pergamum

Pergamum, also known as Pergamon, was an ancient Greek city in the western part of Asia Minor. It stood on a high hill above the Caicus River, near the site of the modern town of Bergama in present-day Izmir Province, Turkey. The city became the capital of the Attalid dynasty, established around 281 BCE by Philetairos after breaking away from Lysimachus. Under the Attalids, Pergamon grew into a major Hellenistic state, wealthy from trade, royal estates, and cultural patronage.

Pergamon was renowned for its cultural and architectural achievements. Its intellectual life centered on the Great Library of Pergamon and an extensive program of sculpture and building projects that reflected Hellenistic taste. Notable features included the Acropolis, the Altar of Zeus (a monumental sculptural complex now housed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin), a large theater carved into the hillside, and the Asclepion, a famous healing center dedicated to Asclepius. The city also became famous for producing and exporting parchment, a result that gave rise to the term parchment in later centuries.

In 133 BCE the kingdom was bequeathed to Rome by Attalus III, and Pergamon subsequently became a Roman client kingdom and later a province. The city declined in late antiquity but left extensive ruins that attracted 19th- and 20th-century archaeology and tourism.

Today the site lies near the Turkish town of Bergama. The Pergamon Museum in Berlin preserves many of its best-known monuments, including the Altar of Zeus and other sculpture from Pergamon’s temples.