Ephesus

Last week before we left Selçuk we headed to Ephesus. It was only about 3 kilometers from where we were staying, so it was quick to get there. Our host drove us over. We went early in the morning to beat the crowds and we were so lucky—we had the Celsius Library almost to ourselves! The first tour group didn’t show up for another 15 minutes. For a while it was just us, the dogs, the cats and the bright morning sun. Bliss! 

We walked around for about two and a half hours to see the ruins of this once bustling Greek, later Roman, city. Not only were the Greeks and Romans here, but there were also brief interludes under Persian and Egyptian rule. And I was fascinated to discover that, even before the Greek settlement in the 10th century BC, there were the Hittites from the 11th century BC and earlier. Their word for the city —

𒀀𒉺𒊭

Cool! No idea how to say it, but I love old scripts. 😊 

For the Greeks, Ephesus was one of the oldest and most important settlements on the Aegean. 

Nike

The main street

The Romans took control of Ephesus in 129 BC. Most of the ruins that are still standing, like the library and the theater, are Roman—

The city had famous people coming and going: Alexander the Great was there in 334 BC; Antony and Cleopatra stayed the winter in 33 BC; and the Apostle Paul preached the gospel in Ephesus around 52-55 AD. The house of the Virgin Mary is up the hill (though there’s debate about whether she actually lived there). 

The location of the city itself shifted several times over the centuries as the port silted up from the river and the coastline changed. Goths destroyed parts of the city in the 3rd century AD and earthquakes in the following centuries did even more damage.

The communal toilets with a sewer system running underneath. No doubt a rollicking good time for all.