Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 172:687 (Jul 2015)
Article: The Identity Of Artemis In First-Century Ephesus
Author: Sandra L. Glahn

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The Identity Of Artemis In First-Century Ephesus

Sandra L. Glahn

Sandra L. Glahn is Associate Professor of Media Arts and Worship, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Editor-in-Chief of Kindred Spirit magazine.

Abstract

Many scholars have asserted that Artemis of the Ephesians was a fertility goddess—a view that has been discredited due to late dates for its supporting evidence. This first article of a two-part series establishes that Artemis Ephesia, at the time of the earliest Christians, was neither a fertility goddess nor a nurturing mother-goddess but, rather, a virgin in the strictest sense. The second part of the series will address the ramifications for interpreting 1 Timothy.

Τhe past 150 years of archaeological work at Ephesus, near what today is Selçuk, Turkey, have yielded much information about first-century backgrounds. Although archaeologists estimate that they have unearthed fewer than twenty percent of the city’s treasures, discoveries have included a theater, odeum, library, colonnaded streets, terrace houses, and bathhouses, along with sculptures, coins, and inscriptions. Among the marble, frescoes, and mosaics, visitors can imagine the world people inhabited during the political, cultural, and religious heyday of Ephesus. That Mediterranean city shone as the jewel in the crown of the Roman Empire’s wealthiest province.

Especially in the past half-century, discoveries in Ephesus have shed light on New Testament backgrounds. Perhaps the most significant is information about the distinctly Ephesian Artemis, the city’s preeminent goddess. The findings may have ramifications for validating Paul’s authorship of 1 Timothy. They may have bearing on the argument of 1 Timothy and cultural differences between the Ephesians and the Corinthians that could account for Paul’s seemingly contradictory advice about celibacy. The findings may also offer a clearer understanding of the word “modest” as applied

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to women or wives as well as provide a possible explanation of Paul’s reference to being “saved through childbearing” (2:11). The second article in this two-part series will explore these possibilities. This first article discusses the persona of the goddess herself.

Why An Update Is Necessary

Like towns such as Herculaneum, buried at the base of Mt. Vesuvius, Ephesus—with its mudslide-preserved terrace houses—provides contextual clues. Because Ephesus has no metropolis sprawling atop its ruins, many remains are relatively accessible. In recent years, researchers have unearthed much information about ev...

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