The city and temple disappeared during the Middle ages, and at the beginning of the present century the site was marked only by heaps of rubbish, and by the Turkish village of Aya Soolook.
In the past twenty years, excavations have been made there at various times, and are still going on. The foundations of the temple have been discovered, and many interesting sculptures brought to light.
Ephesus at one time granted the right of asylum, and was known as a city of refuge.
Any scoundrel who had offended the laws and found things too hot for him at home, was all right in Ephesus; and the result was that the city was overrun with criminals to such an extent, that the respectable inhabitants asked the Emperor Augustus to abolish this right of asylum, which he did. Society was in the condition of that of Texas before her admission to the Union, and before she had any laws to keep rascals in check.
There used to be a couplet, to which our most South-western State was said to owe its name:
“When every other land rejects us,
This is the land that freely takes us.”
Possibly the thieves, murderers, bounty-jumpers, and Tammany officials of the olden time used to say:
“When law from the land would efface us,
We’ll pack up our trunks for Ephesus.”