Diana in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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Who is Diana?
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.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'diana' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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