Pergamum

October 29 - This is the last week the daily ferry runs to Turkey.  So we decided to visit the mainland one last time.  We have seen three of the seven churches of Asia Minor, and maybe it is time to see a couple more.  We started with Pergamum, modern Bergama, which is about a three hour drive north of the port of Kusadasi.

Pergamum was built on the top and sides of a very steep hill which Alexander the Great described as "an eagle's nest."  Indeed, there is a cable car leading from a lower parking lot to the summit.  You can barely make it out in the first picture, but the temple of Trajan was on the summit and the amphitheater can be seen spilling down the hillside just beneath.  The two large trees near the right side stood where the Great Alter of Zeus used to be.  The site was first excavated by German Archaologists and then, by an odd coincidence, the Great Alter ended up in the Berlin Museum.  Perhaps they were trying to demonstrate Christian values to the locals?

Revelation 2:12.  "And to the angel of the church at Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel ..."  

The Great Alter of Zeus was enclosed within three high walls decorated with a continuous strip of carvings that wrapped around each side in the middle.  The frieze depicts a mythological battle between the gods of Olympus and the giants that ruled the subterranean world.  It was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  However, to John, this famous monument to Zeus, the god of gods, was merely "the place where Satan dwells."  I wondered how it was that Antipas, the martyr of Pergamum, came to be in a pagan temple.  Then I noticed that the agora, or marketplace, was directly below the Temple to Zeus.  Perhaps those hostile to the faith found Antipas in the market, dragged him up to the idols, and slew him there.

The Temple of Trajan and the amphitheater can be seen at the top of the hill.  

Pergamum had the dubious honor of the steepest amphitheater in the Greek world.  No, it was not ADA compliant ......

Hadrian built this temple on the summit of the hill around AD 120.  It was not there when John penned the Book of Revelation.

This picture shows where the Great Alter of Zeus was sited

This is a model of "the place where Satan dwells."  The original is in the Berlin Museum.

The Zeus temple complex was on the light colored rock below the trees. The upper Agora, or marketplace, lie immediately below, represented by the orderly rocks in the foreground.  The ancient road from the market to the temple is visible on the right, perhaps the one Antipas took to his death.

Marcus Aurelian Hadrianus