About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the crafstmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades , and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all.”
– Acts 19:23-26
The Ephesian Artemis was well-known (even outside of Ephesus), not least because of the size of her temple! In this account taken from Acts, a silversmith complains about Paul’s evangelistic work as hurting business (and even the honor of Artemis, v27). Phil Harland recently posted (and plans some future posts) on the Ephesian Artemis here. Check it out for a bit of background information!