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Today we head to the largest archeological dig in Turkey, the ruins of the ancient Ephesus.
The Revelation reads:-
1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6 But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
The ancient ruins of Ephesus are magnificent in size, this site has had major archeological work from an early time so that a lot of the main area and market place and the stadium have been uncovered and had major restoration work done and much has been revealed here.
The main library is a wonderful structure and designed to keep the scrolls and books in the best possible condition, in fact a second wall was built inside the building to stop the heat of the day from deteriorating and of the scrolls and papers.
The main street again had drainage underneath it and the loos were self cleaned by running water. There was a roman bath house also in this very wealthy city.
Ephesus was a major port on the Aegean sea but over the centuries the harbor has silted up pushing the seas back to Kudashi where we stayed, about 45 minutes drive, I suppose about 20-30 kms away.
Over the years Ephesus has relocated 3 times because of these circumstances, also because as the sea receded, marshy land bread nozzles which bought malaria to the area and many people died.
We sat for devotions in Mary's church located about 500 meters from the stadium, a little out of the way. We were reminded by Trevor and Maree Strong about loosing our first love for Jesus as this church had done. It was a special time; each devotional on this trip has had a huge impact on us both.
We journeyed from here to the local ceramic factory for an interesting lesson in traditional making of ceramics. And yes we purchased a set of beautifully, traditionally decorated bowls.
Next was a delicious traditional lunch in a beautiful setting followed by another lesson; this time in the art of making the traditional Turkish rugs and carpets. A wonderful experience indeed.
One thing that captured my attention was the spinning of silk for use in carpets. It was an interesting experience to see just how those little silk cocoons were made into durable and beautiful carpets.
From here our last stop for the day was at St Johns Basilica, another set if ruins! It is huge! The building itself covered a very large area indeed. We did not spend too much time here as everyone wanted to get back to Kudashi to do some last minute shopping before we take our ferry ride to the island of Patmos tomorrow.
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