diana Summary and Overview

so called by the Romans; called Artemis by the Greeks, the "great" goddess worshipped among heathen nations under various modifications. Her most noted temple was that at Ephesus. It was built outside the city walls, and was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. "First and last it was the work of 220 years; built of shining marble; 342 feet long by 164 feet broad; supported by a forest of columns, each 56 feet high; a sacred museum of masterpieces of sculpture and painting. At the centre, hidden by curtains, within a gorgeous shrine, stood the very ancient image of the goddess, on wood or ebony reputed to have fallen from the sky. Behind the shrine was a treasury, where, as in 'the safest bank in Asia,' nations and kings stored their most precious things. The temple as St. Paul saw it subsisted till A.D. 262, when it was ruined by the Goths" (Acts 19:23-41)., Moule on Ephesians: Introd.

This Latin word, properly denoting a Roman divinity, is the representative of the Greek Artemus, the tutelary goddess of the Ephesians, who plays so important a part in the narrative of Acts 19. The Ephesian Diana was, however, regarded as invested with very different attributes, and is rather to be identified with Astarte and other female divinities of the East. The head wore a mural crown, each hand held a bar of metal, and the lower part ended in a rude block covered with figures of animals and mystic inscriptions. This idol was regarded as an object of peculiar sanctity, and was believed to have fallen down from heaven. #Ac 19:35|

DIA'NA , a heathen goddess of great celebrity, whose worship was attended with peculiar splendor and magnificence at Ephesus, her guardian city. Acts 19:28. Her magnificent temple in that city was ranked among the Seven Wonders of the world. It was 220 years in building. Pliny tells us that it was 425 feet long and 220 in breadth, and that it was adorned with 127 columns, each 60 feet high, 27 of which were curiously carved and the rest polished. Little silver models of the temple, with the image of the goddess enshrined in them (see the opposite cut), were made for sale, and were disposed of in such quantities as to afford profitable work for many hands. Acts 19:24-25. See Demetrius. In this temple there was "the image Diana of Ephesus. (From Lewin's "St. Paul.") (This figure was taken from an alabaster image in the museum of Naples, but it is in great measure ideal. A more accurate representation is on the coin, following.) which fell down from Jupiter," a rude wooden image having a head decorated with a mural crown; "each hand held a bar of metal, and the lower part ended in a rude block carved with figures of Temple of Diana. (From a Coin in the Pembroke Collection.) animals and mystic inscriptions." Later figures had many breasts, evidently symbolical of the reproductive powers of Nature, and therefore it was a sort of companion-idol to Ashtoreth. No bloody sacrifices were offered in her worship. Her temple in Ephesus was the treasury in which immense quantities of wealth were stored up, and was also a place of safety. It was beloved with singular passion, and hence the insinuation that Paul's preaching tended to lower the regard for it led to the uproar so graphically described in Acts 19. See Ephesus, Paul.

(di an' uh) Roman goddess with similar characteristics to the Greek Artemis. KJV reads "Diana" in Acts, where Greek and most modern translations read "Artemis." See Artemis