Behramkale (Assos)

Day 4 we were up early and on the road.  The only negative thing about our trip was the amount of time we spent on the bus.  Probably an average of 8 hours daily.  Bathroom stops (with 90 people) are quite interesting.  As you can imagine the women's line is usually a little slower moving.  Every field trip I thank God I am male.  This little town at the base of Assos had 4 stalls  for the whole town.  A bathroom guide for field trips would probably sell well or maybe male disguises would work.

Ruins of Temple of Athena in Assos

 

 After leaving Plato, Aristotle came to Assos and opened the Academy of Assos, marrying Pythias, King Hermia's (also a student of Plato) daughter.  When the Persians invaded and killed the king, Aristotle escaped to Macedonia where he became Alexander the Great's tutor.

View of Isle of Lesbos from Assos

Assos, on the Aegean coast, has a harbour where Paul met his companions and sailed to Mitylene on the Island of Lesbos, to Samos and then on to Miletus

 Reconstructed Temple of Trajan (the original is in Berlin, Germany).

 Pergamum is located 16 mi from the Aegean Sea.  The Attalids (descendents for Attalus) were supporters of Rome against Phillip V of Macedon.  They remodeled the acropolis after the Acropolis in Athens. 

Theater

It sits next to the library which housed 200,000 volumes and was the second largest in the ancient world after Alexandria.  Parchment was invented in Pergamum after relations with Egypt soured and papyrus became difficult to obtain.

This theater is one of the steepest ones preserved in Turkey today.  It sits on the edge of the city's acropolis.  It was built in the Hellenistic period and altered in the Roman period.  

Seating capacity of this theater is estimated at 10,000 people.

Great Altar of Hercules

The Book of Revelation describes Pergamum as the place "where Satan's throne is" (2:13).  While discussing John's statement several students noticed ticks and spiders on their skin...interesting.  We quickly shook the dust (and the spiders) off our feet and left.

Jenessa Duffy and Erica Clark (Bus Docs entrance to Aesclipium

We have been blessed to have bus docs or people interested in medicine to help me and Christine with our responsibilities.  We teach them how to give the students two aspirin and call us in the morning.

Aesclepium

The god of healing, Aesclepius received worship in cultic centers around the Greek and Roman world.  This large complex at Pergamum was originally constructed in the 4th century B.C. and became an official center in the the 3rd c.  

In the 2nd c. A.D., Hadrian further developed the center and it was added to the list of "wonders of the world."

Serapeum

The Temple of Isis or Serapisis also called the Red Basilica is about 1 mile south of the acropolis in Pergamum.

A temple to the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld was erected in the lower city of Pergamum.  The Serapis cult was founded by Ptolemy I and was centered in Alexandria.  

Held to be a god of healing, particularly of blindness,  Serapis was one of a number of Egyptian deities worshiped in ancient Greece and Rome.

Converted to a church in 1st Century AD and was one of the 7 Churches that the Book of Revelation was addressed. (Rev 2:12)