Hubby and I entered the ruins of ancient Ephesus from the top of the hill, at the upper level of the city.
Neither hubby nor I had any idea what to expect. Neither one of us had any idea that the once large, affluent, prosperous city of Ephesus had been built up and into several adjoining hillsides. We had no idea that the vast majority of the remains of ancient Ephesus still lie buried within these same hillsides.
Here is my very first view of Ephesus after walking through the ticket gate. As I gazed at that peaceful tranquil hill directly in front of me, I had no idea that that entire hillside once used to be residential homes for the people of Ephesus. You would never know just by looking at it.
Our tour guide had us all gather around at the arched stone structures you see. He told us lots of important information about what we were seeing … but to be honest, that was months ago (in early June 2025) and I can no longer remember what he told us.
The one thing which did stick with me, though, is that most of Ephesus still lies buried in the hillsides! The city of Ephesus was very large … and only a tiny fraction of it has been excavated.
Those beautiful arched structures you see in this photo … they once used to be completely underground. The very tops were the only parts which were visible. They have now been reclaimed from the hillside! That’s amazing!
Turning from this viewpoint to look almost directly in the opposite direction behind me … you can see this view below. That wide open space used to be the upper State Agora. In the previous blog posts, we looked at the lower Commercial Agora adjacent to the harbor. Here in the upper lever of the city, the State Agora was where citizens could talk business, politics, and philosophy. Just like the lower Commercial Agora, this upper-level State Agora was surrounded by columned porticos.
In the distance, behind the State Agora, you can see the neighboring hillside sloping up and away. This entire section of the city used to be the residential area of Ephesus. The neighborhoods and homes of Ephesus once covered this hillside. That’s amazing! You would never even know!
Perhaps the home Paul stayed in when he ministered in Ephesus might have been somewhere in this hillside. Perhaps the home of Aquila and Priscilla might have been somewhere in this hillside. Timothy was the pastor of the church at Ephesus for an extended period of time. Perhaps the church of Ephesus met in his home … and perhaps his home might have been located somewhere in this hillside. That’s amazing to think about!
Walking along the boardwalk, with the State Agora on my left, and passing what used to be the Town Hall of Ephesus on my right, I glance up at the hillside above the Town Hall. Ephesus lies buried within this hillside. There is no telling how many homes lie hidden beneath the ground here.
In our everyday lives so much emphasis is placed on our possessions, what we have, where we live, etc. … But we won’t take any of it with us. We’ll leave it all behind. Just like these stones left behind in Ephesus. And like the homes forever “lost” within the hillsides.
Hubby and I followed our tour guide through the upper level of Ephesus, and down toward the middle level of the city. Our tour guide paused to tell us some fascinating information about important things here … which, unfortunately I can’t remember anymore.
I was, however, fascinated by how the ruins here disappear directly into the hillside. If you look over to the right of the ruins, you can see the top of a column pillar just poking up above the ground. Those column pillars are tall! That tells you how much is still buried beneath the ground as the hillside slopes upwards.
Panning over to the left, just look how much has been reclaimed from the hillside! At one point all of these ruins were underground. These paving stones of the original road were all buried deep in the hillside. It is amazing to me how the city has been reclaimed from the hillside. I’m not sure what this part of the city was. I missed what our tour guide had to say about it.
As our tour group headed on down, lower into the middle section of the city, our tour guide paused to tell us how the shops along this main causeway of the city had statues out front indicating what the shop sold. The statues were more-or-less advertising billboards for the shops.
Notice in this photo how high the level of the ground is in the background. This statue and all the ruins of what used to be shops along the main causeway of the city … it all used to be buried that deep underground. That was where the ground level used to be. The fact that all this has been reclaimed from the hillside is phenomenal to me!
Standing here listening to our tour guide, I turned to my left to look down the main causeway of the city towards the Library of Celsus in the far distance.
You can see on the left that the hillside comes straight down to the wide marble-paved roadway. However … there used to be covered, colonnaded pedestrian walkways lining both sides of the street. The chariots and horses, wagons and carts would use the wide marble-paved roadway, while the pedestrians climbed/or descended the hill via the colonnaded pedestrian walkways.
As you look at the photo, you can see that the colonnaded pedestrian walkway and shops have been reclaimed from the hill on the right side of the photo (once again notice how high the ground level is!) … but on the left side of the photo the colonnaded pedestrian walkway and shops still lie buried within the hillside.
Travelling further on down the main causeway we pass an important historical monument which has been reclaimed from the hillside. Gazing up at the hill, I wonder how much more still lies buried and lost??
I loved this aerial view of Ephesus from a sign outside the Terrace Houses. Notice that this photo was taken in 1967. That’s amazing! And notice how much of Ephesus at that time was still buried within the hillside. You can totally tell there’s a lot there, just below the surface. But you can’t see what it is.
It takes time! Lots and lots of time to excavate. It takes patience! It takes careful deliberate precision in the excavation process, so as not to damage what lies buried there.
In pondering all of this, I can’t help but think how every person is more-or-less like this aerial photo of Ephesus from 1967. Each one of us has a lot of who we are “buried beneath the surface.” We only reveal a very small portion of who we are to the world … much like the peaceful green hillsides of Ephesus. But there is a lot to who we really truly are, “beneath the surface.”
It takes time to get “beneath the surface” to really truly know someone. It takes patience to get “beneath the surface” to really truly know someone.
Just like we would never dig haphazardly into the hillsides at Ephesus (for fear of damaging that which is valuable and precious, hidden beneath the surface), so also when it comes to developing friendships and relationships with people, we likewise don’t want to start “digging haphazardly.” This might cause damage to that which is “buried” which we can’t see.
Each one of us have parts of us which are valuable and precious, hidden “beneath the surface.” It takes trust … lots of trust! … and time to “unearth” that which is “hidden beneath our surface.”
