Few, if any, understand the real reason why Ephesus became so central an element in early Christianity. Why did Paul choose to visit and finally settle there for 3 whole years instead of other much more cosmopolitan locations? Why did the Apostle John, deemed ‘the son of thunder’ by Christ, choose to settle and die there? Why was the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, written whilst he was in exile on the nearby island of Patmos? Also why was it that Ephesus became the focus of the narrative (accepted by the Catholic church) that Mary the mother of Jesus following Christ’s crucifixion, came to Ephesus with John, and that she died and was buried there in contravention of earlier assertions that she had died and was buried in Jerusalem?
It will surprise many, but exploring the mythology related to the birth of the goddess Artemis will provide answers to long unanswered questions, and help explain why the early proponents of Christianity focused upon Ephesus.
Even though no surviving ancient text directly provides us with a date for the birth of Artemis, it is possible, as with Aphrodite to determine a precise date, a date supported not only by mythology, but by ancient historical records, as well as modern researches in paleo-climatology and archeoastronomy.
Sadly the narrative concerning the birth of Artemis, even though clear, has consistently been ignored by modern researchers. Central to it is an airburst, tidal wave, and volcanic eruption, thus for example there are as far as the author is aware, no studies of tsunamis in the Aegean region which have explored the one that is central to Artemis’ birth dated c1327 BC
What’s in a Name?
Coeus and Phoebe
Leto is commonly called the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. An analysis of the names shows them to be metaphors for a celestial event.
The name Coeus is usually interpreted as meaning intelligent which in the current context has little merit. However the word could equally derive from coein, meaning to swell, grow larger. Whilst the name Phoebe derives from phoibos meaning pure, bright or radiant. Thus ‘the bright light growing larger’.
Antalya Archaeological Museum. Ivory sculpture ( 620-590 BC ) a woman with two children found in a tumulus in Bayindir village ( Elmali ).
Leto /Lato/Latona
There is no modern consensus as to the meaning of the name Leto. The Neo-platonist philosopher Proclus (who was a proponent of the veracity of the Atlantis narrative) in his Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus (3.109c) linked the name Leto with the word Lethe concealment. According to him, Leto symbolized the process by which the divine becomes temporarily hidden before revealing itself. Whilst this interpretation may fit within Neo-platonic philosophy, it also works quite comfortably as a metaphor describing the apparition of a comet.
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Top image: Cosmic Fire Over Sacred Ground: The asteroid airburst above ancient Ephesus (c. 1327 BC) that gave birth to the goddess Artemis and established the sacred landscape that would later draw Christianity's greatest apostles to this extraordinary city. (GPT)
