Ephesus and Kusadasi

Thursday, October 24 – Ephesus (Kusadasi) Turkey

Ephesus was a high point.  It was a purely archeological site. Kusadasi is the city that is nearest Ephesus.

This was a real thrill.  We had a tour and though we were frustrated by a tour guide that talked and walked too fast, and with an overcrowded site (hundreds of pushy people, dozens of tour guides with 40-50 people each, competing for space and sound), nevertheless we loved seeing the location of the early congregation of Ephesus and imagining our brothers there.  It was originally filled with opulence and materialism (as we imagined based on the archeology) as well as spiritistic beliefs (again, in evidence from what we saw).  John’s writing in Revelation 2 came alive for us, as did Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  There were perhaps 250,000 residents – much more than I’d ever imagined!  The site went on and on, even though they said they’ve only uncovered perhaps 17% of the site (not sure how they know what percentage if they have not uncovered it, but that’s what our guide said).  And Ephesus used to be on the waterfront as well as on a large river. Now it is perhaps 10-15 miles inland, thanks to erosion building up the landmass as well as volcanic ash filling in the coastline.

This first picture is one of two amphitheaters we saw in Ephesus.  Some research says, "If the apostle Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 15:32 about fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus is to be understood literally, perhaps he had to defend himself against wild beasts in this stadium."

Continuing our walk through Ephesus:

mosaics

Stones in street where Paul and others walked.

Library, as I recall

Closer to the end of our tour, and closer to the original coastline of Ephesus, is this larger amphitheater. Research says: "The theater where the Ephesians rioted at the instigation of Demetrius was less than 800 m (0.5 mi) S of the stadium. This theater was situated within the hollow of Mt. Pion. (Ac 19:23-41) Its facade was decorated with pillars, niches, and fine statuary. The marble seats for the spectators were arranged in a half circle of 66 rows; these, it has been estimated, afforded room for about 25,000 persons. The acoustic properties of the theater were excellent. Even today, a word spoken in a low voice at the location of the stage can be heard at the top seats."  The guide (or someone) said that they still hold concerts, some mentioning Elton John, the Berlin Philharmonic and others, without sound amplification.

Larger amphitheater

When we went into town (Kusadasi), we saw a demonstration of carpet weaving (which was really very interesting) and shopped a bit.  The vendors are very aggressive!  I will see the vendors in Panajachel much more kindly now – they only call out a few things gently (“Pase adelante! Buen precio!”).  The vendors in Turkey are real pros!

Let me tell you more about the rug weaving demonstration.  I thought it would be a pure sales pitch, which they definitely included.

They demonstrated silk-making (since they use silk to make the finest rugs).  They had a bunch of cocoons there – small cream-colored ovals the size of a small thumb.  When he pulled off a strand of dry silk, it broke. But when they put them in warm water, it gets stronger. (One person said they actually used silk strands to cut marble!) He had a pot of warm water with silk cocoons.  Then he took a brush, which looks like an old-fashioned straw broom, and swirled it in the water with the cocoons… and when he brought it up, the brush had caught the tiny loose ends of the cocoons! They took those loose ends, tied them and started winding them onto a winding device. As it wound, the cocoons ‘danced’ in the warm water as they unraveled. Each cocoon has about 1 kilometer (.70 miles) of silk fiber! And we learned it takes 80 strands of silk to make one thread.  But they showed us some fine carpets using silk threads, and they were unbelievably soft.  We enjoyed the demo, and managed to get away without buying a rug or carpet!

Examples of cocoons. See also the brushes above the cocoons. 

Can you see the silk strands he brought out of the water? 

Silk strands in a bunch

Taking the silk strands, twisting 80 strands (I think) into one
silk thread used in rug-making, then putting it on the bobbin. 

The water vat with thread-making

They demonstrated the work involved in high-quality rugs.  A woman sat in front of a loom and, with thread in hand, literally picked up a thread from the weft of the rug (the lengthways string) and took her colored thread and tied a tiny knot and cut it off.  Over and over.  It might have taken an hour or more to go the 3 feet width of the rug she was making. Then she took a comb and beat it down into the other knots she made prior, then she had some special scissors to cut it to a perfect approximately quarter-inch length. Then repeat with the next row.  Amazing the work.  When you walk on such a rug, it actually improves it because the knots tighten!

We sat down for lunch, chatted a bit with the friendly couple next to us.  I saw her bow her head to pray before her meal, and wondered if she might be one of Jehovah’s witnesses.  I took out a Watchtower from my purse and laid it discreetly on our table, but no reaction.  Then as we were finishing, I picked it up more obviously … and they were witnesses too!  We had SUCH a grand time getting to meet them and visiting and hugging!  They are from Stuttgart Germany and enjoying a vacation in Turkey.  We are such a worldwide brotherhood!  We were all nearly in tears with the joy of meeting friends from far away.  However I’m sure we attracted a lot of curious attention (see the woman in the back of the photo!) as people saw two tables of strangers suddenly explode with hugs and laughter. 

One of the things I really enjoyed about Turkey is bargaining – and I got some good ones!  I was almost euphoric… got them down to about half-price of what they were asking, in most cases!  Really fun. 

We all agreed that Ephesus was one of our favorite spots so far, though we’d like to go back when there weren’t thousands of pushing and yelling tourists.  Just to imagine our brothers struggling to stay loyal, to imagine Paul and Acquila and Priscilla and Apollos there.  Or to remember the theater where we walked as possibly being the one where Paul had to fight wild beasts (1 Corinthians 15:32).  And it was in Ephesus where Paul and others set the example of going from house to house to talk to people, a model for Christians today (Acts 20:20, 21). We would love to go back for a more calm visit!

Today we have docked in Rhodes.  We’ll see how today – and those coming – play out! 

Thanks for reading.  We send our love.