Ephesus is in modern Turkey

Ephesus is in modern Turkey

Ephesus is located in modern Turkey and modern Turkey is located on the European continent and the Asian continent. Ephesus is exactly on the Asian side.

According to archaeologists, Ephesus was first inhabited during the Neolithic period, which is around 8000 BC. At that time Ephesus was known to the Hittites as Apasa and was located in the land of Arzawa, western Anatolia. After the Trojan War with the migrations from mainland Greece, well-mixed civilizations began to emerge.

Ephesus was not destroyed, however, as the harbor was filled with alluvial soil, eventually abandoned.

Ephesus was known from Hittite writings as Apasa and, being an Ionian site, it became known as Ephesus.

The history of archaeological research at Ephesus dates back to 1863 when the British engineer John Turtle Wood began searching for the remains of the Temple of Artemis. Six years later, he managed to identify its location and then spent five years excavating this area. The next round of archaeological work at Ephesus took place between 1895 and 1913 and was carried out by German and Austrian archaeologists under the direction of Otto Benndorf and Carl Humann. In 1898, Benndorf founded the Austrian Archaeological Institute, which has been conducting archaeological studies in Ephesus ever since.

According to archaeologists, Ephesus was first inhabited during the Neolithic period, which is around 8000 BC. At that time Ephesus was known to the Hittites as Apasa and was located in the land of Arzawa, western Anatolia. After the Trojan War with the migrations from mainland Greece, well-mixed civilizations began to emerge.

The evangelist Paul wrote his letter to the citizens of Ephesus while in Rome, the first letter to the 7 churches in Revelation chapters 2-3 was written to Ephesus, and when he arrived in Ephesus it stayed for 2 years.
Ephesus appears in 17 Bible verses: Acts 18:19, Acts 18:21, Acts 18:24, Acts 19: 1, Acts 19:17, Acts 19:26, Acts 19:35, Acts 20:16, Acts 20:17, 1 Cor 15:32, 1 Cor 16: 8, Eph 1: 1, 1 Tim 1: 3, 2 Tim 1:18, 2 Tim 4:12, Revelation 1:11 and Revelation 2: 1.

From the Neolithic period to the Archaic period, no one knows exactly the ruler of the site. After the Trojan War, it is an Ionian site and during the Archaic period, it is known that there was a good mix of cultures. Then there is a period of Lydian rule and then the Persians captured all of Western Anatolia and Ephesus as well. Then comes the Hellenistic period and the period of the Roman Empire, the Seljuk period, the period of the Ottoman Empire, and the era of the Turkish Republic.

Ephesus was not destroyed, however, as the harbor was filled with alluvial soil, eventually abandoned.

With the Hellenistic period, Ephesus was moved to its current location by Alexander the Great’s commander Lysimachus. Ephesus in biblical times was located in the same place, there is even a Church of the Virgin Mary on the hillside where the 3rd Ecumenical Council took place.

Artemis of Ephesus, the great mother goddess also mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 19) The Ionian temple was the first building of its size to be created entirely of marble. Pliny the Elder in XXXVI.21 says that it took 120 years to build and that it was situated outside the city walls in swampy terrain, perhaps to withstand an earthquake or to withstand the crowds attending the events.