Artemis, Goddess of Ephesus

Long before she was a tourist attraction, Artemis was the beating heart of Ephesus — not the slender Greek huntress, but a great Anatolian mother-goddess of fertility, nature and the city itself.

Not the Greek Artemis

The Greeks knew Artemis as the virgin huntress, twin sister of Apollo and daughter of Zeus and Leto. But the goddess worshipped at Ephesus — Artemis Ephesia — was something older and stranger, fused with the ancient Anatolian mother-goddess Cybele. She was a deity of fertility, abundance and wild nature, and the protector of the city.

The many-breasted goddess

Her famous cult statue shows her upper body covered in rows of ovoid protuberances — variously read as breasts, eggs or bull sacrifices, all symbols of fertility and plenty. Her legs are sheathed in tiers of animals: lions, bulls, deer and bees, the sacred creatures of her domain. Two of these extraordinary statues survive in the Ephesus Archaeological Museum.

Amazons, bees and priests

Legend credited the Amazons with founding her cult. Her temple was served by priests and priestesses, and the bee — her symbol — appears on the coins of Ephesus. When the Apostle Paul preached against her, the silversmiths who sold her shrines rioted in the Great Theatre — a measure of how central she was to the city's identity and economy.

Her temple, a Wonder of the World

Her home was the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — a building raised as much to the goddess's abundance as to any king's glory. Read its full story →

On the map

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