I left last Sunday and got home last night at 9:00. It was a tiring trip. On Thursday night I wasn’t able to sleep more than an hour before I got up at 4:00 AM to get the bus to the airport. And I wasn’t able to sleep on the plane either. So I was pretty much up for 48 hours. The highlight of the trip for me was visiting the ruins of Ephesus. They said that 300,000 people used to live there–including outside the city. It gave me a better feel for what Paul must have faced when he went there. Here are some pictures:
Stone streets. There is a lot of marble in the surrounding hills.
There were Greek inscriptions in the stone all over the place.
The wealthy section of town
You can see the library in the background. One of the best in the world at that time. Rivaling that of Alexandria.
Public toilets
The library
We were told the stadium could hold 25,000 people. Modern musicians have done concerts here.
Stadium seats
The performance stage of the stadium. Redone for modern use.
This is the site of the temple of Artemis. Only one column left standing.
About 80 of us were in the stadium at the same time (of about 130) and when we were standing on the stadium performance stage, we began singing Amazing Grace. The other people in the stadium clapped and asked for more. So we sang two more verses.
Less than half of the city has been excavated, and as you can see they are putting it back together piece by piece. It’s like a huge puzzle.
We heard the Queen of Egypt went to visit and got jealous over their library. She stopped sending them papyrus. So they invented parchment.
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Wow! That is not much sleep at all. I was praying for you and I’ll pray now for your sleep-recovery!
Very nice pictures of Ephesus and very neat! How did your visit to Ephesus enlighten your understanding of what Paul faced there?
Sorry you got so little sleep. Thanks for sharing the pictures. I love the history.
Sooooo cool! I want to travel back in time and see Ephesus in its apex of beauty! James and Linnea, when my Dad was talking of how people were excavating the city and translating the Greek, I thought of you two, that you might enjoy such a job 😀
Beautiful! Hope you get rested up.
Wow, that’s amazing! It must have been remarkable to connect places mentioned by Paul to actual ruins.
Glad you are home safely. I’ll pray for your sleep recovery. I love the pictures and the commentary about them. We just finished up a 4 week unit on ancient greece at school. Thanks.
I never had imagined Ephesus being such a large and cosmopolitan city. I’m sure the people of that city were quite impressed with themselves, and weren’t immediately impressed by foreign travelers like Paul.
What an awesome experience! I wonder what wonders remain to dug up in Ephesus.
I’m wondering how that pattern was created in that roadway of the wealthy picture city. Do you know?
I was wondering that myself. But with so many people in our group, it was difficult for anyone to get all his questions answered.