Austria: Artemis of Ephesus

Last Saturday I got three postcards from Austria.

For the first card I would like to show the nice stamp first. It was issued on 17th April 2020 and commemorates the 125th anniversary of Austrian Excavations in Ephesus. Ephesus in modern-day Turkey was one of the most important cities of the ancient World. First a Greek city, it became part of the Roman Empire in 129 BC and was made the capital of the Roman Province of Asia by Emperor Augustus in 27 BC. The most striking buildings surviving until today are the theatre and the Library of Celsus, the most famous building of all of Ephesus however was the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Later Ephesus was also an important centre for Early Christianity and is associated with the Apostles John and Paul and maybe even the Virgin Mary. The start for excavations however was the search for the Temple of Artemis by an English engineer in 1863. In 1895 the Austrians took over and revealed much of the ancient city. This also led to the creation of the Austrian Archaeological Institute three years later. The stamp, which shows a statue of Artemis from the temple, also got a First Day Special Postmark.

The card also shows the same statue of Artemis, which today can be seen in a museum in Ephesus.

Also used on the card was one of the new Austrian definitive stamps showing accessories and ornaments of traditional costumes (issued 01-04-2020). This stamp shows a Astrakhan fur hat from the Seewinkel. Check the next post to see more of them.

Thank You very much Anita!