Home > Categories > History > Asia and Africa > Ancient History, Middle East > Pergamum

Pergamum

From: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

Pergamum , ancient city of NW Asia Minor, in Mysia (modern Turkey), in the fertile valley of the Caicus. It became important c.300 BC, after the breakup of the Macedonian empire, when a Greek family (the Attalids) established a brilliant center of Hellenistic civilization. The kingdom achieved major importance under Attalus I (d. 197 BC), Eumenes II (d. 160 or 159), and Attalus II (d. 138). These kings followed a pro-Roman policy through fear of the imperialism of Philip V of Macedon and of Antiochus III of Syria. The independence of Pergamum ended dramatically when Attalus III (d.133) bequeathed the kingdom to the Roman people. The chief glory of Pergamum was its sculpture, at two periods. The first Pergamene school (c.250-200) celebrated the decisive victory (c.230) of Attalus I over the Galatians; the Dying Gaul is an example of the realism of the art. The later period (200-150) produced a frieze for a great altar of Zeus, glorifying especially the defeat (190) of Antiochus III of Syria at Magnesia . Pergamum was the birthplace of Galen . The cultured Pergamene rulers also built up a library second only to the one at Alexandria. One of the library's specialties was the use of parchment , which takes its name from the city. Eventually the library was given by Antony to Cleopatra. Under Rome, Pergamum was reconstituted as the province of Asia, and Ephesus rapidly eclipsed Pergamum as the chief city of Asia Minor. Pergamum accepted Christianity early; it was one of the Seven Churches of Asia (Rev.1.11; 2.12). Various forms of the name are Pergamus, Pergamon, and Pergamos. The modern town of Bergama, Izmir prov., is on the site of ancient Pergamum.

Bibliography: See R. B. McShane, Foreign Policy of the Attalids of Pergamum (1964).

Author not available, PERGAMUM., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press

For permission to reuse this article, contact Copyright Clearance Center.

Related articles from HighBeam Research:

	The Lost Letters of Pergamum: A Story from the New Testament World Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 9/1/2004; Arnold, Clinton E; 903 words; The Lost Letters of Pergamum: A Story from the New Testament World ... correspondences between a Roman nobleman in Pergamum and Luke, the author of the canonical ... a private home under excavation in Pergamum. This would be a rather miraculous ...
	A Journey of Faith - The seven churches addressed in revelation each have a story to tell. World and I; 7/1/2000; Mas, Raymond J.; 3048 words; ... churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to ... contain a number of good museums. Ancient pergamum Several hours by car from Smyrna (two ... John) brought me to the site of ancient Pergamum. When John addressed the city in Revelation ...
	The Rising Sun and the Turkish Crescent, New Perspectives on the History of Japanese and Turkish Relations.(Book Review) Canadian Journal of History; 8/1/2004; Murphy, Kevin C.; 927 words; ... 000 TL (cloth). The sight of Japanese tourist groups roaming the grounds of Topkapi palace and poking about in the ruins of Pergamum and Troy suggests that Turkey is neither inaccessible nor unknown to contemporary Japan. The publication in English of this ...
	A planet unfree: what does human rights have to do with environmental protection? Everything. (big business and government forces oppress people if they protest pollution and the exploitation of natural resources)(The Next Generation)(Cover Story) Sierra; 11/1/1997; Sachs, Aaron; 2478 words; ... November day in 1996, a line of logging trucks rumbled into an old olive-growing region of Turkey, near the ancient Pillars of Pergamum. The government- paid loggers had come to clear land for a new gold-mining project sponsored by the French-based conglomerate ...
	Key cuts tour price. (Hot Products).(Key Tours)(Brief Article) Travel Agent; 5/6/2002; 82 words; ... Turkey program is being offered at a lower price than last year. The tour, which visits Istanbul, Canakkale, Izmir, Ephesus, Pergamum and Pamukkale, costs $695 per person double, land only, including 10 meals, transfers, accommodations and sightseeing. The ...
	LETTER:Charitable charade of academia The Independent - London; 10/6/1995; Mr Robert Allen; 105 words; ... children's shoes are. In the Eighties, Oxford University Press published a monograph of mine on the Hellenistic kingdom of Pergamum. No one else could have published it; nor could OUP if Germaine Greer had her way. Yet I am told there are people who find ...
	Ancient neuroscience: doctors in the Ancient Near East and the entity that reasons and speaks. Journal of Medical Speech - Language Pathology; 12/1/2003; Freemon, Frank R.; 11643 words; ... personality. Galen was born in the city of Pergamum in the fall of the year A.D. 129. Pergamum (also spelled Pergamon) was a city of Hellenistic ... Following the breakup of the Alexandrian Empire, Pergamum became an independent kingdom but was absorbed ...
	Focus on newcomers. (Hot Products).(Brief Article) Travel Agent; 5/6/2002; 93 words; ... is the most comprehensive package, visiting Ankara, Cappadocia, Konya, Antalya, Pamukkale, Aphrodisias, Kusadasi, Ephesus, Pergamum, Canakkale, Troy, Gallipoli and Istanbul. Priced in two tiers of a Value Plan (from $1,390 per person double) and a Deluxe ...
	Tourlite's turkish treasures. (Hot Products).(Tourlite International tour)(Brief Article) Travel Agent; 2/4/2002; 69 words; ... Treasures of Turkey visits Istanbul, Ankara, Cappadocia. Konya, Pamukkale, Hierapolis, Aphrodisias, Kusadasi, Ephesus, Izmir, Pergamum, Troy, Canakkale and Gallipoli. Priced from $1,429 per person double, the package includes roundtrip air from New York, transfers ...
	Deborah Smithton: born to the manor. (senior architect at McKinley Associates Inc.) San Diego Business Journal; 8/18/1997; Harman, Liz; 1035 words; ... houses for Barbie, to half-million-dollar homes, she was meant to design buildings Traveling through the ancient Greek cities of Pergamum and Ephesus in May, architect Deborah Smithton was more than a little bit in awe. It was amazing seeing the columns, arches ...
	Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John: Reading Revelation in the Ruins The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 10/1/2002; Thompson, Leonard L; 844 words; ... few archaeological remains such as the imperial temple at Pergamum-identified as the "throne of Satan" (Rev 2:13)-or the gigantic ... would involve not only writing clearly but also providing maps and photographs in focus and integrated with the text of ... Rome and Julius at Ephesus; another to Rome and Augustus ...
	FOLLOWERS MUST TRACK HOLY SPIRIT AS THEY WOULD THE WIND Evansville Courier & Press; 7/19/2003; Rev. Cleoramae Graper; 545 words; ... Isle of Patmos, he addressed a specific message to each church in turn. He spoke to "the church of Ephesus," "the church in Pergamum," "the church in Thyatira," and so forth. All seven were addressed as churches, and doubtless they considered themselves such ...
	BRIEFLY; SPEAKING.(Triad) The News & Record (Piedmont Triad, NC); 2/27/2008; 186 words; ... mentioned in the second and third chapters of Revelation. The churches visited on the journey are those in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, ancient Troy, Philadelphia, Laodicea, Phillippi, and Miletus. The Rev. Gary Nelson will share some background ...
	Strabo, Plutarch, Porphyry and the Transmission and Composition of Aristotle's Rhetoric-a Hunch Rhetoric Society Quarterly; 1/1/2006; McAdon, Brad; 11896 words; ... searching for books to establish a library in Pergamum, they hid the books in a sort of underground ... attempting to stock the new library at Pergamum (just south of Scepsis), hid the texts ... Eumenes II was responsible for developing Pergamum into "the city that it had become" by ...
	Meddygon mentrus yr henfyd.(Features) Daily Post (Liverpool, England); 8/16/2003; 251 words; ... ei ddatgelu yn ail rifyn y gyfres Ynil i'r Dyfodol,nos Iau. Yn ystod y rhaglenbydd Dafydd yn olrhain hanes syfrdanol Galen o Pergamum,awdurdod meddygol penna'r henfyd. Dechreuodd ei yrfa fel llawfeddyg i'r gladiatoriaid a gwnaeth ymchwil fanwl ar sut y mae ...