Selcuk (Turkey) - Ephesus Museum - Efes Müzesi (Part 2 of 2)

5/20/2012

"Beautiful Artemis" is the main attraction in this part of the Ephesus Museum.

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Yes, the "Temple of Artemis at Ephesus" was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World!  The Temple was first constructed in c. 550 BC and destroyed in 356 BC by arson by Herostratus.  It was built again in 323 BC then destroyed by Goth plundering in AD 262.  There was a model of the Temple in the center of the room at the museum, but I was totally distracted by the two statues and didn't get a photograph.  I did find a photo so that you could see a model.  Click here.

There are two statues of Artemis in this museum. 

This is the "Great Artemis" statue.  It is from the time of Trajan (a Roman Emperor).

The Great Artemis' headdress has a temple on top.

Lions hug the arms (see in the lower left).

Lions cling to her arms. You can see them on both arms. Bulls, bees, and angels on skirt.

This horse was a roof decoration from the altar.

This statue of Artemis is named "Beautiful Artemis". Two feline animals area at her side.  My research said that this was "like Cybele", but I didn't see a statue of her here.  I did take a moment to read about her history, and it is quite interesting as she had a widespread cult.  Enough about her (but read the scoop on her here).  I also found one comment that said that scholars differ in opinion.  Are those eggs, multiple breasts, or bulls testicles?

She is the Goddess of Fertility and the Hunt. She is from the time of Hadrian (Roman Emperor, adopted son of Trajan).

One note said "The eyeballs remain on this one", but I didn't notice that the eyeballs were missing on the other one.

The two feline animals.

 She has a "necklace" made of the zodiac figures. You can clearly see the lions on her arms.

 These are the carvings in her lower dress.

 A full view of the statue.

 A closeup of the lions on her arm.

The two Artemis statues were in a separate room, with a lot of traffic. People were kind and would wait in turn to take photos, giving the one with the camera room to get nice photos.

Moving on through the museum:
Original frieze fragments from the Temple of Hadrian.

 Statues from the Altar of the Domitian Temple, 81-96 AD.

 These were in another area, but I didn't note where I saw them.

A marble bust of Trajan. He was a Roman Emperor with a long line of achievements.  Ephesus was part of the Roman Empire when he was the emperor.  As an emperor, his good reputation has endured.  Read more on Trajan.

This is from a colossal statue of Emperor Domiti, 81-96 AD.  (Both the head and the hand)

I thought that this was very interesting because they found pieces of Augustus and Livia.  You can see what it looks like with the pieces laid out on a model.

This is a close-up.  Note that a cross was engraved in his head.

The tour ended in the gift shop. There were beautiful glass vases.

Beautiful glass work.  

This is a wine container and glass cups.

Mom and I bought Apple Tea, shown in the green tin.  (I've made it and it tastes good. I like it for a night time drink because it doesn't have caffeine. Now I have to find where I can buy it in Phoenix.)  We bought the coffee at another story.

Here are familiar Lay's chips, with local names.

We did have a brief moment to stop at the snack stand.

I bought espresso, and had some Turkish Ice Cream.  I only bought one scoop and shared (although no one remembers actually sharing this with me!)

Click here to go to the blog post that shows some of the ruins in Ephesus.

This was a good museum.  I also found out that there is an Ephesus exhibit at the British Museum in London.  I was there before I understood the existence of this site, so I probably walked right past it.  I won't next time!

Also, there is a significant museum in Vienna, the Ephesos Museum (spelling is correct).  The entire Viennese collection was permanently housed in the new museum in 1978.  I have been in the area of this museum by the Hapsburg Palace but did not visit it.  I was only in Vienna for a few days and had to pick and choose my sites (sights!).