Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-03-08
IMPORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIS.
M VA lllN .la COYERY.

The Temple Of Diana at Ephesus
Brought TO Ligpt-The Marbles
shipped TO the british Museum.
Smyrna (Jan. 81 Cor. London Times.1
Most people have heard of those fa-
nous Seven Sleepers of Ephesus who,
taking refuge from the prosecutions Of
Diocletian at the close of the third CEN
tury, fell asleep there, and woke up two
centuries afterwards to find new world
and Christian empire. Scarcely less
romantic have been the fortunes Of the
famous Temple of Diana, Of Ephesus,
one of the seven wonders of the ancient
world Destroyed by an earthquake,
and plundered by the Goths in the third
century of the Christian era it served
as a quarry for the architects of the By
zantine city built at Ephesus, probably
in the time Of Justinian, till the APPETITE
for plunder being exhausted, the rem
nants Of the ruins was allowed to silt up
silently under the slow bat sure action
of alluvial deposit. Thus the very site
of the world-famous temple was oblite-
rated till the British enterprise, piercing
through twenty-five feet of alluvial de-
posit, came suddenly on the marble
pavement, still strewn with broken
columns. capitals, and fragments ofscnlp-
'tufe.. This discovery, one Of the hap
NEST efforts of archaeology in our time,
Is due to the persevering energy and
sagacity of Mr.. Wood, who, having
searched for the site of the temple since
1863, first at his own expense, and sub
sequently with funds supplied by the
trustees of the British Museum, has been
rewarded, after long years of toll, by the
discovery of the site, which was finally
aseertained about this time last year.
During the last twelye-month a large
area of the temple has been cleared to
the pavement, and various architectural
marbles have been found, more or less
mutilated. lying as they had been left by
the barbarous despoilers in Byzantine
times. The diameter Of these columns
Of the temple being six feet, the scale of
the architecture is, of course, colossal,
exceeding. It is believed, in proportions
the celebrated Temple Of Jupiter Olym-
pus at Athens, the temple of Branchides,
and all extant examples OF Greek archi-
lecture. ,
The great weight OF the marbles dis
covered rendered it necessary for Mr..
Wood to apply for naval aid, which was
supplied by the British government with
that alacrity which has distinguished the
Admiralty in the history of our recent
archaeological expeditions, and which can
alone insure the complete success OF such
arduous enterprises. Her Majesty
shin Caledonia, a grand old ifon-olad
was at once sent to Mr..
Wood s assistance, and has been engaged
since the beginning Of this month at
Ephesus and Smyrna In hauling, pack
ing. and shipping the marbles OF the
temple selected by Mr.. Wood for the
British museum. i have been favored
with A sight of these huge masses before
thew we're packed. The largest, weigh
ing upward Of eleven tons, is part Of 9
drum Of one iof the c8late columne
mentioned BY Pliny-i. E., columns with |
figures sculptured on them, Of which The !
temple had lthirty-six. OF this bold, /
,-sCing innovation in Greek architecture
h. re- ,xists, il is believed, no other ex-
,mnle az, 'ept at Ephesas. The relief on
~ S-nn, apears TO represent an as /
- hIaaa &c "a. lies, of whom the only |
,ne who can be '0s,Isely $500 ,aeti;lrss 1n
I is being draped femaae ngures; on
tone from a pilsster core. oenelnk ~
to the sculptured q. 1", u
elief representing Hercules strugk. -
nth draped female figure, and on an
'ther fragment Of drum are the lower