Pergamon in Asia Minor 133BC Rare Ancient Greek Coin Athena Nike Cult i36871

Item: i36871

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Greek City of Pergamon in Asia Minor

Bronze 20mm (7.24 grams) Struck circa 133-49 B.C.
Reference: Sear 3974; B.M.C. 15.127,135-6
Head of Athena right, wearing close-fitting crested helmet ornamented with star.
Nike standing right holding palm branch and crowning legend, ΠΕΡΓΑΜΗ before.

 Situated in the Kaikos valley, about 15 miles from the

coast, Pergamon was a city of uncertain origin and of no great importance before

the time of Alexander the Great. In the 3rd century B.C. it became the center of

the independent kingdom ruled by the Attalid dynasty founded by Philetairos. The

city was extended and beautified as the prosperity of the kingdom increased, and

by the late Hellenistic times Pergamon ranked as one of the great cultural

centers of the Greek world. After the end of the kingdom, 133 B.C., Pergamon

became capital of the Roman province of Asia.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured,

In
Greek mythology
,

Nike was a
goddess
who personified
victory
, also known as the Winged Goddess of
Victory. The Roman equivalent was
Victoria
. Depending upon the time of various
myths, she was described as the daughter of
Pallas
(Titan) and

Styx (Water) and the sister of
Kratos
(Strength),
Bia
(Force), and
Zelus
(Zeal). Nike and her siblings were close
companions of Zeus
, the dominant deity of the
Greek pantheon
. According to classical (later)
myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when

the
god was assembling allies for the
Titan War
against the older deities. Nike
assumed the role of the divine
charioteer
, a role in which she often is
portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around battlefields rewarding the
victors with glory and fame.

Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings. Most other winged
deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is
the goddess of strength, speed, and victory. Nike was a very close acquaintance
of Athena
, and is thought to have stood in
Athena’s outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon.
Nike is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.

Names stemming from Nike include amongst others:
Nicholas
, Nicola, Nick, Nikolai, Nils, Klaas,
Nicole, Ike, Niki, Nikita, Nika, Niketas, and Nico.

In
Greek religion
and
mythology
, Athena or Athene, also
referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage,
inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength,
strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.
Minerva
is the
Roman goddess

identified with
Athena.

Athena is also a shrewd companion of

heroes and is the
goddess
of heroic endeavour. She is the
virgin
patroness of
Athens
. The Athenians founded the
Parthenon
on the Acropolis of her namesake
city, Athens (Athena Parthenos), in her honour.

Athena’s veneration as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the
earliest times, and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast
to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as a protector of the city (polis),
many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias
(Ἀθηνᾶ Πολιάς “Athena of the city”). The city of
Athens
and the goddess Athena essentially bear
the same name, “Athenai” meaning “[many] Athenas”.

Patroness

Athenian
tetradrachm
representing the
goddess Athena

Athena as the goddess of philosophy became an aspect of the cult in Classical
Greece during the late 5th century B.C. She is the patroness of various crafts,
especially of weaving
, as Athena Ergane, and was
honored as such at festivals such as
Chalceia
. The metalwork of weapons also fell
under her patronage. She led battles (Athena
Promachos or the warrior maiden Athena Parthenos) as the
disciplined, strategic side of war, in contrast to her brother

Ares, the patron of violence, bloodlust and slaughter—”the raw force
of war”. Athena’s wisdom includes the cunning intelligence (metis) of
such figures as Odysseus
. Not only was this version of Athena
the opposite of Ares in combat, it was also the polar opposite of the serene
earth goddess version of the deity, Athena Polias.

Athena appears in Greek mythology as the patron and helper of many heroes,
including Odysseus
,
Jason
, and
Heracles
. In
Classical Greek
myths, she never consorts with
a lover, nor does she ever marry,earning the title Athena Parthenos. A
remnant of archaic myth depicts her as the adoptive mother of
Erechtheus
/Erichthonius
through the foiled rape by
Hephaestus
. Other variants relate that
Erichthonius, the serpent that accompanied Athena, was born to
Gaia
: when the rape failed, the semen landed on
Gaia and impregnated her. After Erechthonius was born, Gaia gave him to Athena.

Though Athena is a goddess of war strategy, she disliked fighting without
purpose and preferred to use wisdom to settle predicaments.The goddess only
encouraged fighting for a reasonable cause or to resolve conflict. As patron of
Athens she fought in the Trojan war on the side of the Achaeans.

Mythology

Lady of Athens

Athena competed with
Poseidon
to be the patron deity of Athens,
which was yet unnamed, in a version of one
founding myth
. They agreed that each would give
the Athenians one gift and that the Athenians would choose the gift they
preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his
trident
and a salt water spring sprang up; this
gave them a means of trade and water—Athens at its height was a significant sea
power, defeating the
Persian
fleet at the
Battle of Salamis
—but the water was salty and
not very good for drinking.

Athena, however, offered them the first domesticated
olive tree
. The Athenians (or their king,
Cecrops
) accepted the olive tree and with it
the patronage of Athena, for the olive tree brought wood, oil, and food.
Robert Graves
was of the opinion that
“Poseidon’s attempts to take possession of certain cities are political myths”
which reflect the conflict between matriarchal and patriarchal religions.

Other sites of cult

Athena also was the patron goddess of several other Greek cities, notably
Sparta, where the archaic cult of
Athena Alea
had its sanctuaries in the
surrounding villages of
Mantineia
and, notably,
Tegea
. In Sparta itself, the temple of Athena
Khalkíoikos (Athena “of the Brazen House”, often
latinized
as Chalcioecus) was the
grandest and located on the Spartan acropolis; presumably it had a roof of
bronze. The forecourt of the Brazen House was the place where the most solemn
religious functions in Sparta took place.

Tegea was an important religious center of ancient Greece, containing the
Temple of Athena Alea
. The temenos was founded by
Aleus
,
Pausanias
was informed. Votive bronzes at the
site from the Geometric and Archaic periods take the forms of horses and deer;
there are
sealstone
and
fibulae
. In the Archaic period the nine
villages that underlie Tegea banded together in a
synoecism
to form one city. Tegea was listed in
Homer
‘s
Catalogue of Ships
as one of the cities that
contributed ships and men for the
Achaean assault on Troy
.

Judgment of Paris

Aphrodite is being surveyed by Paris, while Athena (the leftmost
figure) and Hera stand nearby.
El Juicio de Paris
by
Enrique Simonet
, ca. 1904

All the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the
marriage of Peleus
and
Thetis
(the eventual parents of
Achilles
). Only
Eris
, goddess of discord, was not invited. She
was annoyed at this, so she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the word
καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, “for the fairest”), which she threw among the goddesses.
Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus the rightful
owner of the apple.

The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to
favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a

Trojan prince. After bathing in the spring of
Mount Ida
(where Troy was situated), the
goddesses appeared before Paris. The goddesses undressed and presented
themselves to Paris naked, either at his request or for the sake of winning.

Paris is awarding the apple to Aphrodite, while Athena makes a face.
Urteil des Paris by
Anton Raphael Mengs
, ca. 1757

Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they
resorted to bribes. Hera tried to bribe Paris with control over all

Asia and Europe
, while Athena offered wisdom, fame and
glory in battle, but Aphrodite came forth and whispered to Paris that if he were
to choose her as the fairest he would have the most beautiful mortal woman in
the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her. This woman was
Helen
, who was, unfortunately for Paris,
already married to King
Menelaus
of
Sparta
. The other two goddesses were enraged by
this and through Helen’s abduction by Paris they brought about the
Trojan War
.

The Parthenon
, Temple of Athena
Parthenos

Masculinity and
feminism

Athena had an “androgynous compromise” that allowed her traits and what she
stood for to be attributed to male and female rulers alike over the course of
history (such as Marie de’ Medici, Anne of Austria, Christina of Sweden, and
Catherine the Great)

J.J. Bachofen advocated that Athena was originally a maternal figure stable
in her security and poise but was caught up and perverted by a patriarchal
society; this was especially the case in Athens. The goddess adapted but could
very easily be seen as a god. He viewed it as “motherless paternity in the place
of fatherless maternity” where once altered, Athena’s character was to be
crystallized as that of a patriarch.

Whereas Bachofen saw the switch to paternity on Athena’s behalf as an
increase of power, Freud on the contrary perceived Athena as an “original mother
goddess divested of her power”. In this interpretation, Athena was demoted to be
only Zeus’s daughter, never allowed the expression of motherhood. Still more
different from Bachofen’s perspective is the lack of role permanency in Freud’s
view: Freud held that time and differing cultures would mold Athena to stand for
what was necessary to them.

Pergamon, Pergamum or Pérgamo (in

Greek

, Πέργαμος) was an ancient

Greek

city in modern-day

Turkey
, in

Mysia
, today

located 16 miles (26 km) from the

Aegean Sea

on a promontory

on the north side of the river

Caicus

(modern day

Bakırçay
),

that became the capital of the

Kingdom of Pergamon

during the

Hellenistic period

, under the

Attalid dynasty

, 281–133 BC. Today, the main sites of ancient Pergamon are

to the north and west of the modern city of

Bergama
.

//

 History

The

Attalid

kingdom was the

rump state

left after the collapse of the

Kingdom of Thrace
.

The Attalids, the descendants of Attalus, father of

Philetaerus

who came to power in 281 BC following the collapse of the

Kingdom of Thrace, were among the most loyal supporters of

Rome

in the Hellenistic world. Under

Attalus I

(241-197 BC), they allied with Rome against

Philip V of Macedon

, during the

first

and

second

Macedonian Wars

, and again under

Eumenes II

(197-158 BC), against

Perseus of Macedon

, during the

Third Macedonian War

. For support against the

Seleucids

, the

Attalids

were rewarded with all the former Seleucid domains in

Asia Minor

.

The Attalids ruled with intelligence and generosity. Many documents survive

showing how the Attalids would support the growth of towns through sending in

skilled artisans and by remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their

domains to maintain nominal independence. They sent gifts to Greek cultural

sites like Delphi
,

Delos
, and

Athens
. They

defeated the invading Celts

. They remodeled the

Acropolis of Pergamo

after the

Acropolis

in Athens. When

Attalus III

(138-133 BC) died without an heir in 133 BC he bequeathed the

whole of Pergamon to Rome, in order to prevent a civil war.

According to Christian tradition, the first bishop of Pergamon,

Antipas

, was martyred there in ca. 92 AD. (Revelation

2:13)

The

Ottoman

Sultan

Murad III

had two large alabaster

urns transported from the ruins of Pergamon and placed on two

sides of the nave in the

Hagia

Sophia
in Istanbul

.^[1]

 Notable

structures

 Upper

Acropolis

The

Great Altar of Pergamon

is in the

Pergamon Museum

, Berlin. The base of this altar remains on the upper part of

the Acropolis. It was perhaps to this altar, believed dedicated to Zeus, that

John of Patmos referred to as “Satan’s Throne” in his Book of Revelation

(Revelation 2:12-13).

Other notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the

Acropolis include:

• The Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000. This had the

  steepest seating of any known theater in the ancient world.^[2]

• The Sanctuary of Trajan (also known as the

  Trajaneum

  )

• The Sanctuary of Athena
• The Library a.k.a.

  Athenaeum
  ^[citation

  needed]

• The Royal palaces
• The Heroön – a shrine where the kings of Pergamon, particularly, Attalus

  I and Eumenes II, were worshipped.^[3]

• The

  Temple of Dionysus

• The Upper Agora
• The Roman baths complex

Pergamon’s library on the Acropolis (the ancient

Library of Pergamum

) is the second best in the ancient Greek civilization.^[4]

When the

Ptolemies

stopped exporting

papyrus
,

partly because of competitors and partly because of shortages, the Pergamenes

invented a new substance to use in

codices
, called

pergaminus or pergamena (parchment)

after the city. This was made of fine

calfskin
, a

predecessor of

vellum

. The library at Pergamom was believed to contain 200,000 volumes,

which Mark Antony

later gave to

Cleopatra

as a wedding present.

 Lower

Acropolis

The lower part of the Acropolis has the following structures:

• the Upper Gymnasium
• the Middle Gymnasium
• the Lower Gymnasium
• the Temple of

  Demeter

• the Sanctuary of

  Hera

• the House of Attalus
• the Lower Agora and
• the Gate of

  Eumenes

 At

foot of Acropolis

 Sanctuary

of Asclepius

Three kilometers south of the Acropolis, down in the valley, there was the

Sanctuary of Asclepius

(also known as the

Asclepieion

), the god of healing. In this place people with health problems

could bathe in the water of the sacred spring, and in the patients’ dreams

Asclepius would appear in a vision to tell them how to cure their illness.

Archeology has found lots of gifts and dedications that people would make

afterwards, such as small terracotta body parts, no doubt representing what had

been healed. Notable extant structures in the Asclepieion include:

• the Roman theater
• the North Stoa
• the South Stoa
• the Temple of Asclepius
• a circular treatment center (sometimes known as the Temple of

  Telesphorus)

• a healing spring
• an underground passageway
• a library
• the Via Tecta (or the Sacred Way, which is a colonnaded street leading

  to the sanctuary) and

• a

  propylon

  .

 Serapis

Temple

Pergamon’s other notable structure is the

Serapis

Temple (Serapeum)

which was later transformed into the Red Basilica complex (or Kizil Avlu in

Turkish), about one kilometer south of the Acropolis. It consists of a main

building and two round towers. In the first century AD, the

Christian

Church at Pergamon inside the main building of the Red Basilica

was one of the

Seven Churches

to which the

Book of Revelation

was addressed (Revelation

2:12). The forecourt is still supported by the 193 m wide

Pergamon Bridge

, the largest bridge substruction of antiquity.^[5]