A Short History of Ephesus

2000 b.c. the area was founded by Amazonians (remember those warrior women with the bare bosoms).

1000 b.c overtaken by Ionians (later the Temple of Artemis or Diana was built here), and it was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world (though now there are just a few broken stumps of marble, that I couldn't even find interesting enough to photograph)

300 b.c. new civilization founded by Alexander the Great

1st century a.d. founded around the basilica of St. John

11th century a.d. overtaken by Seljuk invaders(the adjoining town is still called Selcuk)

Ephesus was named after Apasus, the queen of the Amazonians. Apa is the word for "bee" and it was a symbol of the Amazonians (the original queen bee). I like this name a lot for the city because the area reminded me of another city in the desert that has a bee for a symbol, and serves as a holy place. It was strikingly similar set among the mountains.

Finally a few centuries later the Turks finally arrived, and overtook the Seljuks through cleverness. This is sort a theme in Turkish history. They pride themselves on being quick-witted and outsmarting their enemies through craftiness.

In the area around Ephesus (Efes in Turkish) there are rings of mountains but there is one mountain in particular which is taller than the rest and was used by Seljuk guards as a look out. When the Turks came upon this mountain they noticed a lot of goats grazing on the mountain below the guards, so in the middle of the night they tied candles to each of the horns of the goats, and then lit them all as they marched up the mountain in the dark. When the small Turkish army approached the guardhouse where only a few soldiers stood post, the Seljuks were afraid of the "army" behind what they supposed to be a small contingent of the army, and they offered up the castle to the Turks, who have ruled the land since.