Pergamon
Separate articles treat the Pergamon Museum, in Berlin, Germany, and the Pergamon Press United Kingdom. |
View from Pergamon looking down on the city of Bergama. |
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The Kingdom of Pergamon (colored olive) shown at its greatest extent in 188 BC. |
Pergamon or
Pergamum (
Greek:
Πέργαμος, modern day
Bergama in
Turkey, ) was an ancient
Greek city, in
Mysia, northwestern
Anatolia, 16 miles from the
Aegean Sea, located on a
promontory on the north side of the river
Caicus (modern day
Bakırçay), that became an important kingdom during the
Hellenistic period, under the
Attalid dynasty,
282-
129 BC.
The Attalids, the descendants of
Attalus, the father of
Philetaerus who came to power in
282 BC, were among the most loyal supporters of
Rome among the Hellenistic successor states. Under
Attalus I, they allied with Rome against
Philip V of Macedon, during the
first and
second Macedonian Wars, and again under
Eumenes II, 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.
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The Great Altar of Pergamon, on display in Berlin, Germany |
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 Pergamum after the
Acropolis in Athens. The Great Altar of Pergamon is in the Pergamon Museum of Berlin.
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Model of the city of Pergamon, Staatliche Museen Berlin |
Pergamon had the second best
library in the ancient Greek civilisation, after
Alexandria. 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
parchment after the city. This was made of fine
calf skin, a predecessor of
vellum.
When
Attalus III died without an heir in
133 BC he bequeathed Pergamon to Rome, in order to prevent a civil war.
Close to the city was a sanctuary of
Asclepius, the god of healing. In this place people with health problems could bath in the water of the sacred spring, and in the patients' dreams Asklepios 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.
In the
first century AD, the
Christian Church at Pergamon was one of the
Seven Churches to which the
Book of Revelation was addressed (Revelation 1:11,
NRSV).
* Hansen, Esther V. (1971).
The Attalids of Pergamon. Ithaca, New York:
Cornell University Press; London: Cornell University Press Ltd. ISBN 0801406153.
*
Encyclopaedia of Turkey: Ancient Pergamum*
Rosa Valderrama, "Pergamum": brief history
*
Pergamon art*
Photographic tour of old and new Pergammon, including the museum*
Pergamon pictures 
