The tourist visiting the site of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, will be sadly disappointed. Only one meagre column still stands in a swampy field. Much more impressive is the remains of the temple of Artemis in Sardis. Artemis was not merely a one city deity, she was a regional deity of fertility among other things. The ruins at Sardis, which are apart from the main site one visits at Sardis are well worth exploring. For one thing, the workmanship on the marble columns and column heads are spectacular, and one of them even reveals the name and occupation of one of the column makers— he calls himself a tekton (a Greek word too often translated carpenter in the Gospel translations, but actually it has the more general sense of an artisan– in this case not in wood but in stone). Here is some of his handiwork….
The inscription reads, artisan of stone (lithon) and with it likely a name, partially worn away.
The beautiful column bottoms and tops are works of art, as you can see. This temple of Artemis deserves a good deal of time and exploration. It stands in a plain below the acropolis of the city, which is frankly too high up for a comfortable climb in the heat, and anyway, not sufficient excavation has been undertaken there.
The acropolis is above and to the left side of this picture. Two final notes. You will see on a couple of the column bottoms the protruding little stone squares used to maneuver and slide the column into place. Usually they would be knocked off the column. Does this mean this temple was never finished, before some earthquake interceded? Notice as well the holes in the middle of the columns for sliding one piece on top of another like donuts on a child’s toy.
English (US) · 