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The colossal temple of Artemis in the port city of Ephesus blended the size of Greek architecture and the decorative style of the East. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Lead: The colossal temple of Artemis in the port city of Ephesus blended the size of Greek architecture and the decorative style of the East. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Ephesus was a major trading port in western Asia Minor, which is now in the Turkish province of Izmir. It was a commercial center and, by the beginning of the sixth century BCE, a cultural hub largely due to the construction in its precincts of the cultic Temple of Artemis. Several versions were built on the same site over many decades, climaxing in a huge temple enshrined to the worship of the fertility goddess of hunting, Artemis--also associated with the goddess Diana, who according to the cult, provided protection for Ephesus and for supplicants from all over the region who were in trouble, fleeing their enemies. The final structure was recognized by ancient historians as one of the wonders of the Mediterranean world.

The ultimate temple was estimated to be as long as 425 feet with a mid-span of 255 feet--about the size of the interior of New York’s Grand Central Station. One hundred and twenty-seven elaborately-decorated columns supported the roof. The funds for the columns were supplied by Lydian King Kroisos (Croesus), famed for his wealth and his minting of elegant gold and silver coins. The saying that has come down through the ages about the fabulously wealthy describes them as “rich as Kroisos.”

The temple was burned sometime in the first half of the fourth century BCE. Almost nothing of the great structure remains today, save a site discovered after a seven year search by archaeologist John Turtle Wood in 1870 and a few artifacts that remain on display in the British Museum.

Research assistance by Nancy Waldo, at the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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