Artemis Ephesia

A ROMAN MARBLE RELIEF OF ARTEMIS OF EPHESUS
CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Carved in raised relief, the goddess depicted frontally, holding knotted woolen ribbons in each raised hand, wearing her characteristic veil, a polos crown atop her head, and dangling earrings, her tunic with rows of egg-like shapes, perhaps bull testes, suspended along her upper torso, with three lower registers richly decorated with partially-preserved stylized lion heads, a stag at her left side, its head turned to face the goddess, a partially-preserved Latin inscription above, ...STORUM
18 ¾ in. (47.6 cm.) high

Artemis of Ephesus (Capitoline Museums)

Artemis of Ephesus. Marble and bronze, Roman copy of an Hellenistic original of the 2nd century BC.

A depiction of a Greco-Roman religious sacrifice

Preparation of a sacrifice. Marble, fragment of an architectural relief,
first quarter of the 2nd century AD. From Rome, Italy. At the Louvre.

Gadara nymphaeum: Artemis of Ephesus

Torso of a highly simplified replica of the Artemis type in the temple of Ephesus. Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, was beside Zeus the most important deity of the Greek-Roman Decapolis. Possibly a work from Anatolia, from the second half of the 1st century AD. White marble. H 46 cm.

Found in 1988 east of the podium monument, reused in a late antique spolia wall.

Ehpesian Artemis

Ehpesian Artemis in Museum for Archeology and Natural History in Morphou/Güzelyurt, North Cyprus

The 'Beautiful' Ephesian Artemis

In the Archaeological Museum of Ephesus.
Selçuk, Turkey. 1st Century CE.

The Great Artemis of Ephesia

The Lady of Ephesus no. 712, 1st century AD, Ephesus Archaeological Museum

Statue of Artemis of Ephesus

Unearthed in 1912 from the Amphitheater at Leptis Magna, Libya, Roman period. Tripoli Archaeological Museum, Libya.

The archetypal und archaic Anatolian goddess, Cybele, was revered not only throughout Anatolia but also on the neighboring (modern day) Greek islands.

Evidence of her cult can still be seen today in the cave formations and niches carved into hillsides. Her great gift to humanity is the mystery of rebirth.

Many of these caves symbolize the birth canal and end in womb-like forms. On the island of Samos, for example, one enters the caves as if stepping back into the darkness of the womb—not of a biological mother and father, but of the Great Goddess of eternity.

During our journey through Anatolia, we will visit many such places—caves and rock niches where Cybele was likely venerated long before the appearance and unveiling of the many goddesses who later emerged in human consciousness, in our hearts and in our souls.