Ephesus Archaeological Museum

The Ephesus Archaeological Museum is small but the contents are exceptional — most of the portable finds from a century of excavations on the site, including two famous statues of the cult image of Artemis of Ephesus, household objects from the Terrace Houses, and the bronze head of a Roman athlete that is one of the finest portrait bronzes in the eastern Mediterranean.

The museum is in the centre of Selçuk and is essential context for the Ephesus visit — ideally do the museum first, then the site, since most of the better statuary that once stood at Ephesus is now here under cover. Allow ninety minutes. Audio guides in English are available at the entrance.

things to do museum
A story
The museum's two cult statues of Artemis — covered head to toe in rows of egg-like protrusions long described as multiple breasts — are now thought by many scholars to actually depict bull testicles, the bull being a sacred animal of Artemis-Cybele. The point of all the bulbous shapes is fertility either way; the precise body parts are an open argument.

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