Greek City of Pergamon in Asia Minor
Bronze 20mm (10.6 grams) Struck circa 133-49 B.C.
Reference: Sear 3974 var.; B.M.C. 15.127,135-6 var.
Head of Athena right, in crested Corinthian helmet.
Nike standing right holding wreath and palm branch, ΠΕΡΓΑΜΗΝΩΝ to right.
Situated in the Kaikos valley, about 15 miles from the
coast, Pergamon was a city of uncertain origin and of no great importance before
the time of Alexander the Great. In the 3rd century B.C. it became the center of
the independent kingdom ruled by the Attalid dynasty founded by Philetairos. The
city was extended and beautified as the prosperity of the kingdom increased, and
by the late Hellenistic times Pergamon ranked as one of the great cultural
centers of the Greek world. After the end of the kingdom, 133 B.C., Pergamon
became capital of the Roman province of Asia.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
Pergamon, Pergamum or Pérgamo (in
Greek, Πέργαμος) was an ancient
Greek city in modern-day
Turkey, in
Mysia, today
located 16 miles (26 km) from the
Aegean Sea
on a
promontory on the north side of the river
Caicus (modern day
Bakırçay),
that became the capital of the
Kingdom of Pergamon during the
Hellenistic period, under the
Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC. Today, the main sites of ancient Pergamon are
to the north and west of the modern city of
Bergama.
History
The
Attalid kingdom was the
rump state left after the collapse of the
Kingdom of Thrace.
The Attalids, the descendants of Attalus, father of
Philetaerus who came to power in 281 BC following the collapse of the
Kingdom of Thrace, were among the most loyal supporters of
Rome in the Hellenistic world. Under
Attalus I
(241-197 BC), they allied with Rome against
Philip V of Macedon, during the
first and
second
Macedonian Wars, and again under
Eumenes II
(197-158 BC), against
Perseus of Macedon, during the
Third Macedonian War. For support against the
Seleucids, the
Attalids were rewarded with all the former Seleucid domains in
Asia Minor.
The Attalids ruled with intelligence and generosity. Many documents survive
showing how the Attalids would support the growth of towns through sending in
skilled artisans and by remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their
domains to maintain nominal independence. They sent gifts to Greek cultural
sites like Delphi,
Delos, and
Athens. They
defeated the invading
Celts. They remodeled the
Acropolis of Pergamo after the
Acropolis
in Athens. When
Attalus III (138-133 BC) died without an heir in 133 BC he bequeathed the
whole of Pergamon to Rome, in order to prevent a civil war.
According to Christian tradition, the first bishop of Pergamon,
Antipas, was martyred there in ca. 92 AD. (Revelation
2:13)
The
Ottoman Sultan
Murad III
had two large
alabaster urns transported from the ruins of Pergamon and placed on two
sides of the nave in the
Hagia
Sophia in
Istanbul.[1]
Notable
structures
Upper
Acropolis
Model of the Acropolis in the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin
Sketched reconstruction of ancient Pergamon
The
Great Altar of Pergamon is in the
Pergamon Museum, Berlin. The base of this altar remains on the upper part of
the Acropolis. It was perhaps to this altar, believed dedicated to Zeus, that
John of Patmos referred to as "Satan's Throne" in his Book of Revelation
(Revelation 2:12-13).
Other notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the
Acropolis include:
- The Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000. This had the
steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world.[2]
- The Sanctuary of Trajan (also known as the
Trajaneum)
- The Sanctuary of Athena
- The Library a.k.a.
Athenaeum[citation
needed]
- The Royal palaces
- The Heroön - a shrine where the kings of Pergamon, particularly, Attalus
I and Eumenes II, were worshipped.[3]
- The
Temple of Dionysus
- The Upper Agora
- The Roman baths complex
Pergamon's library on the Acropolis (the ancient
Library of Pergamum) is the second best in the ancient Greek civilization.[4]
When the
Ptolemies stopped exporting
papyrus,
partly because of competitors and partly because of shortages, the Pergamenes
invented a new substance to use in
codices, called
pergaminus or pergamena (parchment)
after the city. This was made of fine
calfskin, a
predecessor of
vellum. The library at Pergamom was believed to contain 200,000 volumes,
which
Mark Antony later gave to
Cleopatra as a wedding present.
Lower
Acropolis
The lower part of the Acropolis has the following structures:
- the Upper Gymnasium
- the Middle Gymnasium
- the Lower Gymnasium
- the Temple of
Demeter
- the Sanctuary of
Hera
- the House of Attalus
- the Lower Agora and
- the Gate of
Eumenes
Sanctuary
of Asclepius
Three kilometers south of the Acropolis, down in the valley, there was the
Sanctuary of
Asclepius (also known as the
Asclepieion), the god of healing. In this place people with health problems
could bathe in the water of the sacred spring, and in the patients' dreams
Asclepius would appear in a vision to tell them how to cure their illness.
Archeology has found lots of gifts and dedications that people would make
afterwards, such as small terracotta body parts, no doubt representing what had
been healed. Notable extant structures in the Asclepieion include:
- the Roman theater
- the North Stoa
- the South Stoa
- the Temple of Asclepius
- a circular treatment center (sometimes known as the Temple of
Telesphorus)
- a healing spring
- an underground passageway
- a library
- the Via Tecta (or the Sacred Way, which is a colonnaded street leading
to the sanctuary) and
- a
propylon.
Serapis
Temple
Pergamon's other notable structure is the
Serapis
Temple (Serapeum)
which was later transformed into the Red Basilica complex (or Kizil Avlu in
Turkish), about one kilometer south of the Acropolis. It consists of a main
building and two round towers. In the first century AD, the
Christian Church at Pergamon inside the main building of the Red Basilica
was one of the
Seven Churches to which the
Book of Revelation was addressed (Revelation
2:12). The forecourt is still supported by the 193 m wide
Pergamon Bridge, the largest bridge substruction of antiquity.[5]
|