354 Stephan Witetschek century CE presented above is supported by a contemporary literary source. These coins can thus more plausibly be interpreted in the sense that, in the second half of the 1st century, citizens of Ephesos could indeed refer to their city as newkovro" of the city goddess Artemis. In the interpretation of Acts 19, exegetes profit greatly from the more than occasional glance into the field of ancient history. It has proven enormously helpful to locate biblical texts in their historical con-texts (in the widest sense). In the case of Acts 19,35, however, exegetes are not only on the receiving, but also on the giving side. This is one remarkable occasion where a text from the New Testament can contribute in a productive way to a discussion among historians. * ** What do we learn from this tour through diverse historical and exegetical problems? Acts 19 is a historical source. But it has to be taken into account that Luke does not straightforwardly report “what really happened”. History serves as a vehicle of theology, telling history is a way of speaking about God’s guidance and of reassuring the present audience of their present identity by pointing to their roots in the normative past: This, I would contend, is what Luke means by the ajsfavleia he wishes to convey to Theophilos about what the latter has learnt (Luke 1,4). Luke commits himself to this theological and indeed pastoral endeavour at a particular point in space and time, some elements of which are present in Acts 19. Thus, when the “Karl May rule” is applied, Acts 19 may not be an absolutely and unquestionably trustworthy historical source that might unequivocally inform us about events in the 50s of the 1st century, but it is a source that informs us about Luke’s concerns in his own time. The strong Ephesian local colour does not guarantee historical accuracy, but it gives some clues about the world in which Luke lived — as is argued here, the Ephesos of the late 1st century, where the office of asiarchs had acquired new prominence and the cult of Artemis lost nothing of its vitality. It is in this sense that Acts 19 is a highly important source — for both exegetes and historians. Universität Regensburg Stephan WITETSCHEK Katholisch-Theologische Fakultät Universitätsstraße 31 D-93053 Regensburg, Germany