The life and work of St. Paul

PAUL AT EPHK8U8. 359
Though the Greeks had vied with the Persians in lavish contributions for
the re-erection of the temple, the worship of this venerable relic was essen-
of wide
tially Oriental. The priests were amply supported by the proceeds
domains and valuable fisheries, and these priests, of Megabyzi, as well as the
" l
Essen," who was at the head of them, were the miserable Persian or
Phrygian eunuchs who, with the Melissae, or virgin-priestesses, and crowds of
idle slaves, were alone suffered to conduct the worship of the Mother of the
Gods. Many a time, in the open spaces and environs of Ephesus, must Paul
have seen with sorrow and indignation the bloated and beardless hideousness
2
of these coryphaei of iniquity. Many a time must he have heard from the
Jewish quarter the piercing shrillness of their flutes, and the harsh jangling of
their timbrels ; many a time have caught glimpses of their detestable dances
and corybantic processions, as with streaming hair, and wild cries, and shaken
torches of pine, they strove to madden the multitudes into sympathy with
that orgiastic worship, which was but too closely connected with the vilest
debaucheries. 3 Even the Greeks, little as they were liable to be swept away
by these bursts of religious frenzy, seem to have caught the tone of these disgraceful
fanatics. At no other city would they have assembled in the theatre
in their thousands to
yell the same cry over and over again for " about the
space of two hours," as though they had been so many Persian dervishes or
Indian yogis. This senseless reiteration was an echo of the screaming
ulnlatus which was one of the characteristics of the cult of Diudymene and
Pessinus. 4
We are not surprised to find that under the shadow of such a worship
superstition was rampant. Ephesus differed from other cities which Paul
had visited mainly in this respect, that it was pre-eminently the city of
astrology, sorcery, incantations, amulets, exorcisms, and every form of magical
imposture. On the statue of the goddess, or rather, perhaps, on the inverted
pyramid which formed the basis for her swathed and shapeless feet, were
inscribed certain mystic formulae to which was assigned a magic efficacy.
This led to the manufacture and the celebrity of those "Ephesian writings,"
like a phantom, without leaving a trace behind ? We now seek the temple in vain ; the
city is prostrate and the goddess gone " (Chandler ; see Sibyll. Orac. v. 293 305). The
wonder is deepened after seeing the massiveness of the superb fragments in the British
Museum. That the Turkish name Ai'a Solouk is a corruption of 'Ay/a ecaAdyov, and
therefore a reminiscence of St. John, is proved by the discovery of coins bearing this
inscription, and struck at Ayasaluk (Wood, p. 183). Perhaps St. John originally received
the name by way of contrast with the Theologi of the Temple.
1 The resemblance of the word and character to the " Essenes " is accidental. It
means "a king (queen) bee."
2 Quint, v. 12. What sort of wretches these were may be seen in Juv. vi. 512;
Prop. ii. 18, 15; Appuleius, Metamorph.
* Apollonius, in nis first address to the Ephesians, delivered from the platform of
the temple, urged them to abandon their idleness, folly, and feasting, and turn to the
study 01 philosophy. He speaks of these dances, and says *v\av n