Heads Up

It is indeed very surprising that considering what a major tourist attraction Ephesus is, with cruise boat loads of people showing up again and again, that there is not a major archaeological museum on or near the site.  There is a small one, but it is so small they’ve had to leave many of the artifacts outside, or in the courtyard.  Fortunately now there is the new Izmir Museum to pick up some of the slack.   Below you will see some of the busts of famous heads found in or near Ephesus.  But first, the model of the temple of Artemis….

Notice the opening in the ro0f about two thirds of the way back, so the sun could shine on the statue of Artemis.

If you wondered what an ancient Greek philosopher looked like, this bust below gives you a good idea of a Socrates or a Plato….

Marcus Aurelius was the most learned of emperors, a sort of philosopher wanna-be, and here is his bust modelling himself on the philosophers

Below is an actual bust of Socrates

Once the imperial cult got going,  some emperors modelled themselves on the statues of the gods, for example Zeus as seen below

Here are two interesting smaller busts of a priest and a priestess.  Notice the cap or head covering on the priest and the hair in a bun on the priestess.

Children are not often subjects for busts unless they are from elite family and die young.   Here’s one at the top of this picture…