The Mysteries Of Artemis Of Ephesos

DIV Artemis of Ephesos was one of the most widely worshiped deities of the Graeco-Roman World. Her temple, the Artemision, was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and for more than half a millennium people flocked to Ephesos to learn the great secret of the mysteries and sacrifices that were celebrated every year on her birthday. In this work Guy MacLean Rogers sets out the evidence for the celebration of Artemis's mysteries against the background of the remarkable urban development of the city during the Roman Empire and then proposes an entirely new theory about the great secret that was revealed to initiates into Artemis's mysteries. The revelation of that secret helps to explain not only the success of Artemis's cult and polytheism itself but, more surprisingly, the demise of both and the success of Christianity. Contrary to many anthropological and scientific theories, the history of polytheism, including the celebration of Artemis's mysteries, is best understood as a Darwinian tale of adaptation, competition, and change. /div

Artemis of Ephesos was one of the most widely worshiped deities of the Graeco-Roman World. Her temple, the Artemision, was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and for more than half a millennium people flocked to Ephesos to learn the great secret of the mysteries and sacrifices that were celebrated every year on her birthday. In this work Guy MacLean Rogers sets out the evidence for the celebration of Artemis's mysteries against the background of the remarkable urban development of the city during the Roman Empire and then proposes an entirely new theory about the great secret that was revealed to initiates into Artemis's mysteries. The revelation of that secret helps to explain not only the success of Artemis's cult and polytheism itself but, more surprisingly, the demise of both and the success of Christianity. Contrary to many anthropological and scientific theories, the history of polytheism, including the celebration of Artemis's mysteries, is best understood as a Darwinian tale of adaptation, competition, and change.

The Sacred Identity of Ephesos offers a full-length interpretation of one of the largest known bequests in the Classical world, made to the city of Ephesos in AD 104 by a wealthy Roman equestrian, and challenges some of the basic assumptions made about the significance of the Greek cultural renaissance known as the ‘Second Sophistic’. Professor Rogers shows how the civic rituals created by the foundation symbolised a contemporary social hierarchy, and how the ruling class used foundation myths - the birth of the goddess Artemis in a grove above the city – as a tangible source of power, to be wielded over new citizens and new gods. Utilising an innovative methodology for analysing large inscriptions, Professor Rogers argues that the Ephesians used their past to define their present during the Roman Empire, shedding new light on how second-century Greeks maintained their identities in relation to Romans, Christians, and Jews.

With the ruins of the Artemis temple almost non-existent today, it is perhaps notsurprising that little interest is generally accorded this 6th Wonder of the World. Yet wecan still gain an idea of it and of the legendary statue of Artemis, from reconstructiondrawings and archaeological finds - supported by literary and historical sources.Study of this important Greek Mystery Center can shed light on the culturalimpulses appropriate for our time.

In this study, Michael Immendorfer examines the relationship between the New Testament letter to the Ephesians and the ancient city of Ephesus, which had the great Artemis as its goddess. He seeks to make a contribution to the discussion on the extent to which conclusions can be drawn concerning the local-historical explanation of New Testament epistles by viewing the latter through the lens of Greco-Roman cultic practices. Thus the contents of Ephesians are compared with the abundantly available archaeological and epigraphical sources of the Asia Minor metropolis. This endeavour reveals that the letter contains numerous unequivocal references to the cult of Artemis, a nexus suggesting that the author was very familiar with the historical background of ancient Ephesus and contextualised his letter accordingly for the intended readers who lived in this particular cultic environment.

Published by Nicea Press. In perhaps one of the most definitive works on Artemis of the Ephesians ever published, James D. Rietveld, Ph.D., provides a comprehensive examination of the cult statue of Artemis Ephesia, examining her representations throughout the ancient world and discovering that her image cannot be confined to a limited set of explanations, but that Artemis Ephesia was a figure in constant flux, with interpretations dependent on the particular time period and audience viewing it. Second, personal religious perspectives are investigated in relation to the image and the cult of Artemis in general, providing a counterbalance to many modern studies more focused on the political and social aspects of her cult.The third section investigates Artemis Ephesia in relation to the city's sacred geography, creating a more contextually discerning view of how her belief system permeated the daily lives of the Ephesians through examining what they left behind in the material culture. Finally, the fourth section examines how understandings of Artemis Ephesia changed with the spread of Christianity, explaining how this Ephesian goddess eventually succumbed to the forces of this new religious perspective, but also noting how some aspects survived even within this new context. Ultimately, Artemis Ephesia is revealed as a goddess of protection, the sacred space of her precinct understood as a place of asylum for individuals seeking refuge; a bank for those wishing to secure their material wealth, and a shrine for virgins desiring to protect their chastity. By extension of the Via Sacra, her role as protective mother moved beyond the Temple of Artemis to the city itself. Along with the images of Artemis, the Ephesian letters carried her perceived magical protective powers even further, all along the shores of the Mediterranean and even to the very ends of the Greco-Roman world.

Investigate the challenges, threats, and opportunities experienced by the early church in Ephesus The third installment of The First Urban Churches focuses on the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Ephesus. As with previous volumes, contributors illustrate how an investigation of the material evidence will help readers understand properly the challenges, threats, and opportunities that the early Ephesian believers faced in that city. Brad Bitner, James R. Harrison, Michael Haxby, Fredrick J. Long, Guy M. Rogers, Michael Theophilos, Paul Trebilco, and Stephan Witetschek demonstrate decisively the difference that such an approach makes in grappling with the meaning and context of the New Testament writings, particularly Ephesians, Acts, and Revelation. Features Analysis of urban evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography Proposed reconstructions of the past and its social, religious and political significance A nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life in Ephesus

Around this collection of extracts from Steiner's books and lectures, the author examines the Mystery schools of the ancient world, and their revevance to Christianity and the world today.