Is it simply a temple? How could it take its place among other
unique structures such as the Pyramid, the Hanging Gardens, and the Colossus
of Rhodes? For the people who actually visited it, the answer was simple. It
was not just a temple... It was the most beautiful structure on earth... It
was built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and fertility.
That was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
The ancient city of Ephesus near the modern town of Selcuk,
about 50 km south of Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey.
Although the foundation of the temple dates back to the seventh
century BC, the structure that earned a spot in the list of Wonders was built
around 550 BC. Referred to as the great marble temple, or temple D, it was sponsored
by the Lydian king Croesus and was designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron.
It was decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of
their time: Pheidias, Polycleitus, Kresilas, and Phradmon.
The temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution. For years,
the sanctuary was visited by merchants, tourists, artisans, and kings who paid
homage to the goddess by sharing their profits with her. Recent archeological
excavations at the site revealed gifts from pilgrims including statuettes of
Artemis made of gold and ivory... earrings, bracelets, and necklaces... artifacts
from as far as Persia and India.
On the night of 21 July 356 BC, a man named Herostratus burned the temple to
ground in an attempt to immortalize his name. He did indeed. Strangely enough,
Alexander the Great was born the same night. The historian Plutarch later wrote
that the goddess was "too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to
send help to her threatened temple". Over the next two decades, the temple
was restored and is labeled "temple E" by archeologists. And when
Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, he helped rebuild the destroyed temple.
When St Paul visited Ephesus to preach Christianity in the first century AD,
he was confronted by the Artemis' cult who had no plans to abandon their goddess.
And when the temple was again destroyed by the Goths in AD 262, the Ephesians
vowed to rebuild. By the fourth century AD, most Ephesians had converted to
Christianity and the temple lost its religious glamor. The final chapter came
when in AD 401 the Temple of Artemis was torn down by St John Chrysostom. Ephesus
was later deserted, and only in the late nineteenth century has the site been
excavated. The digging revealed the temple's foundation and the road to the
now swampy site. Attempts were recently made to rebuilt the temple, but only
a few columns have been re-erected.
The foundation of the temple was rectangular in form, similar
to most temples at the time. Unlike other sanctuaries, however, the building
was made of marble, with a decorated façade overlooking a spacious courtyard.
Marble steps surrounding the building platform led to the high terrace which
was approximately 80 m (260 ft) by 130 m (430 ft) in plan. The columns were
20 m (60 ft) high with Ionic capitals and carved circular sides. There were
127 columns in total, aligned orthogonally over the whole platform area, except
for the central cella or house of the goddess.
The temple housed many works of art, including four ancient bronze statues of
Amazons sculpted by the finest artists at the time. When St Paul visited the
city, the temple was adorned with golden pillars and silver statuettes, and
was decorated with paintings. There is no evidence that a statue of the goddess
herself was placed at the center of the sanctuary, but there is no reason not
to believe so.
The early detailed descriptions of the temple helped archeologists reconstruct
the building. Many reconstructions such as that by H.F. von Erlach depicted
the façade with a four-column porch which never existed. More accurate
reconstructions may give us an idea about the general layout of the temple.
However, its true beauty lies in the architectural and artistic details which
will forever remain unknown.