Asclepion (Pergamon)
The Asklepieion of Pergamon is a sanctuary complex located around two kilometers west of the Acropolis of Pergamon , which was established for the Greek god of healing, Asklepios .
history
The cult of Asclepius was already practiced in Pergamon in the 4th century BC. And was initially hereditary in the family of a certain Archias, the founder of the cult. Under Eumenes II it was elevated to a state cult. The Asklepieion in its design known today can be traced back to an expansion in the time of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius . However, subsequent excavations have also unearthed remains of the Hellenistic and even older building phases. In the 2nd century AD, the sanctuary was the most important Asclepion in the ancient world.
sanctuary
Pre-Hellenistic period
In the valley of the later Asklepieion some pottery shards from pre-Archaic and Archaic times were discovered. The few remaining remains of the oldest buildings, however, date from the late 5th century BC. And do not allow any judgment about the appearance of the cult site. The source of the sanctuary, which is located on a so-called rock bar, was probably already framed at this time and designated as a cult monument by a staircase running from west to east. Judging by the traces of processing, the surrounding rock was also worn, so that a kind of cult platform was created. Some remains of the wall were found in the vicinity. Taking into account the later buildings and in comparison to sanctuaries of similar cult continuity, one could conclude that it is a natural sanctuary.
Hellenistic period
In the last third of the 4th century BC Three buildings with an indefinite function were built, one of which was under the foundations of a later altar. In the early 3rd century BC The so-called staircase was laid out in the 3rd century BC, the careful elaboration and exposed location of which suggest a special position. Its deepened room, to which a staircase leads down, could have been a forerunner of the sacred well, which was fed through a channel from the spring on the rock bar. In the early 3rd century BC The so-called mosaic building was also built between the south altar and the rock bar. The 2.70 × 2.80 meter building had a niche that opened onto the altar and possibly had a cultic function. A black and white pebble mosaic has been preserved inside. With the expansion of the later buildings for the Enkoimesis , this building was destroyed and the possibly associated cult was possibly moved to a cult building on the bar itself. Around the middle of the 3rd century BC The appearance of the sanctuary changed significantly: For the first time, the buildings were aligned with the four main directions according to a uniform concept , the buildings in the center of the sanctuary became denser and the size of the individual buildings increased. Behind this upgrading and monumentalization was possibly a stronger promotion of the Asclepius cult by the Attalid royal house, which led to the more representative design. In addition to the construction of two cult facilities on the rock bar and the associated altars, a new facility for the incubation is also occupied.
Roman time
Access to the Asklepieion was made possible by an 820-meter-long, splendid street, at least in its first part, if you had passed through a gate building that formed the entrance, when via tecta was vaulted. Columned halls accompanied the up to 18.50 meter wide street on both sides. A tholos-shaped heroon lay on the southern portico, the northern hall contained a later built-in fountain house. The Roman sanctuary was a courtyard surrounded by buildings and halls measuring 110 × 130 meters, with a large forecourt and a propylon in front of it in the east, where the grand avenue ended .
The Roman temple for Asklepios Soter or Zeus Soter Asklepios was located south of the propylon and thus on the edge of the courtyard area . The building is a smaller replica of the Pantheon in Rome and, with a dome diameter of 23.85 meters, had the largest brick dome in the Roman Empire and probably in the entire world at the time of its construction . The substructure was, entirely in keeping with Greek craftsmanship, made of neatly cut blocks without a mortar bond. A splendid vestibule corresponding to the neighboring propylon architecture enabled access from the west, i.e. the sanctuary, via a staircase in front of it - also here a repetition of the propylon. Seven alternating semicircular and angular niches divided the three-meter-thick walls inside and probably originally held cult images. Colorful pilasters and marble cladding adorned the inner walls of the temple, which was donated by the Roman consul of 142 AD, Lucius Cuspius Pactumeius Rufinus , who came from Pergamon .
On the south-east corner of the area stood a two-storey round building with a diameter of almost 60 meters on the outside, the upper storey of which was structured with semicircular niches facing inwards. The building with a normal roof was used for the spa and was connected to the cult center of the complex, the sacred, radioactive spring, by an approximately 80 meter long underground passage.
The south, west and north sides of the courtyard were lined with columned halls, to the north of the north hall and in its western area was a Roman theater, which with its 29 rows of marble seats could hold around 3,500 spectators. As is typical for Roman theaters, it has a strictly semicircular audience. Other buildings or facilities in the sanctuary were used for drinking and bathing cures.
literature
- Oskar Ziegenaus , Gioia de Luca: The Asklepieion. The southern Temenos district in the Hellenistic and early Roman times. de Gruyter, Berlin 1968 ( Antiquities from Pergamon Vol. XI 1).
- Oskar Ziegenaus: The Asklepieion. The northern Temenos district and adjoining facilities in the Hellenistic and early Roman times. de Gruyter, Berlin 1975, ISBN 3-11-00487-36 ( Antiquities from Pergamon Vol. XI 2).
- Oskar Ziegenaus: The Asklepieion. The cult buildings from Roman times on the east side of the Holy District. de Gruyter, Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-11-00828-37 ( Antiquities of Pergamon Vol. XI, 3).
- Gioia de Luca: The Asklepieion. Via Tecta and Hallenstrasse. The finds. de Gruyter, Berlin 1984, ISBN 3-11-00891-14 ( Antiquities of Pergamon Vol. XI, 4).
- Adolf Hoffmann , Gioia de Luca: The Asklepieion. The square halls and the associated annex buildings in Roman times. de Gruyter, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-018347-4 ( Antiquities of Pergamon Vol. XI 5)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jürgen Rasch: The dome in Roman architecture. Development, design, construction . In: Architectura . Vol. 15, 1985, pp. 117-139 (125 & 129).
Coordinates: 39 ° 7 '7.9 " N , 27 ° 9' 55.7" E