Red hall

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Red hall, south side

The Red Hall ( Turkish Kızıl Avlu ), also called Red Basilica , Temple of Serapis or Temple of the Egyptian Gods , is the ruin of a 60 × 26 meter brick building over 20 meters high at the foot of the acropolis hill of Pergamon , which is flanked by two towers and which is upstream from a courtyard. It is located in the modern city of Bergama in the Turkish province of İzmir , which lies in the area of ​​the ancient lower city of Pergamon. The area of ​​the associated complex measures approximately 100 × 265 meters, making it one of the largest Roman facilities in Asia Minor . The buildings were erected in Roman times, probably under Emperor Hadrian , as a temple for Egyptian gods , probably Isis and Serapis , probably in connection with Cybele, the mother of the gods of Asia Minor . It is also considered as a place of worship of the emperors . In the Byzantine period, a three-aisled basilica with an apse on the east side and arcades was built into the hall , which was consecrated to John or Paul . The Selinus, the city river of Pergamon, flows under the forecourt in two almost 200 meter long tunnels. This river development, known as the Pergamon Bridge, is the longest known of its kind in ancient times. Under the buildings there is a complex system of underground rooms and corridors, the function of which is controversial. Various water basins and pipes were probably connected with ceremonial acts in the worship of the Egyptian gods.

Coordinates: 39 ° 7 ′ 19 ″  N , 27 ° 11 ′ 0 ″  E

Relief Map: Turkey
marker
Pergamon​
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Turkey

investment

Plan of the site
Red hall and round buildings from the north

The Red Hall is located at the southern foot of the Acropolis Hill , embedded in the street system of the lower town and about 1.5 kilometers east of the Asklepieion . According to the city map of Pergamons by Ulrike Wulf-Rheidt , the lower town was divided into insulae of 92 × 92 meters, which were laid out roughly in a north-south direction. Accordingly, the area of ​​the Red Hall would have occupied three insulae. At the eastern end, the hall meets the grid of the north-east-south-west oriented Roman city extension at an acute angle. The presumed forum joins in the west . Due to the surrounding high walls, the area was sealed off from the environment and not integrated into the path system, since according to current research there were only entrances in the western wall. The overall complex ( Temenos ) includes a forecourt in the west, which could be entered from the west side, i.e. probably from the forum, and which takes up almost three quarters of the total area. In the east is the actual temple building, flanked to the north and south by two round buildings, each of which had a further, approximately square courtyard, which ended in the west with the front of the temple. The entire area was surrounded by a wall, the course of which can still be partially recognized in what is now Bergama. With dimensions of 100 × 265 meters, the complex is one of the largest Roman complexes in Asia Minor. Today's access is on the east side of the facility in Kınık Caddesi.

Courtyard and bridge

Northwest end of the Pergamon Bridge

The main courtyard measures around 100 × 200 meters. More than two thirds of it are covered by modern buildings from the city of Bergama. One entered the courtyard through a front with blind arcades on the west side. A part of this entrance front, up to 13 meters high, has been preserved in the city area, in the Mermer Direkler Caddesi, over a length of 46.5 meters, also due to the fact that modern buildings were attached to it. A marble door reveal and the approach of a lintel with a width of 2.70 meters can be seen at the north end of this wall. Another entrance was in the middle of the front, its width is estimated to be 10 meters assuming an overall symmetry of the complex. The outer wall was divided by niches, built-in columns with Corinthian capitals and pillars made of white marble, one of which is still in situ . To build the courtyard, the city river of Pergamon, Selinus (today Bergama Çayı) had to be built over with a double barrel vault over a length of 200 meters . This river development, known as the Pergamon Bridge, is still in function and is the longest known of its kind in ancient times.

Columned halls ( porticos ) lay on the sides of the courtyard . There were three exedrons each in the north and south walls . The eastern portico was significantly higher than the others and had a projecting front in the middle with a propylon that marked the entrance to the temple. This portico also gave access to the side courtyards, which were also surrounded by porticos. Their roofs were not supported by columns, but by atlases , larger-than-life sculptures in which some Egyptian gods were depicted. Nothing is known about the further design of the main courtyard. It can be assumed with certainty that statues were erected, whether there were additional buildings or inscriptions cannot be decided according to the current state of research.

temple

Floor plan of the temple and the side courtyards

The main building measures around 26 × 60 meters and is oriented almost exactly east-west. Its reddish bricks gave the building its current name. During the photogrammetric recordings made by Manfred Stephani and Armin Grün in collaboration with the architect Klaus Nohlen in 1974 and 1976 , the walls that were still standing were found to be 20 meters high. Since the roof shape of the building is unknown, its original height can only be guessed at.

The red hall from the west

The entrance behind the propylon and six marble steps formed a monumental door at least 7 meters wide and 14 meters high, which was closed at the top by an arch. If you take the wall projections 0.65 meters deep and over 2 meters wide on the sides of the doorway as a measure, the result is a door width of more than 11 meters. How the door was opened remains unclear, as no remains were found that would allow a reliable statement. A movement on rollers as in the Temple of Serapis in Ephesus is out of the question because of its size, it may have remained closed and had a smaller opening as an entrance. The two mighty door pillars were hollow and could be climbed from the basement.

Interior with a pedestal from the east, the foundation strips built into the church during the conversion can be seen on both sides

The walls of the interior, like the outer skin of the building, were clad with different colored marble. Remains of the marble cladding were found on the right wall, and marble pegs can be seen at a certain height, which could have served to hang the slabs. The floor also shows remains of a covering, some of which are well preserved in the western part. You can see reddish marble from Rhodes, green from India and dark stone, probably granite, from Egypt.

In the entrance wall, to the right and left of the door, at a height of 2.70 meters, there is a niche with a height of 6 meters and a width of 3.12 meters. Five similar niches can be seen in the front part of the long walls. The pillars in between are 2.25 meters wide, the masonry in the niches is 2.55 meters deep. The arches formed in this way represent the load-bearing elements of the building. Windows of the same type in the outer wall open up exactly above these five niches. In contrast to the lower niches, they also continue in the rear, eastern part of the side walls, each in the form of three arches visible from the outside. In the southeast corner of the room, two square column bases have been preserved, from which one can deduce a row of seven or eight columns on each side. Numerous remains of columns were found in the interior. A continuous marble rib can be seen in the wall about 2 meters above the arches of the niche. In connection with the rows of columns, it probably carried an approximately 3 meter wide gallery. It is believed that there was another row of columns on it. Thus a two-story portico would be in front of the inner walls, the upper floor of which could be climbed via two mighty staircases in the corners of the east wall. It is not known whether the passage in the entrance wall was closed, but then the door would not have been able to be opened, as it reached above the level of the surrounding marble rib.

East side of the hall with Byzantine apse

The appearance of the east wall cannot be reconstructed, as an apse was built there in the course of the Byzantine conversion to a church. However, since there were no light openings in the rear part, it can be assumed that the rear wall contained windows. But lighting via ceiling windows is also conceivable. In the course of the more recent excavations since 2002, with probes being carried out down to a foundation depth of over seven meters below the floor level of the hall, Ulrich Mania discovered that an outwardly open and domed niche formed the eastern end of the building, but that there was no trace of it one embodiment showed. He concludes from this that the eastern front of the Red Hall was never completed.

In the middle of the room there is a 0.22 meter deep water basin in the floor. It begins around the fourth niche, is 5.20 meters long and was bordered on the side by the rows of columns. About 2 meters behind it is a 1.40 meter long and 1.37 meter deep trench, which is lined with Egyptian alabaster. From there a water pipe leads to the entrance steps of the hall, so that it can be safely assumed that the trench was filled with water. This is followed by a 1.50 meter high and 8.82 meter wide platform, on which a second structure made of rubble rises after 7.80 meters. It is square and has a side length of 4.60 meters. In its center there is a recess of 1.50 × 1.50 meters with a depth of 1.35 meters. It was intended to hold a monumental cult statue. Depending on whether it is a seated statue or a robed statue, its height is estimated to be between 10 and 20 meters. This recess can be reached from below via a staircase north of the pedestal, which leads Salditt-Trappmann to assume that the hollow statue was accessible and that priests from there spoke to the community in the name of the deity. According to Brückener and Mania, however, the last section of the corridor was closed again with the establishment of the cult image base, which rules out this interpretation. Under the podium is a barrel-vaulted room, which Regina Salditt-Trappmann interprets as a reservoir for scooping up symbolic Nile water, as used in the cults of the Egyptian gods. Ulrich Mania, however, determined after the excavation results of 2002/3 that the room was probably only used as a cistern after the conversion to a church and that the water basin in front of the podium was also added later. 1.85 meters behind the podium is a Christian altar from the Byzantine period. Today's end of the building to the east is formed by the subsequently built-in apse.

There are no clearly identifiable components of the roof of the building, so that one can only guess at its shape. The weight of several cross vaults could not have been borne by the pillars of the inner porticos or the arcades that replaced them during the reconstruction of the church. Salditt-Trappmann suggests a barrel vault, which Klaus Nohlen rejects . Such was chosen for the river overbuilding, the width of the arches at 13 meters roughly corresponding to the distance between the rows of columns and thus the central nave of the basilica.

basilica

During the conversion to a Christian church, the floor level of the building was raised by at least 2.47 meters, recognizable by two foundation strips that are still clearly visible. The walls that were exposed by the excavation today were all hidden under the ground, except for the altar. On these foundations, such as at the point of the supporting pillars of the ancient porticoes, were arcades built, the Cella in three ships divided. The width of the aisles is only about a third of the central nave. In 1840 A. Baratta described two orders of granite columns, the shafts of which supported galleries. Andreas David Mordtmann reported from his trip to Pergamon in 1850 and 1854 that he had difficulty getting inside the church because it was built up with Turkish houses and that the columns were sent to Constantinople for use in the Sultan Ahmed -Mosque had been moved, which, however, is not verifiable. The east wall was replaced by an apse, of which, in contrast to the arcades, remains can still be seen today. Remnants of wall incrustation can be seen in the area of ​​the apse . From there, a tendril frieze ran on the inner walls of the central nave, which consisted of Roman spolia . Other traces of the interior are remnants of painted plaster that imitated alabaster . Doors were broken into the outer walls in the east at the end of the aisles. They led into the space between the temple and the rotunda, which was domed at this point with a groin vault and probably served as a pastophorium (the priests' workspace). Remnants of wall templates and impressions of the arches testify to these vaults. It is not clear whether they already existed at the time of the renovation or were just being built.

Fragments of the Roman hall architecture were found as filler material in the floor construction of the attached apse and as spoilers in smaller buildings on the outer wall, which shows that the conversion to a church was accompanied by a previous destruction of the pagan architecture.

Round buildings and side courtyards

Northern rotunda used as a mosque from the west
Südhof and rotunda
Restored dome of the south tower

To the right and left of the temple there are two monumental round buildings, the function of which has not yet been clarified, but which probably served cultic purposes. Bases for the presumed display of images of gods were not found. The towers are level with the stairwells and have an inner diameter of 12 meters. The main entrance was on the west side of the respective column courtyard. It was 11.5 meters high and closed with an arch, similar to the temple door. Other entrances were on the side facing the temple and across from it. The domes that vaulted the buildings start at a height of around 16 meters. There are no windows in the walls, so it can be assumed that there was a light opening in the dome. On the outside marble remains have been preserved, as well as a marble rib a little below the base of the dome, which suggests that the towers were also clad with marble. The north tower is now in use as a mosque, the southern one was used as a depot for excavations and was extensively restored by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) between 2006 and 2009, after a new depot had previously been built south of it.

To the side of the hall and in front of the two round buildings on the entrance side, there was a courtyard, which was surrounded by a wall on the south and north sides. Other smaller courtyards were located on the south and north sides of the circular buildings, the surrounding walls of which closed off the entire complex to the south, east and north. On the larger courtyards to the side of the main building there were rows of pillared bases on the south, north and east sides, so that the courtyards, except on the west side, were surrounded by covered porticoes. The west side was probably separated from the main courtyard by a wall, of which no remains could be secured. Salditt-Trappmann believes that a small remnant of the wall at the northern outer corner of the temple front is a possible remnant of this partition.

Atlases and pools of water in the southern courtyard

On the side walls of the temple building, benches are built outside, interrupted by masonry pedestals. Marble pegs to which the beams for the roof of the gallery were attached have been preserved. The function of the roof-bearing columns was taken over by double atlases , numerous fragments of which were found in the courtyards and some of which are set up here. They are caryatids placed back to back , one figure being male and one female. Their clothes and decorations are in the Egyptian style. The female figures wear floor-length pleated robes and an ornate bib, while the male figures wear an equally long robe with a diamond pattern that Salditt-Trappmann interprets as a net, as is known from mummies. The hair of both figure types is held in a hair bag, comparable to the Egyptian Nemes headscarf , lies on the shoulder and extends to the base of the chest. The figures are made of different types of marble, the unclothed parts of the body are made of dark marble, the clothes of light marble. Mortise holes on the body parts show how the statues were put together. Inside each of the four pillars of the courtyards was a water basin oriented from east to west, 5.6 meters from the rows of columns closer to the temple, 11.5 x 2.5 meters in size and 0.85 meters deep. The basins had two semicircular bulges on each of the narrow sides to the east and west, in front of which there was a small round basin with a diameter of 1.75 m and the same depth.

The excavations of the German Archaeological Institute since 2002 in the south courtyard brought the certainty that, as suspected, a second basin further south was available. When it was backfilled from the late Byzantine to modern times, numerous other fragments of the supporting figures and marble components came to light. At the eastern end of the basin there were components of a marble structure. Traces of sintering indicate that water is flowing down and thus water features, which emphasize the decorative character of the pools. In the middle of the courtyard, a foundation of 2.5 × 1.8 meters made of andesite blocks was excavated, which probably carried a marble plinth. Not far from there, the torso of a lion came to light. Traces on his side suggest that he carried a rider in the lady's seat. By comparison with a representation on the south frieze of the Pergamon Altar , an identification of the figure as Cybele is considered likely. Mania assumes that the lion-riding Cybele was part of a monument on the pedestal in the middle of the courtyard. A common worship of Cybele as Magna Mater together with Egyptian deities is also known from other Roman places.

Underground facility

A complex system of underground rooms and connecting corridors lies beneath the site of the temple and the side courtyards. Between the eastern end of the main building and the southern rotunda is a room measuring 9 × 15 meters with a ceiling height of 4 meters. Its cross vault is supported by 3 × 3 rectangular pillars that are 2.50 × 1 meters thick. South of the round tower is another, larger room measuring 13 × 15 meters. It has 4 × 4 columns of slightly less strength. The pillars consist of 0.55-0.60 meter high blocks, which are closed at the top by a capital. Both rooms have access to the west through a corridor each, which leads about 8 meters to the west. There both paths meet a main corridor, which from south to north crosses the entire area of ​​the temple and at least the southern courtyard. From it there are branches to further entrances and exits of the tunnel system.

The corridor system has entrances in the south, one of which is on the outside wall of the temple, at the level of the third niche, and leads under the wall into the temple interior. Mania was able to excavate a mirror-image counterpart under the north wall. From its condition he concluded that it was never in operation. A second entrance was a semicircular ramp from the inside of the south tower, from where the smaller of the two rooms and, via a connecting passage to the west, the north-south-facing main passage were accessible. As further entrances, Ulrich Mania found stairs to the south and north of the south rotunda, which led into the two rooms mentioned above. A tunnel led from the main corridor into the mighty south corner of the temple entrance front, through which a shaft continued to the roof of the building. A corridor branched off from the system to the south at about the level of the temple front. It could not be followed to the end, possibly it led to the river. Again from the main aisle, the pedestal and thus perhaps the interior of the statue was accessible via corridors under the interior of the temple, which were located exactly under the later Byzantine fixtures and therefore can no longer be detected. An additional entrance to the underground complex is located directly on the north side of the statue base. All corridors have a width of at least 0.70 meters and a height of around 2 meters, so they were easily accessible.

The corresponding underground systems on the north side, assumed by Salditt-Trappmann due to the axial symmetry of the complex, could not be detected in test excavations of Mania in the northern courtyard. He explains this with a probable increase in terrain on this side, which made substructures like in the southern part unnecessary.

Regina Salditt-Trappmann sees the tunnel system as an underworld in which the uninitiated had to complete initiation rites and solve numerous tasks that qualified him for cult service. She also sees a confirmation of this in some niches and colored stucco remnants, which she interprets as remains of paintings that gave the exams the appropriate background . Robert A. Wild rejects this interpretation and sees the purpose of the corridor system in providing the priests with access to all areas of the district. Ulrich Mania found during his investigations that the entire underground passage system was probably never in operation.

Water systems

Water basin in the north courtyard

Several basins, trenches and containers indicate the importance of water in the ceremonies. In the interior of the temple, these are initially the large, flat basin in the center, behind it the deep moat and its connection to the outside, as well as an underground cistern under the podium. The latter is 4 meters deep and, according to Salditt-Trappmann, at the time of their investigations, at the end of the 1960s, it was still filled with water up to a height of 2 meters in summer and winter. Then there are the two pools in the side courtyards. She assumes that the inner water basins were used for cleansing and diving rituals, at the same time separating the western, public part of the temple from the sacred, eastern part. Since the deeper ditch, which was originally lined with Egyptian alabaster, was connected to a water pipe by a tributary 0.45 meters wide and 1 meter high, which could be followed up to the entrance steps of the building, Wild considers this basin to be an imitation of the Nile. Due to heavy rainfall in the winter months, the ditch was flooded in phases, which symbolized the annual Nile flood in Egypt , which Mania rejects as technically impracticable. The shallow basin is interpreted as a purification basin, whereby Wild suspects because of the shallow depth that it was not constantly filled, but that the initiates were sprinkled with purifying water in it. He also accepts further basins on the side of the statue pedestal, which were filled from the cistern accessible from above and served similar cleaning purposes. In the case of the basins in the side courtyards, it is assumed that the purpose is mainly decorative. This is also indicated by traces of fountains that Mania found.

Ulrich Mania has shown in his studies since 2002 that the barrel-vaulted room under the podium, which Salditt-Trappmann and Wild interpreted as a cistern in connection with the cult activities, was only later converted for this purpose. According to Mania, the bricks at the scoop are dating back to the time it was converted into a late antique basilica. But he was able to show a connection with the stairwell north of the podium for the early construction stage, which was closed again when the statue base was built. The shallow basin and the ditch west of the podium are also built-in later. This leads him to the conclusion that the underground structures of the Red Hall had no functional connection with the water systems. According to coin finds, the latter were still maintained at the end of the 3rd century.

function

The overall picture of the temple shows no similarities with classical Roman or Greek temples. In the past, this has led to various attempts at interpretation such as library, basilica, palace and thermal baths. Both the colossality and the monumentality point to similarities with Egyptian sacred buildings, which, however, in contrast to the Red Hall, are made of stone, i.e. more durable material. In Egypt, bricks were only used for temporary buildings, for example residential buildings. According to the current state of research, it is assumed with certainty that the temple was at least dedicated to Egyptian gods, among others. The Egyptian execution of the atlases in the side courtyards is taken as evidence, with the depiction of the naked body parts in dark marble and the Egyptian hairstyles of the figures. Furthermore, the use of water basins both inside the temple and in the side courtyards indicates this. A small terracotta head of Isis with a sun disk and horns was found on the Temenos site. Further finds point to Egyptian cults that already existed in Pergamon. These include an inscription on a marble altar, dated to the second century BC, which says: Σαράπετ ῎Ορκανος ἀνέθηκε (Orkanos dedicated [this] to Serapis), as well as an inscription that was found near the Armenian church in the lower town and describes that Euphemos and Tullia Spandousa erected statues for the gods Serapis, Isis, Harpokrates, Osiris, Apis Helios [...] and the Dioscuri . On a papyrus found in Oxyrhynchos in Egypt , Isis is referred to as ἡ ἐν Περγάμῳ δεσπότις (who rules in Pergamon). Helmut Koester suspects that the temple and the two round buildings were dedicated to three gods, possibly Isis, Serapis and Anubis . Salditt-Trappmann, as Otfried Deubner assumes, Serapis as the main god of the temple, sees Wild, also because of the Isis head found, more Isis as the main goddess. The mentioned find of a lion torso, which is associated with Cybele, indicates that a simultaneous worship of this goddess was practiced. Rieger also considers an additional use as a place of the imperial cult to be possible. Dirk Steueragel published a review of the colloquium volume by Hoffmann, Mania, Brückener et al. and summarizes there that a rather broad spectrum of cultic - and possibly not only cultic - functions of the Red Hall can be assumed .

When it comes to the question to whom the later church was consecrated, only local tradition can be used. This calls on the one hand John , on the other hand Antipas . According to a report by Ernst Curtius from 1872, each was assigned to one of the round buildings. The question of whether this church or the basilica on the lower agora was the oldest Christian church in the area cannot currently be clarified. By comparing it with this church and that of the grammar school in terms of location, size and equipment, it can at least be determined that the church in the Red Hall probably had a priority position on site.

Building history and dating

After the city of Pergamon in 133 BC BC fell into Roman hands with the end of the Attalids , after a period of stagnation in the first century AD, building activity began. During this time, due to lack of space, the center of city life shifted from the castle hill to the plain, where a large new town was built. Although the monuments of the Acropolis continued to be maintained, the competitive situation with the emerging Ephesus required new representative buildings. The advance of new cults, such as the worship of Egyptian gods, in Asia Minor also led to the establishment of the Red Hall.

A date in the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian (117-138) is now generally assumed to be certain. It seems likely that Hadrian himself commissioned the building. The archaeologist Katja Lembke recognizes parallels in Egyptian supporting figures to the furnishing elements of the Villa Adriana in Tivoli and thus to the personal experiences of the emperor in Egypt. She sees similarities in the architectural concept with other buildings by the emperor such as the Templum Pacis in Rome and the Hadrian's Library in Athens. In terms of the building typology, too, she draws comparisons with Hadrian's Library and the State Agora in Side , which, however, are not cult buildings. Anna-Katharina Rieger, archaeologist specializing in ancient urban research, also found, based on comparisons with other buildings, that the monolithic door threshold of the main temple, the figural capitals found in the portico and the circular buildings are design elements that were used from the second century onwards were reserved for imperial buildings. She draws parallels with Hadrian's building program in Athens and Alexandria.

Dating the church installation in the temple is much more difficult, as only a few architectural parts that can be clearly assigned to the church can be identified. However, it seems unlikely that the structure was erected before Theodosius decree of 435, which called for the destruction of the pagan temples. By comparing it with other Eastern Roman church buildings based on building typology, Klaus Rheidt dated the renovation to the second half of the 5th century. The art historian Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann states that the three-sided polygonal cladding of the apse in the Red Hall is a peculiarity of the Constantinople church architecture, which has also been found since the 5th century.

The end of use is marked by traces of a fire disaster, such as flaking on wall brackets, possibly in connection with the raids of the Arabs in the 7th century, which ultimately resulted in the abandonment of the lower town and the retreat of the residents to the castle hill. After the Arabs had given up their attempt to conquer Constantinople at the beginning of the 8th century , the city was rebuilt, the church ruins remained until the final collapse in the 13th / 14th. Century. Georgios Kedrenos still described its beauty in the 12th century, but nothing is known about its further use or reconstruction.

Research history

Red Hall from the East, drawing by Charles Texier (1838)
Restored interior of the south tower

Pergamon has been the destination of numerous European explorers since the 19th century, most of whom also described the Red Hall. In 1809 the French diplomat and ancient historian Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier published a floor plan of the city (Rheidt p. 4), in which the building was registered as the Temple d'Esculape , and described the remains of the church building consecrated to the Evangelist Johannes. He also reports on the transfer of pillars to Constantinople. In 1811, the Estonian baron and archaeologist Otto Magnus von Stackelberg saw parts of the broken granite pillars stuck in the ground, others built in the place. The British clergyman Francis Vyvyan Jago Arundell gave a detailed description in 1826 . He speaks of two rows of columns dividing the room into three and supporting the women's stands near the windows. One of the round buildings was used as a church with marble steps and altar niches. In 1838 the French traveler Charles Texier provided a drawing of the Red Hall as well as a map of the city (Rheidt p. 7) and interpreted its surrounding wall as a Byzantine palace. After Baratta in 1840 and Mordtmann in 1850 and 1854, Curtius finally followed in the summer of 1871.

After the Pergamon excavations by Carl Humann 1878–1886 and Wilhelm Dörpfeld 1900–1936 had concentrated on the Hellenistic grounds of the castle hill, Paul Schazmann created the first detailed construction documentation of the Red Hall from 1906–1909. During the excavations in the 1930s, the Turkish houses inside the temple were first removed, and in 1936 Oskar Ziegenaus created a floor plan on them. This was soon followed by initial restoration efforts in the main building, encouraged by the then director of the Bergama Museum , Osman Bayatlı, and continued in the 1950s and 1960s in the eastern area of ​​the building and on the eastern perimeter wall. In the 1970s, Manfred Stephani and Klaus Nohlen made photogrammetric recordings , on the basis of which, in connection with Ziegenaus' documentation, Ulrich Mania and Corinna Brückener finally researched the Red Hall as a project of the Istanbul Department of the German Archaeological Institute in 2002 was resumed by Adolf Hoffmann . In the course of this work, Martin Bachmann subjected the southern rotunda, which was in danger of collapsing, to an extensive restoration from 2006 to 2009. First a new depot was built in the south of the tower, into which the finds were relocated. The severely damaged east facade was then closed with steel lamellas, the interior was restored and the dome was renewed and covered with lead. Selected objects are presented in the interior, which is now open to visitors.

The excavations by Brückener and Mania since 2002 have not yet been conclusively documented; preliminary results have been published in a colloquium volume from 2005.

Since 2010, the DAI has been working on an anastilosis project to reconstruct parts of the caryatids and the original marble wall coverings. In September 2012, one of the supporting pillars was erected on a trial basis. It was created using an original torso by a stonemason from Bergama, is over eight meters high and depicts the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet .

literature

  • Regina Salditt-Trappmann: Temple of the Egyptian gods in Greece and on the west coast of Asia Minor. Brill, Leiden 1970 on GoogleBooks .
  • Klaus Nohlen: The 'Red Hall' in Pergamon , in: Helmut Koester (Ed.), Pergamon. Citadel of the Gods. Archaeological Record, Literary Description and Religious Development , Harvard Theological Studies 46 (1998) pp. 77-110.
  • Wolfgang Radt : Pergamon. History and buildings of an ancient metropolis. Darmstadt 1999, pp. 200-209.
  • Adolf Hoffmann (Ed.): Egyptian cults and their sanctuaries in the east of the Roman Empire, International Colloquium 5./6. September 2003 in Bergama (Turkey) , Byzas 1, Ege Yayınları, Istanbul 2005 ISBN 975-807-105-X .
  • Ulrich Mania : The Red Hall in Pergamon. Equipment and function , Pergamenische Forschungen 15, von Zabern, Mainz 2011. ISBN 978-3-8053-4203-2 .

Web links

Commons : Rote Halle  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • Red hall. iDAI.images / Arachne, www.arachne.uni-koeln.de
  • Pergamon: Red Hall. ( Memento from June 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Restoration of a large Roman monument as a long-term task, German Archaeological Institute (DAI), www.dainst.org
  • The Red Hall in Pergamon. Investigations into the function and equipment of the Red Hall in Pergamon, University of Bonn - Institute 10, www.ai.uni-bonn.de

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Adolf Hoffmann: The Red Hall in Pergamon - A Complicated Research History with Future Perspectives in Adolf Hoffmann (Ed.), Egyptian Cults and Their Shrines in the East of the Roman Empire. Byzas 1. Istanbul: Ege Yaynlar 2005 pp. 3–20 ISBN 975-807-105-X
  2. ↑ a b c Anna-Katharina Rieger: Pergamon and Rome. Considerations on the urban significance and the building owner of the Red Hall in Pergamon in Adolf Hoffmann (Ed.), Egyptian Cults and their Shrines in the East of the Roman Empire. Byzas 1. Istanbul: Ege Yaynlar 2005 pp. 81–94 ISBN 975-807-105-X
  3. ↑ a b Labeling of the DAI on site
  4. ↑ Pergamon Rote Halle - DAI ( Memento from June 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ a b c d Corinna Brückener: The Red Hall from an Architectural Viewpoint - New Documentation Work in Adolf Hoffmann (Ed.), Egyptian Cults and Their Sanctuaries in the East of the Roman Empire. Byzas 1. Istanbul: Ege Yaynlar 2005 pp. 35–46 ISBN 975-807-105-X
  6. ↑ a b Jens Rohmann: The capital production of the Roman Empire in Pergamon . Walter de Gruyter, 1998 p. 95 ISBN 978-3-11-015555-6 at GoogleBooks
  7. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann, p. 2
  8. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann, p. 5
  9. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann p. 3
  10. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann pp. 3–5
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g Ulrich Mania: New excavations - new aspects in the exploration of the Red Hall in Adolf Hoffmann (ed.), Egyptian cults and their sanctuaries in the east of the Roman Empire. Byzas 1. Istanbul: Ege Yaynlar 2005 pp. 21–34 ISBN 975-807-105-X
  12. ↑ Rufinus of Aquileia reports in his Historia Ecclesiatica of a priest of Saturn named Tyrannus, who performed this practice in Alexandria, see Richard Reitzenstein : The Hellenistic Mystery Religions. BG Teubner, 1920 p. 246
  13. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann pp. 5–6
  14. ↑ a b c d e Ulrich Mania: The “Red Hall” in Pergamon and the conversion of a pagan shrine to a church in Michael Altripp, Claudia Nauerth (Ed.): Architecture and Liturgy. Reichert Verlag Wiesbaden 2006 pp. 73-82 ISBN 978-3-89500-474-2
  15. ^ Klaus Rheidt: Antiquities of Pergamon: The city excavation. Die Byzantinische Wohnstadt, Volume XV 2. Walter de Gruyter, 1991 p. 6 ISBN 978-3-11-012621-1 at GoogleBooks
  16. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann pp. 9-10
  17. ↑ a b DAI - report on the restoration ( Memento from June 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann pp. 10–11
  19. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann pp. 10–15
  20. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann pp. 18–22
  21. ^ Robert A. Wild: Water in the Cultic Worship of Isis and Sarapis. Brill 1981 p. 201f. ISBN 9789004063310
  22. ^ A b Corinna Brückener, Adolf Hoffmann and Ulrich Mania: Egyptian Cults in Pergamon: The "Red Hall" in Pergamon from an architectural and archaeological point of view p. 155 ( PDF ).
  23. ^ Robert A. Wild: Water in the Cultic Worship of Isis and Sarapis. Brill 1981 pp. 57-58 ISBN 9789004063310
  24. ↑ a b Katja Lembke: Colossality and monumentality: On the size and expansion of the Red Hall in Adolf Hoffmann (ed.), Egyptian cults and their sanctuaries in the east of the Roman Empire. Byzas 1. Istanbul: Ege Yaynlar 2005 pp. 47–58 ISBN 975-807-105-X
  25. ^ Helmut Koester: Paul & his world: interpreting the New Testament in its context. Fortress Press, 2007 pp. 143-144 ISBN 978-0-8006-3890-0
  26. ↑ Salditt-Trappmann p. 14
  27. ^ Robert A. Wild: Water in the Cultic Worship of Isis and Sarapis. Brill 1981 p. 179 ISBN 9789004063310
  28. ↑ Dirk Steueragel: Review of Adolf Hoffmann (ed.), Egyptian cults and their sanctuaries in the east of the Roman Empire (PDF; 97 kB)
  29. ^ Klaus Rheidt: Antiquities of Pergamon: The city excavation. Die Byzantinische Wohnstadt, Volume XV 2. Walter de Gruyter, 1991 p. 194 ISBN 978-3-11-012621-1 at GoogleBooks
  30. ↑ Kenneth C. Davis , Where Did Prometheus Hide The Fire: Everything You Should Know About Myths of the World. Bastei-Lübbe 2008 p. 8s ISBN 978-3-404-60603-0 at GoogleBooks
  31. ↑ a b Klaus Rheidt : Antiquities of Pergamon: The city excavation. Die Byzantinische Wohnstadt, Volume XV 2. Walter de Gruyter, 1991 p. 193 ISBN 978-3-11-012621-1 at GoogleBooks
  32. ^ Klaus Rheidt: Antiquities of Pergamon: The city excavation. Die Byzantinische Wohnstadt, Volume XV 2. Walter de Gruyter, 1991 pp. 4-7 ISBN 978-3-11-012621-1 at GoogleBooks
  33. ↑ Adolf Hoffmann (Ed.): Egyptian Cults and Their Sanctuaries in the East of the Roman Empire, International Colloquium 5./6. September 2003 in Bergama (Turkey) , Byzas 1, Ege Yayınları, Istanbul 2005, ISBN 975-807-105-X .
  34. ↑ Sekhmet in Pergamon - The Resurrection of a Large Ancient Sculpture ( Memento from April 14, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  35. ^ FAZ from September 25, 2012 - "Red Hall" by Pergamon. The late resurrection of the goddess Sekhmet
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on July 11, 2011 in this version .