Pergamon - seat of satan!?
Revelation 2:12-13 and to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. 13 I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”
Pergamum of Asia Minor was one of the 7 churches of the book of Revelations. Revelations refers to an early Christian martyr, Antipas, who was killed in Pergamum “where satan dwells”. Pergamum was a “neokoron” of the Roman Empire- meaning temple keeper of the emperor where the emperor was to be worshipped and called “the son of the most high”. The temple to Emperor Trajan could
be the “seat of Satan” referred to in revelations, or it could be the temple to Zeus which was enormous, built into a high point on the hillside and would have been visible for miles around.
The upper city of Pergamum is an amazing archeological site. The engineering required to perch these massive Greek and Roman structures on this hill adds to our continual wonderment at the knowledge and skill of ancient builders.
The altar to Zeus only remains as the platform with steps. The rest of the altar was taken to Berlin Germany and reassembled/reconstructed at the Pergamum museum along with many other artifacts.
The Greek theater at Pergamum has the distinction of being the steepest theater of the ancient world - and it is dizzying!! It would have been quite a site to see 10,000 people filing down those steep steps! At the bottom of the theater to the north on a terrace is the temple of Dionysus. The stage area is right at the edge of the hill with the structures on the hillside supported by an arch system underneath.
Trajans temple, or Trajaneum, is the “newest” structure of the upper city and the only Roman structure. There is an altar and statue to Trajan near the entrance.
The Temple to Athena was above the theater on a large terrace and included the famous Pergamum library - second only to the library at Alexandria in the ancient world.
At the uppermost part of the site there are palace and barracks remains and storage rooms and a view of part of the aqueduct system that provided water to the city.
There is much much more to see at Pergamum - the middle city with its gymnasium and bath complex and a temple of Demeter, the lower city with an agora and residential area. The Remains of the Roman era city surrounded the original Greek city and the red basilica is still standing - a temple for Egyptian gods. Further away is the Asclepion, a sanctuary for healing. The soothing water features are still visible, the construction of patient areas in a circular pattern with plenty of openings to allow sunshine in. There is a small theater for patients and a colonnaded entrance to the area. The Asclepius buildings date from 4th - 2nd century BC.
#pergamon #asclepion #BiblicalArchaeology #sevenchurches #turkey
For more biblical archeology travel photos/information check out the links below:
www.scriptureinstone.org
www.highergrounddrone.com/blog
Altar to Zeus - seat of satan?
The greek theater at Pergamon - steepest in the ancient world
