gengwall

Hi Don. Although the temple in Ephesus was officially the temple of Artemis, by the first century the Romanized populace had associated Artemis with Diana and the cult that persisted had the Roman Diana at the center. It was Diana who was idolized by the artisans and silver smiths in Ephesus when the citizens rioted against Paul’s teaching in acts:

“For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.” (Acts 19:24-27 KJV)

Diana and Artemis were in essence the same goddess (at least in Ephesus) – Artemis to the Greeks and Diana to the Romans. Today, Diana is still worshipped as “mother of all” in wicca, where she is often referred to as Artemis-Diana. At any rate, the cult in Ephesus at the time of the apostles was decidely “dianic”, not “artemisian”.