The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus were a group of youths in 250 who faced persecution. According to the legend, seven young men were accused of following Christianity. Instead of recanting the faith, and knowing they would face death, they gave away their possessions to the poor and went away to a cave to pray. The seven young men (and their dog) fell asleep. Rather than going in and pulling the men out, the emperor ordered the cave be sealed up, thus sealing the fate of the men inside.

However, almost 200 years later in 447, a local landowner opened up the sealed cave, hoping to use the space as a cattle pen. He found the young men inside, awake, and thinking only a day had passed. They sent of their number down into Ephesus to buy food. Upon entering the city, the man was surprised to see Christianity openly practiced, with crosses on buildings. In turn, the townspeople were surprised to find a man trying to buy food with coins from the reign of Decius.

The bishop summoned the men and questioned them, determining they instead were the men thought martyred two centuries earlier, miraculously spared.

As a legend, this one is widely popularly and thus has been altered many times, with many making local connections. While a Christian legend, first spread in the sixth century, the story also appears the Qur’an (The Sura of the Cave). It is the Quranic story that includes the dog, traditionally named Qitmir, as a companion to the seven men. Different versions of the legend contain different numbers of men, and the number of years they slept also differs. Gregory of Tours suggested as long as 373 years, while Jacobus de Voragine said 196). There is also large debate on which cave outside of Ephesus this was, with claimants in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and even as far as Azerbaijan and Tunisia. During the Crusades, bones from sepulchures near Ephesus, identified as the Seven Sleepers, were moved to Marseille, France.

It’s also easy to see how this story inspired later ones, such as Rib van Winkle. What is it that makes us drawn to stories of men outside of their time? Perhaps it’s our longing to connect to people we can never reach or our fascination with a dimension we cannot navigate. The idea of escaping the linear progression of time, of jumping back or ahead and being “out of time,” of where we are supposed to be, feels fantastical. It also causes us to wonder, how would those who came before us, who paved the way for us, feel about our time? Would they be pleased, like the Seven Sleepers to see Christianity’s triumph? Or would they be disappointed at moral decline and feeling like an alien on their own land? I think such speculations is what makes the Seven Sleepers such an enduring legend.

In the East, the Seven Sleepers’ feast day is Aug. 4. In the West, it is July 27.