The Pilgrimage: Turkey, Part Ten

The Pilgrimage: Turkey, Part Ten July 25, 2014

The Temple of Artemis at Sardis is not to be confused with the one at Ephesus. Indeed, there were several different Artemises, one more a fertility goddess, another rather like Diana the goddess of the hunt, and so on. Here is a sign to get us oriented in regard to the one in Sardis.

Here’s the shot as one approaches the site…

The setting of this temple is gorgeous, in a valley surrounded by mountains,

Here’s a beautiful catalpa tree,
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A word here about the stone masons is in order. The Greek word tekton and it’s variants refers to an artisan who works in stone and wood (note to NT scholars, see Mk. 6 and parallels, where Joseph and Jesus end up being called tektons).
Here is a mason’s inscription at the bottom of a column with the Greek word just mentioned……

It would have been stone masons who erected the honorific stele as well, and carved it. And here is a mason’s mark on a stone, which would indicate: 1) which stone goes on which one, or 2) the position of the stone.


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