Day 08 – Ephesus, Mama’s Cooking, Ephesus Museum, Ice Cream, and the Temple of Artemis

Waking up to watch the sunrise on the Aegean Sea as we make our way to the ancient city of Ephesus is a great way to start the day. The weather, being January, was a bit on the nippy side even for my acclimated Michigan blood, while those from the south, and California, looked as though they were ready to charge the tundra. This morning we began our day with an almost private tour of the excavations done at Ephesus. We read of this great city from multiple sources in the New Testament: Acts 18 – 20 (written by Luke), 1 Corinthians and 1 & 2 Timothy (written by Paul), Revelation (written by the Apostle John), and then there is an entire letter, Ephesians, written to the Believers living in Ephesus (by Paul) .

On a pre-pandemic normal day, the site would be filled with over 10,000 visitors, but today, our guide extraordinaire, Ozan, planned the perfect time with no one else there. The ability to examine the different aspects and pretend to try out the facilities made for an incredible morning. (Yes, I’m talking about some of the men sitting on the public latrine benches.) We were able to investigate with some leisure the incredibly detailed mosaics and frescos in the acclaimed terrace house complex 2. With its indoor plumbing, courtyards overlooking the busy pedestrian street, and of course, their temple to the current ruler of their day, you could paint the picture of the division of wealth between the upper class and the lower working class that Paul makes an effort to demonstrate how those lines are blurred in Christ’s kingdom when we gather for the Lord’s supper.

Walking the marbled roads where we know Paul walked and lived for three years, we can say for certain that our faith was made available to us because of this city. Christianity flourished due to the spreading of God’s Word through this, only second to Rome in importance, major port and travel hub.

Our lunch today was an extra special treat. Since we are wrapping up our time in Turkey, we visited a favorite place of the locals in Kusadasi, Mama’s Cooking. The food was divine and the drinks even better. We were served a HUGE selection of dishes prepared as though you were eating at a Turkish family’s Sunday dinner. The juices: Orange, Plum, and Peach were all freshly squeezed from the fruit of the son’s own garden. My favorites were the stuffed grape leaves, the goulash made with minced beef, eggplant, and tomatoes, and fried cauliflower. SO delicious! I can see why it is a favorite of all who eat there.

After lunch, we popped into the Ephesus Museum to see some of the artifacts that have been discovered from the excavations. The better pieces have been put on display with que cards to help explain where they would have been placed, why they were used, and the time period experts believe they were crafted. This may seem unimportant to our faith but it helps develop the picture of what the early believers would have been living amongst as they lived out their new found freedom in Christ. Surrounded by all this paganism, gods and idols every 10 steps along the road, it would have been incredibly difficult to not assimilate back into familiar behaviors. Ephesus’ culture would have been very amiable to have a syncretistic type of faith, just add another god to the pile.

After the museum, we were treated to some of my favorite dessert: ICE CREAM! It’s never too cold for ice cream. And this was made with goat’s milk. Three choices were offered but you can’t go wrong with the classics: plain. SO DELICIOUS!!! I gave myself a brain freeze instead of taking my time to enjoy it. Others, who were not so adventurous to divulge with the cold temperatures, enjoyed a coffee or tea. Their loss.

The last stop for the day was the Temple of Artemis. The actual 7th-wonder-of-the-ancient-world Temple of Artemis. Unfortunately, lack of funding has not allowed for much current excavations and many of the pieces have been upcycled into other structures surrounding the area the temple once stood. It was a great place to put into perspective the everlasting faithfulness of GOD and our faith. Since so much effort was put into this man-made creation and now, 2000 years later, there is nothing, but GOD is still the same; yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

On that note, don’t forget to check back tomorrow to see how we finish up this fabulous trip.
Jennifer Walter
Dexter UMC
Dexter, Michigan