Ephesus was first constructed on a bay where Kucuk Menderes river (Classical Kaystros) reached the sea in western Anatolia.This area is almost in the middle of ancient Ionia, which has a mild, wet climate, so that it has many natural advantages as a place for people to settle. It was not only situated at an important point joining the West and the East, but was also at the crossroads between Miletus and Ionia.

   The fine arts, the sciences, and philosophers such as Heraclitus and Thales, flourished and developed in Ionia. The cities of Ionia showed strong religious characteristics from the beginning, and became politicallywell-organised. Every city was selfgoverning. Ephesus has always been a city under two influences; indeed it is difficult to separate these two influences from each other; and one has alwas been the cause of the other or the result of it. It is not certain who first founded Ephesus and when. Our first information about it comes from the year 2000 B.C., and its existence was mentioned near the temple of the mother goddes Kybele, a figure who was kater called Artemis. The oldest sources record that the Amazons founded the town, and that it was then inhabited by the Carians and the Lelegians.