Arsinoe was in her room in the Sanctuary of Artemis and in the arms of a deep sleep. In her dream, she was running away from someone. She hid behind walls and marble columns and looked around with worried eyes, but she could not see anyone. Although Arsinoe was used to running away in real life, she had been in Ephesus, in the sacred area of Goddess Artemis, away from danger for a few years. However, since she could not feel safe, she was being chased by someone in almost every dream.
However, this dream was different from the others. Because it was very realistic. As she looked around, out of breath, she saw the statue of the Ephesian Goddess Artemis in front of her. Artemis, who had protected her from her sister, the Queen of Egypt VII, for years, was before her eyes in all her glory. Arsinoe started running towards the goddess she trusted so much. She was sure that the goddess was inside her statue with all her power and energy at that moment and that she would protect her again. Just as she was about to reach the statue of Artemis, a pit opened under her feet and Arsinoe fell into the darkness before she could take shelter in Artemis.
**
When Arsinoe woke up screaming, she was covered in sweat. She took deep breaths and tried to shake off the effects of her dream. After putting on her daily clothes and putting on her leather sandals, she left her room and went to the Sanctuary of Artemis. Right behind her lay the magnificent temple of Ephesus Artemis and the light of the rising sun was painting the columns of the temple yellow.
What’s that? One of the eunuch Artemis priests in the temple had already woken up. He was walking between the two columns at the entrance of the temple, smiling at Arsinoe. Arsinoe smiled back, but she had not seen this priest in the temple before. Or had she seen him and could not remember him? She said “Hello” to the priest who came to her. However, instead of an answer from the priest to Arsinoe, a dagger was struck. Princess Arsinoe, who came from the Ptolemaic dynasty that took over the administration of Egypt after Alexander the Great conquered it, was stabbed to the chest by a murderer who had infiltrated the temple disguised as a priest of Artemis and was covered in his own blood. The man who stabbed her said “Marcus Antonius” and quickly walked away.
Arsinoe learned who had ordered her death and was not surprised. As she walked away from her life alone, everything she had experienced up until that day flashed before her eyes. She wanted to rule Egypt after her father Ptolemy XII, but her sister Cleopatra was not willing to allow this. Cleopatra defeated her sister and her supporters with the help of her lover Julius Caesar and sent Arsinoe to Rome as a prisoner. However, Caesar later allowed Arsinoe to go to the Sanctuary of Artemis in Ephesus as a refugee. Arsinoe was married to her sister, Queen VII of Egypt. Deep down she knew Cleopatra would kill her sooner or later and she couldn’t rest even in her dreams. Finally, her fears came true and Cleopatra convinced her new lover, the Roman Marcus Antonius, to kill Arsinoe. As she took her last breath, Arsinoe thought of Egypt, where she was born and raised, and of Artemis, the ancient goddess of Ephesus. As her eyes closed, a cool breeze blew and Arsinoe, not yet 20, followed that wind into the unknown.
Note: After his death, the lands conquered by Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, were shared among his commanders and Egypt fell to Ptolemy. Arsinoe IV, the sister of Queen Cleopatra VII of the Ptolemaic Dynasty who claimed the throne of Egypt, was defeated in the power struggle against her sister. Arsinoe, who was accepted as a refugee in the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus and lived there for seven years, was killed in 41 BC. It is believed that Arsinoe was killed or had killed by Cleopatra’s lover Marcus Antonius.
Written by Author Archaeologist Özlem Ertan for the Ephesus Foundation.