A recent article by James Edwards in Biblical Archaeology Review sheds new light on the authenticity of the Apostle Paul's visit to Ephesus and the riot that ensued there - complete with inscriptions and figurines and the theater where the riot took place.
The account from the Bible in Acts 19 is filled with details about Ephesus and its way of life. In 1984, a monument was discovered that corroborated Luke’s account of the prominence of silversmiths in the region of Ephesus. The inscription on the monument stated that it had been paid for by the silversmiths and called their city the “greatest metropolis of Asia, and the temple guardian of the venerable Ephesians.”
It's interesting to note that both the inscription and Luke's account in Acts 19 use the same Greek word, neokoros, or guardian, in describing the relationship between Ephesus and the temple.
The article concludes with these words - “Luke knew what he was talking about in recording the riot in the theater. His claim at the outset of the two part work (Luke/Acts) to have ‘investigated everything accurately and reported them orderly’ is substantiated in Acts 19.”
