EPHESUS
City of Lydia, on the western coast of Asia Minor, halfway between Miletus to the south and Smyrna to the north.
Ephesus was located at the crossroads of natural trade routes, on the main artery that ran from Rome to the East.
It had the famous temple of Artemis (Diana), which represented a mother goddess whose torso was completely covered with breasts. (See PAGAN DIVINITIES).
In the second century B.C. The Ionians of Greek race took over the city. Ephesus became one of the 12 cities of the Ionian confederation, and later the capital.
Around the year 555 BC, Croesus, king of Lydia, whose capital was Sardis, took Ephesus, but soon after it fell under the Persian yoke. Under Alexander the Great it became part of the Greco-Macedonian Empire.
In the year 190 B.C. The Romans, upon defeating Antiochus the Great in Magnesia, took Ephesus from him, giving it to Eumenus II, king of Pergamum.
Upon the death of Attalus III, king of Pergamum, in 133 BC, Ephesus returned to Roman hands, who made it the capital of the Roman province of Asia.
Tiberius rebuilt it after the earthquake suffered in 29 AD.
Numerous Jews who held the title of Roman citizens resided in Ephesus, maintaining a synagogue there (Acts 18:19; 19:17; Ant. 14:10, 11 and 13).
At the end of his second missionary journey, Paul, on his way to Jerusalem, made a brief visit to Ephesus, and preached in its synagogue. He left Aquila and Priscilla in this city, so that they could continue the work (Acts 18: 18-21).
At the time of his third journey, Paul was working in Ephesus for at least 2 years and 3 months. He left the city after the mutiny caused by Demetrius, the silversmith who made Diana’s silver temples, who saw his profits diminish due to the apostle’s preaching (Acts 19; cp. 1 Cor. 15:32; 16:8; 2 Tim. 1:1-18).
Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to prevent the church from being corrupted by false doctrines (1 Tim. 1:3). Later, unable to pass through Ephesus on his return from Europe, Paul called the elders of Ephesus to Miletus (Acts 20:15, 16, 17).
Tychicus, bearer of the epistle to the Ephesians, was later sent to Ephesus (Eph. 1:1; 6:21; 2 Tim. 4:12).
The church of Ephesus is one of the 7 churches in Asia to which the letters of John’s Revelation were addressed (Rev. 1:11; 2:1-7).
According to tradition, the apostle John spent the last years of his life in Ephesus.
Currently, the sea has retreated from the city due to alluvial deposits from the Caístro river, which flowed next to it. Only ruins remain of what was once a great city.