“Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

“Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. --Acts 19:26-28  KJV

Artemis at Ephesus = Diana of the Ephesians

Her temple in Ephesus was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Ephesian Artemis was a "Queen of Heaven", "Savior", and "Mother Goddess".  This Artemision (“Temple of Artemis”) was a classical Greek-style temple, which was dedicated to a very ancient, local Goddess, near the city of Ephesus (Latin)/ Ephesos (Greek), on the coast of Ionia. It is now in Turkey.

A now nameless local Goddess was apparently syncretized with Artemis in this city settled by Ionian Greeks.  The Ionians applied the Greek name “Artemis” to the indigenous Anatolian Goddess.  

Yet, the Ephesians insisted that their Goddess, Artemis Ephesia, was born in Ephesus, not on the Isle of Delos. (Delos was a sacred site for many ancient Greeks because it was named as the birthplace of Artemis and Apollo in classical Greek theology and mythology. Indeed, the island of Delos was second in importance only to Delphi.)

Hence, the indigenous Anatolian Goddess seems to have been generally referred to as Artemis Ephesia. Her original space/area/sanctuary (temenos) at Ephesus was far older than the famous Artemision, which has been described as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. (Modern excavations have revealed that three smaller temples previously existed on the same site.)

Much later, scholars writing in Latin conflated her with Diana.

Ephesus was an ancient port city on the coast of Ionia. According to legend, a Greek Ionian prince founded the city in the 11th century b.c.e. It was an important trading center in the Mediterranean region--and one time considered to be the most important Greek city.  In the 7th century b.c.e., Ephesus fell under the rule of the Lydian Kings and became a thriving city where women and men enjoyed equal opportunities. It was the Lydian King Croesus, who ruled from 560 b.c.e. to 547 b.c.e., and funded the rebuilding of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. Croesus elevated the Anatolian, that is, Artemis Ephesia “to the position of first-ranking deity” -- Knibbe and G.Langmann eds., Via Sacra Ephesiaca Vol. 1, 1993.

In 356 b.c.e., the second Temple was destroyed by a Greek arsonist, Herostratus, who sought fame by destroying this second Temple in Ephesus. The Ephesians not only executed Herostratus, but forbid mention of his name—an early example of Damnatio memoriae (condemnation of memory).

Work to rebuild a third Temple, even larger, began in 323 b.c.e. When completed, it was estimated to be four times larger than the Parthenon in Athens. The third Temple of the Goddess in Ephesus was proclaimed to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Writing in about 140 b.c.e., Antipater of Sidon included the Temple of Artemis Ephesia in his famous list of the Seven Wonders of World:

I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, “Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.” --Antipater of Sidon, Greek Anthology 9.58.

The Temple of Artemis Ephesia attracted many thousands of visitors each year, bringing wealth into the city.

The city passed through different rulers. Eventually in 129 b.c.e., King Attalos of Pergamon in his will left Ephesus to the Roman Empire and the city became the seat of the regional Roman governor. The reforms of Caesar Augustus brought Ephesus to a prosperous time, which lasted until the third century c.e. During the reign of Tiberius, Ephesus flourished as a port city.

The cultic statues of Artemis Ephesia differ greatly from those of mainland Greece. At Ephesus, she was worshiped mainly as a fertility Goddess. Instead being depicted as the Greek (or Roman) maiden Goddess of the hunt with her bow and arrows, or with her hounds and hinds--she is standing erect with numerous “bulbous objects” or “nodes” upon her torso. What exactly these “bulbous objects” or “nodes” are has become a matter of scholarly dispute. (Most speculations revolve around fertility, nature, abundance, animals, and birth/rebirth.)

Statue of Diana of the Ephesians or Artemis at Ephesus aka Artemis Ephesia

Many historians have identified the “bulbous objects” as breasts. Thus, the statue of many-breasted Artemis Ephesia  was presumed to symbolize not only fertility, but the ability of this Goddess to breast-feed all animals and living beings. This Goddess Artemis Ephesia was also said to have been born under a date palm tree. Thus, some scholars have noted that the nodes resemble date palm fruits--which also could easily be construed as a symbol of fertility and/or abundance. The Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is a flowering plant cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. An entirely different theory maintained that the nodes represented bulls testes, as these were sacrificed to her.  Other speculations include: grapes, nuts, gourds, eggs, amber fossil-resin-lumps, bee ova, acorns, as well as possibly deer canines.  (Actually, Gerald Gardner wrote that the Goddess at Ephesus displayed a necklace of acorns.)

He [Paul] wrote to the Ephesians who worshipped Diana. Not the huntress who holds the bow and is girded, but that multi-breasted Diana which the Greeks call many breasts [polymastia], so that, of course, on the basis of the statue itself they might also falsely assert that she is the nurse of all beasts and living beings.

Why was this local Goddess at Ephesus ever identified with the virginal Greek Artemis—or later the Roman Diana?

Both the Greek Artemis and the Roman Diana served as midwives and as protectresses of childbirth. Both Artemis and Diana were Goddesses of the wilderness, forests, and sundry animals. Both were Goddesses of the Moon. Perhaps the populace identified similarities in attributes and functions for Artemis Ephesia as well as the Greek Artemis and Roman Diana.

Both the Greek Artemis and the Roman Diana are associated with acting as stewards of game animals. Many surviving copies of the Artemis Ephesia statues are adorned with numerous animals. Was Artemis Ephesia also a protectress of wild creatures, or controlled the game animals?

Furthermore by the 1st century c.e., there is some evidence that the Ephesian Artemis/Diana was also associated with hunting. In book one of The Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes, Xenophon of Ephesus describes a procession as part of the annual festival for Artemis/Diana. It contains a description of a procession, which included hunting dogs, horses, and hunting equipment. The 14 year old heroine, Anthea, wore a quiver of arrows in this procession. (This description involving women and hunting hounds is somewhat reminiscent the procession of Roman women to honor Diana at Nemi.)

A 2nd century c.e. oracle provided a lengthy record Artemis Ephesia’s epithets in classic Homeric form and terms:

She is “the virgin” (…line 14), “the renowned, vigilant maiden” (line 12), and “Artemis the pure” (line 16). As the goddess who watches over childbirth, she is the “midwife of birth and grower of mortals” and the “giver of fruit” (lines 3–4).”
-- S. M. Baugh, “A Foreign World: Ephesus in the First Century”, Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-1, Andreas Kostenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, eds. Third Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academics, 2016) 

In lines 11 and 12 of this oracle, Artemis is described as a huntress indicating that by the second century c.e. she shared some traits with, and had been conflated with, the Greco-Roman Artemis/Diana.

Many copies of this statue found during the latest excavations date back from the Roman period.

Some modern authors have equated this Goddess with Cybele, the Phrygian Great Mother.

According to Marg, Part 2: Artemis of Ephesus and her Temple, The Temple of Artemis in the First Century AD, April 17, 2013, wrote:

The Ephesian Artemis is sometimes too closely compared with the Phrygian Cybele. The cult of Artemis Ephesia in the first century AD was distinct from the cult of Cybele. Cybele was just one of many gods and goddesses worshipped in Ephesus.

Clearly, Artemis Ephesia shared some traits with, and had been conflated with, the Greco-Roman Artemis/Diana.

The city of Ephesus was mentioned multiple times in the New Testament, attesting to its importance during that time period.

The last temple was mostly destroyed around 262 c.e. “by a marauding band of Goths, from which Ephesus never fully recovered.”  --S. M. Baugh, “A Foreign World: Ephesus in the First Century”, Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-1, Andreas Kostenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, eds. Second Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academics, 2005)

Many tourists continue to visit the ruins.

Myth Woodling, September 4, 2020

Sources

Sandra Glahn, Who Was Artemis and Why Does It Matter?, May 19, 2009.

Marg, Part 2: Artemis of Ephesus and her Temple, The Temple of Artemis in the First Century AD, April 17, 2013

Does The Apostle Paul Hate Women? Oct 29, 2019, Marg, The Prominence of Women in the Cults of Ephesus, Sep 20, 2014  (All Posts on Equality, Greco-Roman Culture, Paul and Women)

Mark Wilson, Destroying a Temple: The burning of the Ephesian Temple of Artemis by Herostratus, July 24, 2013.

Karl Smallwood, That time a guy destroyed one of the ancient wonders of the world just so people would remember him, Today I Found Out, January 9, 2019.

Moses Hadas, Three Greek Romances, The Liberal Arts Press, Inc., a division of The Bobbs Merrill Company, Inc.: Indianapolis, Indiana. 1953. Moses Hadas, wrote: "If An Ephesian Tale is an absorbing tale of love and improbable adventure, it is also a tract to prove that Diana of the Ephesians (who was equated with Isis) cares for her loyal devotees." [I have not read this source.]

S. M. Baugh,  “A Foreign World: Ephesus in the First Century”, Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-1, Andreas Kostenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, eds. Third Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academics, 2016)—as quoted in An interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:12 that joins the dots of 2:11-15.

S. M. Baugh, “A Foreign World: Ephesus in the First Century” , Women in the Church: An Analysis and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-1, Andreas Kostenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, eds. Second Edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academics, 2005) as quoted in An interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:12 that joins the dots of 2:11-15.

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