Road Scholars' Report: Ephesus

October 05, 2014 / Zoë

In which our Road Scholars, Zoë and Isaac, report live from the Ancient City of Ephesus, near modern-day Selcuk, Turkey.

Ephesus was a Greco-Roman city that was founded in the 10th Century BC. People lived there until around 700 AD when it was abandoned.

On the right is a simple map of the Ephesus site (click on the map to enlarge it).

Archaeologists believe that the excavated ruins are only about 20% of the original city.

Isaac's Highlights

The Theatre

Up to 25,000 people could sit in this theatre in Ephesus, which is bigger then TD place in Ottawa, but smaller then Wembley stadium in London. At the Theatre my Mom & I saw some Dutch people singing hymns. Back in the day when there were no microphones, people would just talk ( not yell) at the bottom of the theatre and everyone could hear them. Amazing, eh?

The Terrace Houses

There were 6 "Terrace Houses" where wealthier citizens of Ephesus lived. The houses were stacked up the side of the hill. The houses had heating, running water, and bath tubs. The floors were made out of marble and the walls were made of stones. There were mosaics of Greek mythology on some of the walls. Now archaeologists are studying the houses under a big shelter. If the houses weren't made out of stone, and not in ruins, I might like to live in one of these houses.

The Celsus Library

The Celsus Library could hold up to 12,000 scrolls, and keep them safe from heat and humidity.It was the third largest Library in the Ancient World.

Zoe's report

In Ephesus, there are a bunch of old rocks :-). Almost everything was made of marble, although some buildings were made of bricks plated with marble.

The Goddess Nike -- look for the swoosh!

The Celsus Library

The Celsus Library had a cool facade, but interior was not so cool because the scrolls were no longer there and the stone work was way less intricate.

The Goddess, Nike

There was a marble frieze of the goddess Nike (left), who was the goddess of victory, (not running shoes).

The Theatres

There were two amphitheatres:

the Odeon , which held up to 5,000 people and was used for meetings, and,
the Theatre, (left) had a capacity of 25,000, and was used for dramas, concerts and later gladiatorial combats.

The acoustics in the large amphitheatre were so good that If someone were to stand on the stage and project their voice a bit, they could be heard by every member of the audience, provided there was not to much back-round noise.