Hechos 19:24

There were two goddesses named Artemis (Greek) or Diana (Latin) that Gentiles worshipped in the Roman Empire at this time. One was the goddess of the hunt, usually pictured as a young woman carrying a hunting bow. The other was a fertility goddess portrayed as a woman with many breasts. The latter was the one especially venerated in Ephesus. There were at least 33 other places of Artemis worship in the ancient world, but the temple in Ephesus was the chief worship center. [Note: Ladd, "The Acts . . .," p. 1161. Strabo, Geography 4.1.5.] Pausanias, who wrote in the middle of the second century A.D., claimed that the Artemis cult was the most widely followed one in the ancient world. [Note: Pausanias, Description of Hellas 4.31.8, cited by Witherington, p. 587.]

The temple of Diana in Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and many historians believe it was one of the most beautiful buildings ever built. [Note: See my comments on Acts 19:1-2 above.] It stood on the side of Mount Pion about a mile northeast of the city and served as a bank as well as a place of worship and cultic immorality. It could accommodate about 25,000 people and was probably the largest Greek temple ever built. Its centerpiece was evidently a meteorite that resembled a woman with many breasts. Other meteorites that became sacred cult objects were at Troy, Pessinus, Enna, and Emeas. [Note: See Longenecker, p. 502.]

The silversmiths in Ephesus took Artemis as their patron saint and, among their other wares, made miniature silver shrines containing images of the goddess that they sold to devotees. As Christianity spread, interest in Artemis and the market for her statuettes declined. The leader of the guild that made these trinkets was Demetrius.

"When pilgrims came to Ephesus they liked to take a souvenir home. These silversmiths were makers of little silver model shrines which were bought and sold as souvenirs." [Note: Barclay, p. 160.]

Alternatively, worshippers may have presented these model shrines as votive offerings when they visited the temple, as some people purchase candles that they proceed to light and leave in churches today. [Note: Witherington, p. 590.]