Editing Ephesus (section)

==== Archaic period ====
[[File:Ephesus street scene.jpg|300px|left|thumb|Street scene at the archeological excavations at Ephesus.]]
Ephesus became an important ally to the [[Lydia|kingdom of Lydia]] because, like other Ionian cities, it had a port that provided land locked Lydia with trade. Hence, its rulers were connected with the [[Mermnad]] dynasty by marriage. Melas the Elder was the brother-in-law of [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]] (680-652 BC), while his grandson Miletus married the daughter of [[Ardys of Lydia|Ardys]] in the late 7th c. BC. This may explain why in 640 BC, Ephesus and the sanctuary of Artemis were raided, following [[Sardis]], by the [[Cimmerians]], a warlike people who had destroyed the kingdom of [[Phrygia]] in central Anatolia decades before. Pythagoras became a tyrant towards the late 7th century BC and adopted an anti-aristocratic policy. Melas the Younger must have succeeded him in power, while his son Pindar was a tyrant when his uncle [[Croesus]] ascended to the Lydian throne. In the conflict over the Lydian throne Pindar took the side of [[Croesus]]’ half-brother Pantaleon.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia  |last=Paleothodoros |first=Dimitris |title=Ephesus (Antiquity) |url=http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemma.aspx?lemmaId=8197 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World: Asia Minor |year=2006}}</ref>
[[File:Ephesos 620-600 BC.jpg|right|thumb|[[Electrum]] coin from Ephesus, 620–600 BC. Obverse: Forepart of stag. Reverse: Square incuse punch.]]
Croesus besieged the city, but the Ephesians connected the walls with a rope extending to the sacred Artemisium and thus were spared. Consequently, Pindar was exiled and Ephesus made peace with Lydia, while Croesus is said to have regretted the sacrilege and thus became the main contributor to the reconstruction of the temple of Artemis.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cremin |first=Aedeen |url=https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi00aede/page/173 |title=The World Encyclopedia of Archaeology |publisher=Firefly Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-55407-311-5 |location=Richmond Hill, Ontario |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi00aede/page/173 173]}}</ref>

Later in the same century, the Lydians under Croesus went to war against Persia, which had recently conquered the [[Median kingdom|Median Kingdom]]. The Ionians refused a peace offer from [[Cyrus the Great]], siding with the Lydians instead. After the Persians defeated Croesus, the Ionians offered to make peace, but Cyrus insisted that they surrender and become part of the empire.<ref>Herodotus i. 141</ref> They were defeated by the Persian army commander [[Harpagos]] in 547&nbsp;BC. The Persians then incorporated the Greek cities of Asia Minor into the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. Those cities were then ruled by [[satrap]]s.

Ephesus has intrigued archaeologists because for the Archaic Period there is no definite location for the settlement. There are numerous sites to suggest the movement of a settlement between the Bronze Age and the Roman period, but the silting up of the natural harbours as well as the movement of the Kayster River meant that the location never remained the same.