The ancient world as we know it is filled with several wonders, especially enormous temples and buildings. One of the most famous architecture would probably be the Temple of Artemis. That is why in this article, we are going to learn more about the Temple’s history.
History of the Temple of Artemis
As we mentioned, archaeologists believe that the Temple of Artemis was built, destroyed, and rebuilt five times over 1,200 years. The first temple was built around 800 B.C., and a couple of hundred years later, the temple was rebuilt to be more significant. There is also an exciting story behind the construction of this project; Experts say that the land where the temple was located was very soggy, which made the ground was quite soft. The temple builders were worried about the enormous and heavy columns sinking into the ground as they were moved into place. That is why the workers had to roll the columns into the perfect spot and then stand them up in place.
The third temple of Artemis was four times larger than the last temple, and it is also almost as long and wide as a modern-day football field. Archaeologists also found evidence that the stone columns have carvings around the bases. However, this gigantic temple was burned to make way for a larger-than-football-field-sized temple. This temple was 425 feet long and 225 feet wide. It had more than 100 columns, each about 60 feet high. This project took as long as 120 years to build. The final destruction of the temple took place in 401 A.D.
What Did it Look Like?
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, or present-day Turkey, was a place of worship during its time. Today, it is considered to be of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. If you’re going to imagine the size of the Temple of Artemis, you should think about a modern-day football field. The standard size for a professional football field is about 160 feet wide and 360 feet long. But, that is just a representation because the Temple of Artemis is even bigger than that. This pretty huge temple was built and rebuilt five times over the period of 1,200 years.
Today, if you take a trip to present-day Turkey to take a peek at the Temple of Artemis, you won’t be able to see much. This is because all that is left of this temple is a single column that was re-created on the temple site. But, how exactly do we know so much about the history and details of the temple? For that, we can give credit to the men and women in archeology because they spent many years of excavation and digging out material from the ground on the site of the temple. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, we have an idea of what the Temple of Artemis looked like during its prime days.
In 1869, archaeologists located the foundation of the Temple of Artemis. And during the early 1900s, archaeologists found evidence of the five temples, each one on top of the other. Most of the materials that the archeologists recovered can be viewed and visited in the British Museum today.
Who Was Artemis?
Artemis was traditionally considered the Greek goddess of the hunt. However, the people of Ephesus were prejudiced by various cultures, which is why their version of Artemis was a bit different. In Ephesus, they considered Artemis as the giver of life or goddess of fertility. In fact, they made her statue draped with egg-shaped stones and gems, which they believe represents the giving of life.
During the 1980s, archaeologists found some tear-dropped-shaped pieces of amber, which is typically an orange gemstone. They believe that it came from the statue of Artemis. That is why the statue of Artemis has tear-dropped shapes draping the chest.