Pergamon in Asia Minor 350BC Ancient Greek Coin Apollo Bull heads Rare i27623

Item: i27623

 Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Greek City of Pergamon in Asia Minor

Bronze 9mm (0.69 grams) Struck circa 350 B.C.
Reference: Sear 3954; B.M.C. 15.110,3
Laureate head of Apollo right.
ΠΕΡΓΑ below two bulls’ heads face to face;
between them, club.

 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,

Authenticity.

In

Greek

and

Roman mythology

, Apollo
,

is one of the most important and diverse of the

Olympian deities

. The ideal of the

kouros
(a

beardless youth), Apollo has been variously recognized as a god of light and the

sun; truth and prophecy;

archery
;

medicine and healing; music, poetry, and the arts; and more. Apollo is the son

of Zeus
and

Leto, and has a

twin

sister, the chaste huntress

Artemis
.

Apollo is known in Greek-influenced

Etruscan mythology

as Apulu. Apollo was worshiped in both

ancient Greek

and

Roman religion

, as well as in the modern

Greco

–Roman

Neopaganism

.

As the patron of Delphi

(Pythian Apollo), Apollo was an

oracular

god — the prophetic deity of the

Delphic Oracle
.

Medicine and healing were associated with Apollo, whether through the god

himself or mediated through his son

Asclepius
,

yet Apollo was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and deadly

plague

as well as one who had the ability to cure. Amongst the god’s

custodial charges, Apollo became associated with dominion over

colonists

, and as the patron defender of herds and flocks. As the leader of

the Muses
(Apollon

Musagetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god

of music and poetry
.

Hermes
created

the lyre
for him,

and the instrument became a common

attribute

of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called

paeans
.

In Hellenistic times, especially during the third century BCE, as Apollo

Helios he became identified among Greeks with

Helios
,

god of

the sun
, and his sister Artemis similarly equated with

Selene
,

goddess

of the moon
.

In Latin texts, on the other hand, Joseph Fontenrose declared himself unable to

find any conflation of Apollo with

Sol

among the

Augustan poets

of the first century, not even in the conjurations of

Aeneas
and

Latinus
in

Aeneid
XII

(161–215).

Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological

texts until the third century CE.

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]