This thematic concentration comprises an engagement with the social system of the sanctuary and its socio-political significance, particularly with regard to the right to shelter those seeking protection and persecuted individuals. The just treatment of the weak and defenseless is a powerful marker for a strong community which is why this key topic is particularily meaningful. This form of asylum, known as hikesia or hiketeia in Greek, was principally possible in sacred spaces. Literary and epigraphic sources attest that also the Ephesian Artemision, since time immemorial a hikesia sanctuary known supra-regionally, was recognised by the Roman authorities as a place of asylum.
It can be assumed from the numerous possibilities for accommodation for those seeking protection, that these must also have existed within the sacred area. Furthermore there must also have been housing for priests, servants of the temple, and cult personnel. In this current project, it is planned on the one hand to compile and interpret the literary and epigraphic sources regarding the social structure of the sanctuary as well as regarding the specific thematic issue of asylum. On the other hand, by means of an architectural-historical and archaeological analysis of the temenos, it is also intended to examine whether the infrastructure of the sanctuary (living space, water supply, storage capacities, production of nourishment) provides evidence for a large number of asylum-seekers staying there for a long time. A special area within the sanctuary, which was separated from the actual cult organisation and reserved for those seeking asylum, can also be assumed.
It can also be assumed that during the Late Antique and Byzantine periods, the right of asylum was transferred to the church, yet nevertheless detailed investigations for Ephesos are lacking until now as to whether the asylum areas of the Artemision were, as it were, taken over by one of the numerous churches or pilgrimage sites.