Remains of Temple of Artemis, Ottoman castle above it.

I’ve been in Turkey, well I still am, but just hit Istanbul after a brief jaunt to Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis in the adjacent town of Selcuk. Tonight I see U2 play at Ataturk Stadium, which is quite the talk on the local news– the mega band’s first show ever in this country. News footage shows the guys shaking hands with dignitaries and receiving plaques while standing along side the Bosphorus.

Cart Horse

While U2 was meeting powerful people, as is their wont, I was in what was once one of the most powerful places in the Western world, Ephesus, site of the worship of Cybele, Artemis/Diana and eventually the retirement home of Mary, mother of Jesus. I didn’t visit Mary’s house which is a tourist site; but I hear her kid’s dad has a place with many mansions. There is also the House of St. John located within walking distance.

After Rome fell and the Christian Church rose, Ephesus and its inhabitants were taken to task by Paul (see Ephesians in the New Testament), mainly for worshiping not-Jesus type deities and doing magic (the Ephesian letters are rather different than Paul’s Letters to the Ephesians!).

The iconography of Artemis of Ephesus.

Four hundred years later, a bunch of bishops were locked in a room during a hot summer theology conference and forced to arrive at a decision about the nature Jesus (equally human and Divine, or did one half outweigh the other? Very important issues of the day) and the nature of Mary (Theotokos, bearing God; or Christotokos, bearing Christ).

The iconography of Artemis of Ephesus in this relief shows a relation to Cybele and Hekate.

In Ephesus you can see how Greco-Roman faiths came in contact with and were eventually overshadowed by Christianity. Judaism is present too: There’s a menorah carved on the library stairs, while crosses and eight-spoked wheels appear on the marble walls and walkways, officially and as graffiti. Ancient directions to the brothel (“Love House”) — a woman in profile, the symbol for money and the outline of a woman’s left foot are still in place. Statues of gods, goddesses and emperors share space with the Angel Gabriel and Byzantine Christian signs.

Directions to ancient Ephesus' town brothel.

The Temple of Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the World; all that remains are a couple columns and the relics now at the museum in Ephesus. It was a pilgrimage to walk from the Temple outside Selcuk, past the Cave of the Seven Sleepers, to the Magnesia Gate at the east of Ephesus city center, down the marble main street past theaters, more temples, the library and tombs, out the western gate, and back to the Temple. Modern pilgrims finish with a good meal at Ali Baba’s Kebab House, the central eat-and-meet for guests at pensions and hostels by the museum. Everyone was very excited that Turkey beat France in basketball and relieved that the trapped Chilean miners have fiber optic TV to watch the soccer game and talk with their families.

When it comes to US basketball, the Lakers are huge favorites, Kobe especially. One of Ali Baba’s brothers told me

Without Kobe, there are no Lakers