Ephesos

The second volume in the COMES series (for the first volume, on Alexandria, see BBR 24.1, 2014) presents 13 essays on the city of Ephesus that derive from a conference in Göttingen in 2013. The editor, Professor of the History of Christianity and Its Interreligious Relationships at Göttingen University, situates the essays in the context of recent monographs on the archaeology of Ephesus (Karwiese, 1995; Pillinger, 1996; Friesinger/Krinziger, 1999; Muss, 2008; Kerschner, 2008, Zimmermann/Ladstätter, 2010) and monographs of NT scholars on Ephesus (Thiessen, 1995; Strelan, 1996, Trebilco, 2004; Witetschek, 2008; Tellbe, 2009; Tiwald, 2012). Georges hopes that the focus of the essays on religion and culture/learning/education (“Bildung”) opens up new perspectives both on the history of the city of Ephesus and the history of earliest Christianity.Five essays discuss “pagan Ephesus.” Michael Kerschner (“Das Artemision von Ephesos in geometrischer und archaischer Zeit: Die Anfänge des Heiligtums und sein Aufstieg zu einem Kultzentrum von überregionaler Bedeutung,” pp. 3–75, with 17 drawings/maps) describes the history of the Temple of Artemis during 1000–539 BC and its rise, within 100 years, from being a local cult site to a famous temple that enjoyed a supraregional influence. Christoph Auffarth (“‘Groß ist die Artemis von Ephesos!’ Der Artemiskult im kaiserzeitlichen Ephesos,” pp. 77–100, with 8 illustrations) begins his discussion of the Temple and cult of Artemis in imperial Ephesus with an explanation of Acts 19:21–40; he argues that the assumed continuity between the cult of Artemis as the “Great Mother” (Kybele) and the later cult of Mary, mother of Jesus, is possible only if we posit contradiction and violence (p. 98). Stephan Witetschek (“Der provinziale Kaiserkult in Ephesos,” pp. 101–141, with 2 images of coins) discusses the ruler cults in Ephesus in the time before Domitian (a cult of Dea Roma and Divus Iulius; one or several cult sites at which Augustus himself was worshiped), the cult of the Sebastoi under Domitian (perhaps a dynastic cult of the Flavian emperors), and the emperor cult after AD 96. Stefanie Holder (“Die Zweite Sophistik in Ephesos,” pp. 143–79) surveys what we know about Sophists of the second century who were active in Ephesus. Of the five Sophists whose careers were limited to Ephesus, only Flavius Damianos is mentioned in Philostratus’s Lives of the Sophists. She then explores the integration of Sophists and rhetors in the civic life of Ephesus; she concludes that, while “star Sophists” are indeed attested for Ephesus, there was an active establishment of independent rhetors. Vivian Nutton (“Rufus von Ephesos im medizinischen Kontext seiner Zeit,” pp. 181–201) evaluates the available information about Rufus of Ephesus, one of the most famous physicians and medical writers of antiquity, who was probably active at the time of Trajan (AD 98–117).In the section entitled “Jewish Ephesos,” Elisabetta Abate (“Spuren der religiösen Identität der ephesischen Juden [1. Jahrhundert v. Chr.–ca. 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr.],” pp. 205–20) surveys the evidence for the presence of Jews in Ephesus in Josephus’s Antiquitates Judaicae, the book of Acts, archaeological finds (very limited, and dating unclear), and inscriptions. Abate has doubts concerning the historicity of Acts on account of its “literary style” and “theological perspective,” neither of which is considered a reason to question the usefulness of Josephus for historical investigation. Curiously, she does not discuss A. J. 16.23–62 (Josephus’s account of Herod I’s journey through Ionia, with a visit to Ephesus).Six essays are devoted to “Christian Ephesos.” Jürgen Wehnert (“Apollos und Paulus in Ephesos,” pp. 223–252) explores the beginnings of the church in Ephesus from Apollos and Paul to the end of the first century, based not least on the argument that the letter to the Ephesians was addressed to believers in Ephesus. Matthias Günther (“ Der Presbyter Johannes,” pp. 253–62) surveys the biography, teaching, and traditions of John the Presbyter mentioned by Papias, cited by Eusebius. Stephan Witetschek (“Paulus-Schule? Johannes-Schule? In Ephesos?” pp. 263–96) accepts a “school of Paul” only for the time of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus but has doubts regarding the suggestion of the existence of this sort of school after Paul’s departure; the assumption of a “Johannine school” in Ephesus depends on the localization of the Johannine writings in Ephesus, which is not as certain as some have assumed. While the existence of veritable Christian “schools” cannot be demonstrated, the early church(es) that existed in Ephesus were also places of learning. Petr Pokorný (“Ephesos als Kreuzung frühchristlicher Traditionen,” pp. 297–320) surveys the historical and theological significance of the letter to the Ephesians (deemed pseudepigraphical, based on the argument of what the majority of scholars believe; p. 299) for Ephesus, which he describes as the meeting point of Pauline and Johannine theology, ascertained via an analysis of the hymnic traditions in the letters to the Philippians and Colossians, the Pastoral Epistles, and the Apocalypse. Pokorný presumes the “hymn” genre for the texts he deems relevant without any discussion of recent studies that dispute this older form-critical evaluation in favor of “elevated prose,” and without interaction with scholars who understand Phil 2:6–11 without recourse to redaction-critical operations. Tobias Georges (“Die ephesischen Christen in nachneutestamentlicher Zeit: Erwägungen zur christentumsgeschichtlichen Bedeutung der Stadt Ephesos und ihrer Darstellung bei Euseb von Cäsarea,” pp. 321–336) surveys and analyzes the references to Ephesus in Eusebius. Thomas Graumann (“[Aus-]Bildung im Horizont von Kirche, Konzil und Stadt: Ephesos in den christologischen Streitigkeiten des 5. Jahrhunderts,” pp. 337–57) evaluates the Christological debates in the context of which two ecumenical councils were held in Ephesus (AD 431 and 449).The final essay, which comprises the fourth section of the volume, discusses the Christian legend of the sleeping martyrs, which surfaces also in the Quran (Hannelies Koloska, “Ephesos und seine schlafenden Märtyrer in islamischer Tradition,” pp. 361–74).The volume concludes with a bibliography (for all essays; pp. 375–424) and indexes of authors, references, and subjects; it lacks a list of abbreviations. The bibliographical references in some essays are somewhat limited, ignoring more recent or more “conservative” research. Nevertheless, Ephesos is a mine of information for scholars who explore the history and theology of NT texts that are, or have been, linked with the city of Ephesus

Archaeology · Art · Art history · Christianity · Context (archaeology · Cult · Early Christianity · Humanities · Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History · Philosophy · Religious studies · Religious Studies

• Is a cult statue more than the sum of its parts

  Open Access•Zsuzsanna Turcsán-Tóth•Acta Antiqua Academiae…•2026

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