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The ancient people of Greece and Rome believed in many gods and goddesses. They made up stories called myths about each of them. When the people did not understand something in nature, they made up a myth to explain it. These legends also told of special powers the gods and goddesses held to help or harm others as they pleased. They believed one had to be quite careful so as not to anger one of these pagan gods.
Artemis, as the Greeks called her, protected wild animals and roamed through the woods with a band of women comrades. They also associated Artemis with the moon and said she could be seen with the crescent or new moon. Her twin was the god, Apollo. The Romans knew her by another name, Diana and associated her with fertility. The Greeks built a temple in her honor and placed a statue of her inside the roofless colonnaded interior. The temple was made of white marble and glittered with gold. It was so grand it was said to have "rose to the clouds."
Ephesus in ancient times was a busy port with much commerce going on. Chersiphron and his son Metagenes of Crete built the temple of Artemis or Artemision, at Ephesus in Ionia more than 2,500 years ago. The base measured 377 x 180ft. and it took many years to build. When it was finished people traveled vast distances to see it. A sacred stone,"fallen from Jupiter," was kept inside the temple. It is believed that it was probably a meteorite that had fallen from the sky.
The temple was destroyed by fire in the rebellion of 356 BC. The people loved Artemis so much they built an even more exquisite temple on the same site. In 550BC King Croesus of Lydia conquered Ephesus and the temple was destroyed again. Later it was rebuilt but this time, the temple was giving a higher base and decorated by Scopas and Apelles.
In 333BC when Alexander The Great came to Ephesus the temple was still under construction. Over the next few hundred years pilgrims continued to journey to Ephesus to view the wonder of the marvelous temple. In 57 AD St. Paul came to the city spreading the good news of a new religion called Christianity.
Many years passed and in 262AD the Goths burned down the Temple of Artemis. After that, the Greeks did not rebuild it. Roman Emperor Constantine rebuilt much of Ephesus a century later but he rejected the idea of restoring the temple. By this time most of the people had lost interest in the religion of Artemis and Constantine had accepted Christianity.
Today, it is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Even though it is long gone you can still read about the temple in many books, including the Bible. The British Museum holds the remains of some sculptured fragments dug from the swampy field where once a grand temple stood. Today in the country of Turkey at Ephesus you can still see the ruins of the Temple of Artemis.
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