The City of Ephesus in Biblical Times

The City of Ephesus in Biblical Times

The city of Ephesus was known as ?The Gateway of Asia? a very large Metropolislocated in Asia Minor. The people were cultural and unique in the ways they lived in their

society. The City itself was very cosmopolitan. They had libraries, museums and Temples for one of the goddesses they worshipped named, ?Artemis Ephesia?, or ?Diana?. This city was full of cultic practices, such as; palm reading, wizards, sorcerers and black magic. This type of pagan worship was prevalent during the time of Apostle Paul?s arrival there. It appears that Paul had much to contend with since hristianity was definitely counter-culture to the people of this great city.

One wonders what was the city of Ephesus like, or how might it have looked? Where the building might have been located? What were the people like? What exactly was the atmosphere

in and around Ephesus? Well when glancing at the City of Ephesus it may be assumed that the people were ignorant, superstitious and unsophisticated.

Paul Walker

Paul Stang

[Portrait of Les Paul, Fat Tuesday, New York, N.Y....

This is not a correct assumption, judging from the city?s beautiful libraries, temples, market center, Trajan Fountain, hillside houses and magnificent theater.

?The Library of Celsus built in a.d 135 by Julius Aguila in memory of his father, Celsus, who was a Roman senator and governor-general of the province of Asia. Here thousands of parchments and papyri were stored, protected from dampness and worms by a double wall. Estimates of the number of rolls that could be stored in the library vary from 9,500 to 12,000. Celsus was a lover of books and was given the honor of being buried, not only within the city, but in the vault of his own library among his books. On the first floor of its façade there stood four female...