The Pergamon Museum

In Berlin, I visited the Pergamon Museum on Museum Island. I've never been much of a museum person, usually find museums very boring, but this one was unique. I spent a total of 4 hours in it. There were a few main exhibits, the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the Market Gate of Miletus. In primary school when I started reading Roman and Greek mythology, I was always very hooked on the stories and fascinated by the characters. So this museum was quite perfect for me.

1. The Pergamon Altar -- an ancient temple dedicated to the Greek God Zeus, built in Greece in 2nd century BC. There was a Telephos frieze at the top of the altar dedicated to Telelphos, son of Heracles and Auge. In short, he almost married his mother but was stopped by a serpent, he fought for the Greeks in the Trojan war and was wounded and later on healed by Archilles.


This is an example of a panel on the frieze surrounding the entire altar. This one shows Athena, goddess of wisdom and Nike , goddess of victory.


2. Ishtar Gate of Babylon -- built by King Nebuchadrezzar II for the goddess Ishtar, the Ishtar gate was one of the eight gates into the city of Babylon. Although the exhibit was a reconstruction using fragments from archaelogical findings, it was stunning.


3. Market Gate of Miletus -- Miletus was an ancient city in Anatolia, and it was the first Roman city where city planning was used to construct a grid like city layout. It is mentioned in the New Testament that Miletus was where apostle Paul met with elders of the Ephesus church before being captured and sent to Rome for trial.


I could not resist buying a book on the Pergamon Altar which is filled with more stories about the friezes found encircling the altar. Each panel on the frieze depicts a story, and most of them are about Greek gods fighting with giants and monsters.

Next edition -- the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Oranienburg, principal Nazi camp for the Berlin area.