During my last visit to Selçuk, I also stopped by the place where the Temple of Artemis once stood. As I gazed down at the old temple area from above, I was nearly moved to tears. Of the Sacred Area of Artemis, once one of the Seven Wonders of the World, only a single column remained. And that was not even a genuine column. They had stacked some stones from the Temple of Artemis to form a column shape. There were also rows of stones scattered to the right and left of the terrain. As I looked at all these with sad eyes, I heard a voice behind me.
“I have things that might interest you. Would you like to take a look?”
At that moment, I noticed a tall, bearded man selling statues of Artemis of various sizes a little further on. His stall looked quite opulent. Although I had no intention of buying a statue, I was involuntarily drawn to the man's stall. The replicas of ancient Ephesus coins adorned with the bee figure, a symbol of the goddess, caught my eye. The man was chatty, constantly talking, and mentioned that he had been selling sacred items in front of the Temple of Artemis for a very long time. It seemed odd to me that he used the word 'sacred' for copies of ancient goddess sculptures. After all, the era of those who saw and respected Artemis as the protective power of nature, even nature itself, had long gone. However, I did not say anything to him about it. I thought 'sacred' was merely a rote word for him. The vendor was quite knowledgeable about the history of the temple. According to him, one night in 365 BC, the Temple of Artemis had been set on fire. That magnificent building was engulfed in flames, and when the fire was extinguished, not much was left. According to the seller, it wasn't true that a madman named Herostratos had burned down the temple.
“For thousands of years, people have said Herostratos burned it. That's how it's written in history, but that's not true. The temple was actually set on fire by the priests who looted its treasures. They blamed Herostratos for the crime. Today, people still believe this, books are written this way, but I know what really happened.”
I was very surprised by what the man told me. Thinking he was just another madman like Herostratos, I instinctively distanced myself from the stall. When he looked at me as if to ask where I was going, I said I was going down to the area where the Temple of Artemis once stood, as I wanted to see the stones up close. Just as I was about to say “Good luck to you,” and start walking, he called out to me and said verbatim:
“I forgot to introduce myself to you. My name is Herostratos.”
In a matter of seconds, I moved past disbelief and fell into the grip of fear, making my way quickly to the temple area. With the comfort of having other people around, I wandered the Sacred Area of Artemis for a long time. As I looked at the stones around, I imagined the times of old. After surveying the area, I returned the way I came and saw someone else at the spot where the man who claimed to be Herostratos had been. The stall and the items on it also looked different than before. Hesitantly, I approached the short, dark-skinned man and asked, “Excuse me, there was another vendor here just a moment ago. He was tall and had a beard. He was behind the stall, just like you, selling statues of Artemis. Where is he?”
The man looked at me with surprise before saying, “There is no other vendor here except me, ma'am. For years, I'm the only one selling Artemis statues here.”
Written for the Ephesus Foundation by Archaeologist and Author Özlem Ertan.
