Page 146 - Perished Nations

The cave in
Ephesus seen
from the outside.

In the year 250 BC, seven young people living in Ephesus choose Christi-
anity and reject idolatry. Trying to find a way out, these young people find
a cave in the eastern slope of the Pion mountain. The Roman soldiers see
this and build a wall to the entrance of the cave. 45
Today, it is acknowledged that over these old ruins and graves, many
religious constructions are built. Excavations made by the Austrian Archa-
eological Institute in 1926, revealed that the ruins found on the eastern slo-
pe of the Pion mountain belonged to a construction built on behalf of the
Companions of the Cave in the middle of the fifth century (during the ru-
le of Theodosius II). 46

Are the Companions of the Cave in Tarsus?
The second place presented as a possibility for where the Companions
of the Cave lived, is Tarsus. Indeed, there is a cave that is very similar to
the one described in the Qur'an, which is located on a mountain known
either as Encilus or Bencilus, to the north-west of Tarsus.
The idea that Tarsus is the correct location is the view of many Islamic
scholars. One of the most important Qur’anic interpreters, at-Tabari specifi-
ed the name of the mountain where the cave stood as "Bencilus" in his bo-
ok named Tarikh al-Umam, and added that this mountain was in Tarsus. 47
Again, another famous commentator on the Qur’an, Muhammed Emin

Harun Yahya
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