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Pergamum
After the death of Alexander the Great, one of
his generals who is called Lysimachus chose Pergamum as the depository
for his wealth. He placed nine thousand talents of gold in Pergamum
under the guardianship of Philetaerus who was his lieutenant. After
the death of Lysimachus, Philetaerus took advantage of this wealth
and founded the independent dynasty of Attalid Kings which later
became the centre of Hellenistic civilization. With the success
of the two kings Attalus I and Eumenes II, Pergamum reached the
highest point of its power. However during those time Rome and the
Hellenistic leaders united. After that Pergamum became a very powerful
kingdom by Attalus I including Mysia, Lydia, Caria, Pamphylia and
Phrygia. He not only extended the borders but also decorated the
capital city with architectural splendors. Eumenes II improved the
city culturally. King Attalus III bequeathed the territory to the
Romans who made the city rich in art and culture poor in politics
and economy. The city went through the Arab, Byzantine and finally
the Turkish period in the 14C. In Hellenistic period the ancient
city made an intellectual progress with the famous sculpture school
and public buildings and monuments. Also Pergamum played an important
role during the reign of the Romans.
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The
foundation of acropolis in Pergamum depended on social and cultural
activities which we can consider it to be the daily life. Because
of this, buildings in Pergamum were designed to be used in daily
life. More than religion socialization was important as a proof
even the temples were one of the meeting places of people where
they can join in social affairs just like other large buildings
which were designed for this purpose. Pergamum had the fame to be
the first city who showed reaction to the functional urbanism of
Hippodamus as they preferred ornamental urbanism. Acropolis buildings
were built and designed with the aim of impressing the ones viewing
the city from the valley. All buildings except the Trajan Temple
were built in the reign of the Hellenistic emperors which are mostly
made of andesite and rarely marble.
Heroon in Pergamum was the shrine in which the
kings especially Attalus I and Eumenes II were worshipped.
Eumenes II built the Sanctuary of Athena, dedicated
to victory-bringing, in Pergamum which was entered through a propylon.
The entrance of the Sanctuary is surrounded by three stoas of the
Doric order which opens to a courtyard. Athena Temple is located
at the corner near the theatre in Doric order as well which was
built earlier.
Another building constructed by Eumenes II is
the Library of Pergamum. It was the second of the three famous ancient
libraries which contained two hundred thousand volumes and which
were given to Cleopatra a century later as a wedding present by
Mark Antony to be added to the ones in the library of Alexandria.
The library is located north of the Athena Sanctuary. The Library
of Pergamum was rich in sources but when the Egyptians prohibited
the export of papyrus, Pergamum King ordered a new material to be
found which can take the place of papyrus. What they found was called
parchment which was a material made of sheep or goat skin. It was
polished first with pumice stone and then slit into sheets. Because
of this, the word parchment is used as a synonym of the name Pergamum.
In the 2nd century Hadrian who was the successor
of Trojan have the Temple of Trojan built in Pergamum in Corinthian
order and dedicated it to Trojan itself. It was built of marble.
The Theatre of Pergamum is said to be the steepest
raked Hellenistic theatre in the world. The cavea of the theatre
consists of eighty rows of seats is divided into three sections
by two diazomas. The theatre is designed for ten thousand people
in which andesite was used to construct. One can see the typical
Hellenistic characteristics of a theatre. Firstly it had no permanent
stage building and people were able to see outside and beyond the
playing area from where they were seated.
Zeus Altar can be accepted as the finest altar
ever built. It was built in 180BC without a temple which is unusual.
The altar which is a marble offering-table is on a huge stone plinth
which also supports the double colonnade of Ionic columns.
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