It is a subdued and thoughtful group of Pilgrims that leave the Jerusalem Tower Hotel for Lod Airport to continue our journey to Asia Minor. We, thirty- six Christadelphians, have shared together and have walked together in the land in which our Saviour was born, conducted His ministry and was crucified. It is with a sense of awe and great humbleness that we thank our Lord for the privilege of having been able to come here.
Our great ambition in visiting Turkey was to travel the paths that the Apostle Paul and the other Apostles trod in their spreading of the Gospel throughout Asia Minor and to visit the ancient ruins of the great cities in which the humble ecclesias were first formed.
We land briefly for a flight change in Istanbul. Istanbul (Constantinople ) is Turkey’s largest city. Constantine the Great, decided at the beginning of the it 4th century that the Roman Empire needed a new capital in the east. Thus, with this Roman beginning, the city involved into a blend of many cultures that came to be called “Byzantine.”
The delay and the whole system at this Turkish airport was incredible. It was raining, we were all tired and the noise and confusion was unbearable. Our guide said “Follow me” which we did. Out of the building, down the road, through an underpass, into a very dirty and dingy terminal. Evidently there was a power shortage for the lights were so dim we could hardly see one another and once we were in complete- darkness. To make matters even more Erie, the Turks sat and stared suspiciously at us so we kept grouped together more or less in self defense. Finally our flight was announced and we boarded the plane for Izmir.
Being the center of civilization and agriculture, having a safe harbor and a moderate climate, has e caused Izmir (Smyrna) to be an important settlement in all ages of history. Alexander the Great came to Asia Minor in the 4th century B.C. and founded a new city on Mc Pagus. In and around Izmir, there are many historical ruins and natural beauties.
Our flight into Izmir is at night and as we peek through the windows, the shore line below looked like a sparkling diamond necklace surrounding the bay. No wonder Izmir is called the “necklace of the Agean!” We boarded our bus and met our new guide Ali a Very dignified and correct person — and after a rather lengthy bus ride, arrive at the love Izmir Palas Hotel. It is now 10:55 P.M., so bone weary but happy to be I here. we disperse to our various rooms. Refreshed after a good nights sleep we awake to a clear sun-drenched day and from our window view the magnificent crescent shaped harbor where tankers and gleaming white ferries are streaming back am: forth. Our hotel is located just a road’s width away from the water and many of us go to sit on the sea wall, take pictures or just stroll down the sidewalk. This surely is the promise of a lovely day!
We board our bus and drive to the partially restored ruins of a fortress attributed to Alexander the Great. This was built in approximately 600 B.C. and the Apostle Paul undoubtedly saw this on his travels. We see some of the underground storerooms and then walk up one of the steep stone stairways to the restored front wall of the fortress which overlooks the- entire city and harbor of Izmir. A gorgeous view . In the distance we heard the thin Moslem cry to prayer from one of the many minarets, and to the left in the heart of the city below us, rose the white marble columns of the Agora, or Market Place. Rooms underneath the Agora were used as archives and store houses.
Off to Ephesus. Ephesus is 50 miles south of Izmir and is one of the most important of the cities which figured in the ancient world. Founded on a fertile coastal plain in Western Anatolia. flanked by mountains and watered by the river Kaystros and possessing an excellent sheltered harbor, Ephesus became an important center of commerce between east and west. This is where the Apostle Paul came to form one of the earliest Christian churches. Tel me, this ruined ancient city was fantastic. We walked down a magnificent white marble street in which the grooves of chariot wheels are still to be seen. The street is lined with remnants of marble columns in back of which shops of trade were housed. We visited the public baths, the vast Agora or market place, the lovely little Odeon, a miniature amphitheater where poetry was read, concerts and lectures were given. On the marble street of Curetiae, we stop to view the Temple of Hadrian. As I looked up and saw the splendid carvings and delicately formed arches, with its balance and simplicity of design, I had the greatest respect for these master builders of ancient times. On this same street there were holes chiseled through corners of buildings where horses could be tethered.
We finally came to the great theater set into the hillside overlooking the silt filled harbor. This could seat 25,000 people and had 66 rows of white marble seats. Bro. Fred Buckler stood on the stage far below us and we who were seated throughout this vast theater, heard him read the stirring 19th chapter in Acts. This is the very theater that Paul knew. This is the very place where the people of the city, who had been stirred up by a silversmith named Demetrius, shouted as One voice for about two hours “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”. One could almost hear this being echoed and re-echoed from the hillside. One could also see in their minds eye, the Ephesian people, rich and poor, young and old, the drabness mixed with the color and richness, the mixture of emotions from hysteria to gravity all this descending on a chosen few and almost feeling the despair Paul must have experienced. I think this touched us all. I know it did me. This was once a beautiful, alive and enterprising city decadent, evil, worshipers of idols – now a silent city as are thousands of other ancient cities- –their greed and their lusts destroyed them all.
We stop briefly to visit the Museum of Ephesus and see the famous statue of Artemis or Diana. There were many reliefs, pottery, capitals, beautiful carved heads of long dead ancient noblemen, statues and many other objects that would take too long to describe. There was a fresco of Socrates that interested me greatly because of its technique. The brushwork of white was on a background of brick red —the artist, with only a few simple strokes, created the figure of Socrates, vibrant and alive.
Back to the bus to drive to the Temple of Artemis (Diana). Its site is a short distance from the city of Ephesus with villages and suburbs between. Today all that is left of this tremendous structure is a heap of broken stones, several tall columns and debris surrounded by marshlands. Originally this temple took 220 years to build, measured 420 feet by 220 feet and had 127 marble pillars each 60 feet high. People from far and wide came to worship and carry away a souve, hence- the prosperous silversmiths whose live-hood was the manufacture of these siker shrines and images of Diana. One month every year was wholly devoted to celebrations in honor of this idol, and the ceremonies to this cult were usually impressive and accompanied by colorful spectacles. Artemis was represented as a woman who symbolized the vitality and nourishing capacity of the earth. She was the goddess of nature, productivity, chastity and the protector of wild animals and sailors. Her features are Asiatic. As we stand before these heaps of rubble, the 26th and 27th verses of Acts 19 come to mind. And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable company of people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may count for nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship. ( R.S. V. )
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One