in 54CE and where he caused quite a stir to all intents and purposes by upsetting the merchants selling silverware to the fertility goddess Artimeus. We all moved around and sat together in the huge space while Sam read us the passage from Acts 19 which details the controversy. The acoustics in the arena were amazing, so the quiet time we were given to contemplate Paul and his preaching here was punctuated by lots of noise around, including a group of Australian yobbos, sporting Fanatics ANZAC DAY t-shirts, who stood in the centre of the arena and sang Advance Australia fair. Thinking we might see them and more at Gallipoli. We were also told that the area seats 25000 people and that is an indication of how big Ephesus was in the days of Paul, as the amphitheatres tended to hold a little under half of the population. Makes Ephesus a pretty happening place. 

Beyond the amphitheatre lay the harbour road, again, bedecked by columns behind which merchants would have had shops selling local produce and finery. A short walk beyond the Harbour Road (via Bay and Bayan, or gents and ladies for those of you who don’t know Turkish!) Aret led us to the Church of Mary which in the early years of the Church of Ephesus was the bishop’s church. It dates to the 4^th century and has a beautiful baptistery, symbolic of the tomb and passing from death to new life. Here the Cardinal gave us an address on the importance of the church as it was the Council church of the Council of Ephesus. This Council handed down a decision on the position of Mary as the Mother of God, emphasising by implication the divinity and humanity of Christ which would be further explored at Chalcedon. In the spot where he delivered the address, Pope Paul VI had visited and there was a plaque on the wall. Many other visitors stopped to listen to the cardinal’s informative address and it was great to find a spot of shade to sit and listen.

Lunch beckoned… unfortunately the cafeteria outside where Aret suggested that we lunch was totally disorganized. It took 50 minutes for me to get my gozleme and so I had to have it to take away on the bus! There was good company and fun conversation to while away the time. Then it was off to the Museum of Ephesus to see close up some of the statues and features of the Ephesus area, especially the statue to Artimeus. A very impressive collection of originals, reconstructions ad copies of historical significance. 

Our second last stop of the day was to be the House of Mother Mary, high in the mountains overlooking Ephesus. Legend has it that St John and the BVM left Jerusalem to escape persecution and they settled in the high country around Ephesus. This house was found following a vision some years back. The house is small and quaint and has an altar and statue to Mary in it. Pilgrims and visitors queued to file through the space in which you can take no photos. Following the walk though we were ushered beyond the private gates to a modern little chapel where we could have Mass for the day. It was a very beautiful space and the woven altar front and ambo front were particularly beautiful as was the image on the paschal candle. After Mass I wandered towards the exit to see the faithful collecting souvenirs of “spring water” from the taps and writing petitions to Mary and sticking them all over the wall like a carpet. I admit that this form of popular piety is just not my thing, but it was interesting to watch the devotion of others. Back at the bus we waited for his eminence, to discover that he had been invited to afternoon tea by Fr Bartholomew, the local Capuchin father who is responsible for the shrine. He spoke to us for a while and was lovely in saying that visits like ours help to confirm his faith in his job in a difficult place. Before we posed for the photo op with father, the cardinal told us that things were difficult for Catholicism in Turkey and that the local Archbishop had been assassinated by his driver not so long ago. Leaving the hill shrine we wound our way down through a spectacular valley where you could really get a great perspective on the silting of the Ephesus harbour and then it was on to the final stop for the day, the Basilica of St John.

This Basilica is early Byzantine and dates to the 6^th century. It demonstrates the notion of columns on the inside as we had seen in early Byzantine buildings in Greece and there is a part where the original tomb of St John is said to have been. Beyond the church is another example of an octagonal baptistery with a sunken font where catechumens could pass through and be immersed, indicative of passing from the old life, into the tomb with church and emerging to new life with Christ. The Cardinal led the procession as each of us entered the font, symbolically renewing our baptismal promises. It was a moving experience. 

Back at the hotel we were in good time for dinner. But there was one job to be done before I ate. There was an Aegean sunset to enjoy and it did not disappoint. Today has been a very spiritual experience and an overload for the senses. The sunset was stunning and added a peaceful and equally spiritual end to a very full day.