Satan's altar. School Encyclopedia. The wanderings of the Pergamon altar between Germany and the USSR

7.5. Why does the synodal translation of the Bible rename the altar to davir, and the kiot - to the ark? In the synodal translation of the Bible, when describing the temple of Solomon, the words DAVIR and the ARK are often used (1 Kings 6-7). They give the reader the impression that they are talking about something ancient.

) built specifically for this purpose.

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✪ Pergamon altar, ca. 200-150 AD BC e.

✪ Peace Altar

✪ 11 Pergamon Museum Ancient monuments within modern walls

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I love Greek sculpture. I like the archaic, I like the classics, its restraint and harmony, but, to be honest, I adore Hellenism. And all because of two fragments of a beautiful frieze from Pergamon. In the center of the first fragment - Athena, and the second - Zeus. I can understand why you like these sculptures so much. They combine the most beautiful thing in ancient Greek sculpture - love for the human body, as well as expression and drama, characteristic of the Hellenistic period. Hellenism is the last period, the last phase of Greek art, following the death of Alexander the Great. Alexander was the son of the king of Macedonia, in northern Greece. He managed to subjugate all of Greece, and then captured many lands that went far beyond the Greek borders. Thus, the influence of Greek culture spread over a large area. Yes. Alexander in some way Hellenized these lands, made them Greek. The territory of his empire stretched from ancient Egypt to the border between Persia and India, to the very valley of the Indus. It was a huge area. But after the death of Alexander, the empire was divided among themselves by 4 commanders. One of them once saw a hill near the coast of present-day Turkey. He considered it an advantageous defensive position, and laid the fortress of Pergamon there, which became the center of the Pergamon kingdom. These people built a beautiful altar and created a stunning frieze depicting the battle of the giants with the Olympian gods. A divine battle of unthinkable proportions is unfolding before our eyes. This is a legendary great battle in which the giants fought with the gods for power over the whole world. Let's take a closer look at the frieze. Let's start with the fragment where Athena is in the center. She is elegant and beautiful even in the heat of battle with a cruel giant, with a titan. It is already clear who will win. Athena is in complete control of the situation. She grabbed Alcyoneus by the hair and pulled him out of the ground, depriving him of his strength. On the other side of Athena is the giant's mother. She can do nothing to help him, although she is terribly afraid of what awaits her son. Pay attention to how the sculptor, whoever he was, built the composition. First, my gaze falls on Athena herself - where her head should be. Further, the gaze glides down the beautiful hand, where it is gently intercepted by Alcyoneus. Then her eyes go around his elbow, down his face and down his chest. Then I notice that one of Athena's snakes is biting him on the right side. Then my eyes follow the luxurious curve of the giant's body, moving from the torso to the legs, but slowed down due to the staccato deep folds of the cape belonging to Athena. And from there the gaze passes to the mother of Alcyoneus. It turns out that Athena - a powerful, restrained goddess - is surrounded on both sides by passionate, distraught creatures who are defeated, while Athena is crowned by the winged Nike, who flew in from behind. That is, the figures here appear from different sides: from behind, from below. There are many of them, they are constantly moving, creating an incredible sense of drama. It feels as if the entire marble surface rotates counterclockwise around the shield of Athena in the very center of the composition. Many diagonals give the sculpture dynamism. The high relief creates a great contrast between the light bodies pushed forward and the dark shadows behind them. I am also struck by the complex poses of the figures themselves. Athena moves to the left, but stretches out her hand to the right, Alcyoneus raises his head, arches his shoulders, and his legs are still behind. Here we can safely talk about the virtuoso depiction of the human body. Just imagine how it all looked in colorized form. We often think that Greek sculptures were just wonderful white marble. But we must remember that they were excellently painted. Let's now take a look at the fragment with Zeus in the center. Like Athena, he is in complete control of himself and the situation, although he rushes forward. There is no doubt that he is a winner. The figure of Zeus is incredibly powerful. Look at the magnificent bare chest and belly, and the fluttering, almost-fallen drapery that wraps around his legs. And yet Zeus fights not with one, but with three giants at once. Luckily, he is the king of the gods, so he has eagles and lightning bolts to help him. Right. In the upper right corner, you can see how the eagle, the symbol of Zeus, attacks the elder titan. While the eagle distracts him, Zeus can focus on the giant, who is already kneeling at his feet and will soon be defeated. On the other side of Zeus, we see another giant who seems to be sitting on a rock. His thigh was pierced by what looked like a torch. In fact, this is how the Greeks depicted the lightning of Zeus. Oh, it hurts... For sure. In this sculpture there is a sense of heroism and harmony, but at the same time a sense of the moment and a certain excitement that attracts the viewer. You know, the story of gods and giants was very important to the Greeks. It contained a set of symbols that expressed both the fears of the Greeks and their belief that they could conquer chaos. It turns out that this battle is an allegory of the victory of Greek culture over the unknown, over the chaotic forces of nature. Yes, and also the embodiment of military victories over other cultures that the Greeks did not understand and feared. Let's now go up the steps of the altar, to the most sacred part of it, where a fire was burning, supposedly in honor of Zeus, and sacrifices were probably made. You have already mentioned that the figures sometimes almost separate from the wall. I think this is most noticeable when you go up the stairs. In some places, individual figures of this high relief kneel down on the steps of the stairs, literally invading our space. For example, one of the nymphs, whose legs end in a snake's tail, turned it on one of the steps. This is an amazing way to bring sculpture into our world. It turns out that all this drama is unfolding right around us, becoming part of our space. It must have been an amazing sight back then. I wonder how these sculptures ended up here in Berlin? The answer to this question lies in the political ambitions of the then Prussia. Prussia wanted to catch up with France and Britain, and for this they needed, among other things, excellent museums that reflected the culture of past centuries. With their help, one could become the heirs of the great classical tradition, which was so revered in the 19th century. You know, Berlin wanted to become a kind of new Rome. What I especially like about the Pergamon Museum in Berlin is that they didn’t just hang the remains of the friezes on the walls, but instead reconstructed the altar and restored all the friezes they could. And now we can imagine what it is like to be in Pergamum in the III century. BC e. So, we are in the III century. BC e. we are standing on the Acropolis, on a hilltop in the city of Pergamum, about 20 miles from the coast of modern Turkey. We go up the hill and see the altar of Zeus, and around it - a magnificent library, where probably 200,000 scrolls were kept, as well as a military garrison and the royal palace. It turns out that all this drama unfolds right around us, becomes part of our space. Probably in the 2nd century BC e. it was an absolutely amazing sight.

History

It is a memorial monument erected in honor of the victory won by the Pergamon king Attalus I over the barbarian Gauls (Galatians), who invaded the country in 228 BC. e . It was after this victory that the Kingdom of Pergamon ceased to obey the Seleucid Empire, and Attalus proclaimed himself an independent king. According to another version, it was erected in honor of the victory of Eumenes II, Antiochus III and the Romans over the Galatians in 184 BC. e. , or in honor of the victory of Eumenes II over them in 166 BC.

According to the most common version of dating, the altar was built by Eumenes II in the period between -159 AD. BC e. . (the year of the death of Eumenes). Other options attribute the beginning of construction to a later date - 170 BC. e. . Researchers who believe that the monument was erected in honor of the last of the wars listed above choose the dates 166-156. BC e.

It is traditionally believed that the altar was dedicated to Zeus, among other versions - the dedication to the "twelve Olympians", King Eumenes II, Athena, Athena along with Zeus. According to the few surviving inscriptions, its ownership cannot be accurately reconstructed.

Messages from ancient authors

Of the ancient authors, the Roman writer of the 2nd-3rd centuries briefly mentions the altar of Zeus. Lucius Ampelius in the essay "About the Wonders of the World"(lat. Liber memorialis; miracula mundi): "In Pergamon there is a large marble altar, 40 steps high, with large sculptures depicting gigantomachy."

When an earthquake struck the city in the Middle Ages, the altar, like many other structures, was buried underground.

Altar discovery

In the 19th century the Turkish government invited German specialists to build roads: from to . work in Asia Minor was carried out by engineer Karl Human. Previously, he visited ancient Pergamon in the winter - gg. He discovered that Pergamon had not yet been fully excavated, although the finds may be of extraordinary value. Human had to use all his influence in order to prevent the destruction of some of the exposed marble ruins in lime and gas furnaces. But real archaeological excavations required support from Berlin.

Altar in Russia

After World War II, the altar, among other valuables, was removed from Berlin by Soviet troops. Since 1945, it has been kept in the Hermitage, where in 1954 a special room was opened for it, and the altar became available to visitors

General characteristics of the structure

The innovation of the creators of the Pergamon Altar was that the altar was turned into an independent architectural structure.

It was erected on a special terrace on the southern slope of the mountain of the acropolis of Pergamon, below the sanctuary of Athena. The altar was almost 25 m lower than the other buildings and was visible from all sides. It offered a beautiful view of the lower city with the temple of the god of healing Asclepius, the sanctuary of the goddess Demeter and other structures.

The altar was intended for worship in the open air. It was a high plinth (36.44 × 34.20 m) raised on a five-level foundation. On one side, the plinth was cut through by a wide open marble staircase 20 m wide, leading to the upper platform of the altar. The upper tier was surrounded by an Ionic portico. Inside the colonnade there was an altar courtyard, where the actual altar was located (3-4 m high). The platform of the second tier was limited on three sides by blank walls. The roof of the building was crowned with statues. The whole structure reached a height of about 9 m.

This building is not an absolutely identical copy of the ancient altar - only the main, western side (with stairs, colonnade, porticos, statues and sculptural frieze) has been recreated, which is, as it were, cut off by the wall of the room. The slabs of the frieze of the other sides of the altar are placed in the same hall near the walls, that is, the altar is, as it were, “turned inside out”.

From the building itself in Pergamon, only the foundation and partly the walls of the basement survived. Archaeologists have found numerous parts of the decor: bases, trunks and capitals of columns, slabs of cornices and ceilings, inscriptions and statues, and most importantly - relief images of both friezes (117 plates). After the delivery of the finds to Germany in the 1880s. For a number of years, painstaking work was carried out in the Berlin Museum to restore several thousand fragments, to determine whether the plates with figures belong to one or another side of the altar, to establish the order of the images (the arrangement of the gods on the frieze had to obey a certain genealogical principle). At the moment, fragments of high reliefs are fixed with metal pins on the base in an order approximately restored by scientists. Large gaps (empty background) are noticeable to the viewer, since many elements were still not found.

The exposition was opened only in 1930, since the construction of the museum, which began in 1910 according to the project of architects A. Messel and L. Hoffmann, was delayed due to the First World War.

Gigantomachy was a common subject of ancient plastic arts. But this plot was comprehended at the Pergamon court in accordance with political events. The altarpiece reflected the ruling dynasty's perception and the state's official ideology of victory over the Galatians. In addition, the Pergamians perceived this victory deeply symbolically, as the victory of the greatest Greek culture over barbarism.

“The semantic basis of the relief is a clear allegory: the gods personify the world of the Greeks, the giants - the Gauls. The gods embody the idea of ​​a well-organized, orderly state life, the giants embody the unexpired tribal traditions of the aliens, their exceptional militancy and aggressiveness. The allegory of another kind forms the basis of the content of the famous frieze: Zeus, Hercules, Dionysus, Athena are the personification of the dynasty of the Pergamon kings.

In total, the frieze depicts about fifty figures of gods and the same number of giants. The gods are located in the upper part of the frieze, and their opponents are in the lower one, which emphasizes the opposition of the two worlds, the "upper" (divine) and the "lower" (chthonic). The gods are anthropomorphic, the giants retain the features of animals and birds: some of them have snakes instead of legs, wings behind their backs. The names of each of the gods and giants, explaining the images, are neatly carved below the figures on the cornice.

Distribution of gods:

• East side (main)- Olympic gods
• north side- gods of the night and constellations
• West side- deities of the water element
• South side- gods of heaven and heavenly bodies

"The Olympians triumph over the forces of the underground elements, but this victory is not for long - the elemental principles threaten to blow up a harmonious, harmonious world."

Masters

The sculptural decoration of the altar was made by a group of craftsmen according to a single project. Some names are mentioned - Dionysiades, Orestes, Menekrates, Pyromachus, Isigon, Stratonicus, Antigonus, but it is not possible to attribute any fragment to a specific author. Although some of the sculptors belonged to the classical Athenian school of Phidias, and some were of the local Pergamene style, the whole composition gives a holistic impression.

Until now, there is no unequivocal answer to the question of how the masters worked on the giant frieze. There is no consensus on the extent to which the individual personalities of the masters influenced the appearance of the frieze. There is no doubt that the sketch of the frieze was created by a single artist. Upon close examination of the frieze, coordinated to the smallest detail, it becomes obvious that nothing was left to chance. . Already broken down into struggling groups, it is striking that none of them is similar to the other. Even the hairstyles and shoes of the goddesses do not occur twice. Each of the fighting groups has its own composition. Therefore, the created images themselves rather than the styles of the masters have an individual character.

In the course of the research, differences were established, indicating that several masters worked on the relief, which, however, practically did not affect the consistency of the whole work and its general perception. Masters from different parts of Greece embodied a single project created by the chief master, which is confirmed by the surviving signatures of masters from Athens and Rhodes. The sculptors were allowed to leave their name on the lower plinth of the frieze fragment they made, but these signatures are practically not preserved, which does not allow us to draw a conclusion about the number of craftsmen who worked on the frieze. Only one signature on the southern risalit has been preserved in a condition suitable for identification. Since there was no plinth on this section of the frieze, the name "Theorretos" was carved next to the created deity. By examining the inscription of symbols in the signatures, scientists were able to establish that two generations of sculptors took part in the work - the older and the younger, which makes the consistency of this sculptural work even more appreciated. .

Description of sculptures

The figures are made in very high relief (high relief), they are separated from the background, practically turning into a round sculpture. This type of relief gives deep shadows (contrasting chiaroscuro), making it easy to distinguish all the details. The compositional structure of the frieze is exceptionally complex, plastic motifs are rich and varied. Unusually convex figures are depicted not only in profile (as was customary in relief), but also in the most complex turns, even from the front and from the back.

The figures of gods and giants are presented in the entire height of the frieze, one and a half times higher than human height. Gods and giants are depicted in full growth, many giants have snakes instead of legs. The relief shows huge snakes and predatory animals taking part in the battle. The composition consists of many figures built into groups of opponents colliding in a duel. The movements of groups and characters are directed in different directions, in a certain rhythm, while maintaining the balance of the components on each side of the building. Images also alternate - beautiful goddesses are replaced by scenes of the death of zoomorphic giants.

The conventions of the depicted scenes are compared with the real space: the steps of the stairs, along which those going to the altar climb, also serve for the participants in the battle, who either “kneel” on them, or “walk” along them. The background between the figures is filled with fluttering fabrics, wings and snake tails. Initially, all figures were painted, many details were gilded. A special compositional technique was used - extremely dense filling of the surface with images that practically do not leave a free background. This is a remarkable feature of the composition of this monument. Throughout the frieze, not a single piece of sculptural space remains that is not involved in the active action of a fierce struggle. With a similar technique, the creators of the altar give the picture of martial arts a universal character. The structure of the composition, in comparison with the classical standard, has changed: the opponents fight so closely that their mass suppresses space, and the figures are intertwined.

Style characteristic

The main feature of this sculpture is extreme vigor and expressiveness.

The reliefs of the Pergamon altar are one of the best examples of Hellenistic art, which for the sake of these qualities abandoned the tranquility of the classics. “Although battles and skirmishes were a frequent theme in ancient reliefs, they have never been depicted in the same way as on the Pergamon altar - with such a shuddering sense of cataclysm, battles not for life, but for death, where all cosmic forces, all demons of the earth participate and the sky."

“The scene is full of great tension and has no equal in ancient art. The fact that in the IV century. BC e. was only outlined by Scopas as a breakdown of the classical ideal system, here it reaches its highest point. The faces distorted by pain, the mournful looks of the vanquished, the piercing flour - everything is now shown with obviousness. Early classical art before Phidias also loved dramatic themes, but there conflicts were not brought to a violent end. The gods, like Myron's Athena, only warned the guilty about the consequences of their disobedience. In the era of Hellenism, they physically deal with the enemy. All their huge bodily energy, superbly conveyed by the sculptors, is directed to the act of punishment.

The masters emphasize the furious pace of events and the energy with which the opponents are fighting: the swift onslaught of the gods and the desperate resistance of the giants. Due to the abundance of details and the density of filling the background with them, the effect of noise that accompanies the battle is created - the rustle of wings, the rustle of snake bodies, the ringing of weapons are felt.

The energy of the images is promoted by the type of relief chosen by the masters - high. Sculptors actively work with a chisel and drill, cutting deeply into the thickness of the marble and creating large differences in planes. Thus, there is a noticeable contrast of illuminated and shaded areas. These light and shadow effects add to the feeling of intense combat.

The peculiarity of the Pergamon altar is a visual transmission of the psychology and mood of those depicted. The delight of the winners and the tragedy of the doomed giants are clearly read. The scenes of death are full of deaf sorrow and genuine despair. All shades of suffering unfold before the viewer. In the plasticity of faces, postures, movements and gestures, a combination of physical pain and deep moral suffering of the vanquished is conveyed.

The Olympian gods no longer bear the stamp of Olympian calm on their faces: the muscles are tense and the eyebrows are furrowed. At the same time, the authors of the reliefs do not abandon the concept of beauty - all participants in the battle are beautiful in face and proportions, there are no scenes that cause horror and disgust. Nevertheless, the harmony of the spirit is already wavering - faces are distorted by suffering, deep shadows of the eye orbits, serpentine strands of hair are visible.

Inner small frieze (history of Telef)

Frieze was dedicated to life and deeds Telephos, the legendary founder of Pergamon. The rulers of Pergamon revered him as their ancestor.

The Galatians were a warlike Celtic tribe that invaded Asia Minor from Europe. The mighty Syrian kings, who considered themselves the heirs of Alexander the Great, preferred to pay tribute to the Galatians, rather than take the risk of battle. The hordes of Galatians chose the small but very rich state of Pergamum as their next victim, which seemed to them a sure and easy prey. In terms of numbers, the Pergamon army was inferior to the troops of Syria of the Seleucids and Egypt of the Ptolemies, but in terms of technical equipment it clearly surpassed even them, not to mention the barbarian hordes of the Galatians. King Attalus I refused to pay tribute to the Celtic aliens. In the battle at the sources of Caik, the Pergamians utterly defeated the Galatians, after which Attalus took the cult name "savior". For some time, the small state became so influential that Attalus intervened in the struggle for the throne in the Seleucid kingdom and achieved some success in this endeavor.

The reason and civilization of the Pergamians prevailed over the superior numbers of the Galatians and the blind thirst for robbery. In memory of the great victory, the Pergamonians erected in the middle of their capital, the city of Pergamon, the altar of Zeus - a huge stone platform for sacrifices. The relief, which surrounded the platform from three sides, was dedicated to the battle of gods and giants. Giants - the sons of the goddess of the earth Gaia, creatures with a human body, but snakes instead of legs, according to myths, once went to war against the gods. The sculptors of Pergamum depicted on the relief of the altar a desperate battle between gods and giants, in which there is no room for doubt or mercy. This struggle of good and evil, civilization and barbarism, reason and brute force was supposed to remind the descendants of the battle of their fathers with the Galatians, on which the fate of their country once depended.

The figure of Zeus surpasses the rest in size and strength. His whole body, every muscle, is permeated with passion. Armed with lightning, the supreme god fights with three giants at once. One of them is turned sideways to the viewer, the other is frontal, the third, the main one - the leader of the giants Porfirion, turned his mighty back to the viewer. This is a worthy rival of Zeus, just as angry, just as hating. But if Zeus, like the rest of the gods, is a strong and beautiful person, then Porphyrion and the giants are carriers of rough, primitive, almost animal strength, stupid and also animal malice.

Near Zeus, his beloved daughter Athena is fighting. Grasping the hair of a young four-winged giant with her right hand, she tears him away from mother earth. The sacred serpent, Athena's inseparable companion, dug its teeth into the giant's body. The goddess Cybele, riding a lion, pursues a giant with an animal head. The sun god Helios tramples enemies with the hooves of his fiery horses. Hercules finishes off opponents with a club, and Phoebe acts with a heavy spear.

By the end of the 2nd century BC. e. Pergamon was conquered by the Romans. They took out many sculptures from Pergamon, and the emperor Claudius - a library second only to that of Alexandria, and presented thousands of scrolls to Queen Cleopatra. And yet, until the VIII century, Pergamum continued to flourish, until it fell under the onslaught of the Arabs. Further destruction was continued by the Byzantines, who exported fragments of temples to Constantinople, and at the beginning of the 14th century Pergamum was captured by the Ottoman Turks, who turned it into ruins. The hordes of the lame Timur completed the defeat of the city in 1362, after which Pergamum ceased to be mentioned in historical chronicles.

Already in antiquity, the Pergamon altar began to acquire a halo of notoriety. The Apostle John the Theologian in his Revelation wrote: “And write to the Angel of the Church of Pergamon: thus says He who has a sharp sword on both sides: I know your deeds, and that you live where the throne of Satan is, and that you keep My name and have not denied My faith even in those days in which you, where Satan lives, my faithful witness Antipas was put to death."

In the XIV century after the Fourth Crusade, the Pergamon Altar for some time allegedly became the object of worship of some secret neo-pagan sect, which operated in the depths of the spiritual and knightly order of the Hospitallers, better known as the Order of Malta. At this time, human sacrifices were allegedly performed on the altar.

In 1864, the Turkish government contracted the German engineer Karl Humann to build a road from the small town of Bergamo to Izmir. Examining the site of future construction, the engineer noticed a steep rocky hill more than three hundred meters high on the eastern outskirts of the town. Climbing it, Humann discovered the remains of two rings of fortress walls. He managed to get the workers hired from the surrounding villages to build the road to talk. One of them stated:

Efendi! You can't dig here. White she-devils and red-haired devils live in the mountain. Allah has repeatedly punished those who mined a stone here. They would scab over and then be paralyzed. And the mullah punishes those who dig here.

Others have said:

At night, the disembodied spirits of pagan devils come out and arrange demonic dances. If they are disturbed during the day, as our grandfathers said, an earthquake will begin.

The mountain is magical, it hides the gods of a very ancient pagan country. Their curse over Bergamo has lasted for thousands of years. But if they are dug up and taken out, then our city will flourish again. I heard this in the mosque.

Humann realized that there had once been a city here. Historians forgot about him, but he continues to live in folk legends. After analyzing the stories of workers and historical works urgently ordered from Berlin, Humann came to a firm conviction: the hill hides ancient Pergamon with its famous altar. Starting excavations, he, among other things, discovered parts of the relief picture of the altar, from which he gradually managed to restore the integral appearance of the Titanomachia.

The parts of the altar sent as a gift to the Berlin museums for the first time in a complete form with all the friezes and columns were put on public display in 1880 in a temporary building. It was visited by the great Russian writer Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev and spent hours looking at scenes of a fierce battle between gods and giants. The writer until the end of his life could not forget his deep delight. In his diary, Turgenev noted: "How happy I am that I did not die without living up to these impressions. I saw all this!"

The construction of the permanent building began only in 1912, and even by 1924 it was hardly even half finished. In the eventually built special museum, the altar of Zeus was displayed for 12 years - until 1941, when the Nazi authorities ordered it to be buried in damp clay soil under a military warehouse, which burned down during the next bombing of the German capital. In 1945, the Soviet occupation authorities took the Pergamon Altar to the USSR, but not as a trophy, but as an exhibit requiring urgent restoration, which was carried out by the Hermitage specialists. In 1958 the altar of Zeus returned to Berlin.

All this time, members of occult societies and openly satanic sects showed keen interest in the restored monument of history and architecture. The altar was examined with interest by one of the leaders of the Golden Dawn of the Outer World secret society, Samuel Mathers, and a member of the same hermetic organization, the writer Mary Violetta Fet, who published under the pseudonym Dion Fortune. At the end of the 20s of the 20th century, another adherent of the Golden Dawn, a magician and Satanist, the creator of the anti-Christian doctrine of "Thelemicism" Aleister Crowley, was also interested in the Pergamon Altar. Crowley himself did not see the altar, but on his instructions, Leah Hirag, known in occult circles as the Purple Whore, standing in front of the ancient shrine, mentally performed some secret rite designed to "release the vibes of the ancient natural gods."

A little later, the Pergamon Altar was subjected to a real invasion by German occultists from the O.T.O. - a society that had a significant impact on the formation of the occult world of National Socialism. Among them was a certain Martha Künzel, who for some time served as a liaison between German and British occult organizations. In the thirties, the famous neo-pagan Karl Maria Willigut, personal magician and mentor in the occult teachings of Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, also examined the altar. The Pergamon altar generally seemed to attract close associates of the SS chief. For example, it was studied by Walter Darre, one of the founders of the Ahnenerbe Institute. Himmler's favorite journalist Helmut d'Alcuen, editor of the SS newspaper Black Corps, admired the altar as well. the dead leader of the world proletariat continued to live in a mystical way among the living.

Viktor BUMAGIN

#rainbow#paper#Countess#Dubarry

TO THE MAINNEWSPAPER RAINBOW

The building of the Pergamon Museum itself is quite beautiful, but now, unfortunately, it is being renovated:

And the main entrance looks like this:

But inside, "everything is fine." And there is even a Russian audio guide, which makes the walk even more interesting. And having received the coveted device and sticking headphones into your ears, you immediately get to the most famous, interesting, and impressive exhibit - the Pergamon Altar, which actually gave the name to the museum (because of this altar the museum was built)
And this altar... it turned out to be so cool that I even forgot to take a "human" picture of it =) I walked with my mouth open, listened to the story of the audio guide and thought about how great ancient civilizations were.

The kingdom of Pergamum existed in 283-133 BC. e. in what is now Turkey. During these one hundred and fifty years, the kingdom went through "all stages" - formation, flourishing, decline and absorption by a stronger power (in this case, Rome). The capital of the kingdom was the city of Pergamum, according to legend, founded by a descendant of the Trojans named Pergamum, who received his name in memory of the Trojan citadel, which was called (do not believe it) Pergamum.

In 263 - 153 years the city reached its peak, for example, it had the second largest ancient library, books were written on specially processed animal skin, which is still called "parchment". Even in Pergamum there were the first showers. Many majestic temples and the altar of Zeus, erected in 180-159 (although scientists are still arguing about the exact dates, but who cares except them)

The altar was intended for worship in the open air. It was a high plinth (36.44 × 34.20 m) raised on a five-level foundation. On one side, the plinth was cut through by a wide open marble staircase 20 m wide, leading to the upper platform of the altar. The upper tier was surrounded by an Ionic portico. Inside the colonnade there was an altar courtyard, where the actual altar was located (3-4 m high). The platform of the second tier was limited on three sides by blank walls. The roof of the building was crowned with statues. The entire building reached a height of about 9 m. Along the perimeter of the basement, a continuous ribbon stretched the Great Frieze (2.3 m high and 120 m long), the main theme of which was the so-called gigantomachia (a good word) - the battle of the Olympian gods with the giants (to help ancient sculptors portrayed several more fictional creatures to the Olympians)

Here, for example, is the “Battle of Athena with Alcyoneus”: the goddess with a shield in her hands threw the winged giant Alcyoneus to the ground. The winged goddess of victory Nike rushes towards her to crown her head with a laurel wreath. The giant unsuccessfully tries to free himself from the hand of the goddess. I think that Athena's face would have depicted joy if it had not been lost.

The altar was found at the end of the 19th century (in the Middle Ages, due to an earthquake, the building was underground). In a nutshell, it was like this - the German surveyor Karl Humann came to the Ottoman Empire to lay roads, visited the city of Pegram and was horrified when he saw how the locals burned the fragments of ancient statues into lime. As a result, Humann found support in Berlin, sponsors, allies, permission from the Sultan and inscribed his name in golden letters in the history of archeology. First of all, as a person thanks to whom the Pergamon Altar was found

And in 1945 the altar moved to St. Petersburg, to the Hermitage, where a special hall was built for it. But in 1958 it was nevertheless returned, although it was agreed that a plaster copy would be made. And already at home, I read on Wikipedia that these casts were made, and in 2002 transferred from the Hermitage storerooms as a gift to the St. Petersburg State Art and Industry Academy and now a copy of the altar is on the gallery of the main hall of the Museum of Baron Stieglitz. Why doesn't anyone know about this? Probably the Masons are hiding (or Wikipedia is lying)

By the way, ancient authors practically do not mention the altar. The only mention is a Roman writer of the II-III centuries. Lucius Ampelius, who in his essay “On the Wonders of the World” (lat. Liber memorialis; miracula mundi) wrote: “In Pergamon there is a large marble altar, 40 steps high, with large sculptures depicting gigantomachy.” Such silence of the sources is interpreted simply - for the Romans this monument was not very interesting (although it was considered a masterpiece), because did not originate in the classical era and did not come out of real Greek, primarily Attic workshops. In short - an Asian remake, a miserable likeness of ancient statues and blah blah blah.

Even in the museum you can see what is left of the small (internal frieze), which tells about the life of Telef, one of the kings of Pergamum

At the Peragma Altar, all the most interesting things in the museum do not end, but only begin
The next hall is a reconstruction of the market gate from the legendary city of Miletus, the most powerful and richest of the Ionian cities in Asia Minor. The huge gates (they never fit into the frame, like almost everything in this museum) were built in the 2nd century BC. AD and destroyed by an earthquake in the 10th or 11th century.
By the way, this gate is the only object of the museum, restored in full size (28.92 by 6.66 meters and 16.73 meters in height). About 60% of the material of the monument is original marble, which is extremely rare for such structures.

There is a beautiful mosaic in front of the gate:

The ruler greets the crowd nearby

And outside the Milesian gates, the Greco-Roman collection of the Pergamon Museum ends (the continuation of Berlin's ancient collection is in the Old Museum, I will definitely write about it) and ancient Babylon begins!
Which was great!

The main "Babylonian" exhibit of the Pergamon Museum is the Ishtar Gate, built in 575 BC. e. by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II in the northern part of the city. The dimensions of the restored Ishtar gate are 14 meters high and 10 meters long, in the original they were twice as high and they were the small gates of the city, i.e. behind them were located another one - several times more! Actually, the city itself was not small - in those days, the first metropolis in the history of mankind was inhabited by more than 150,000 people - a gigantic figure for the ancient world!
By the way, they say that in Iraq there is a life-size copy of the Ishtar Gate ... in Iraq (((((

The main, attracting attention, element of the Gate is the reliefs depicting the animal world of Mesopotamia. There were about 575 of them in total. Like the gates, they are made of burnt glazed brick.

In a similar style, the walls were also made, limiting the road of religious processions, departing from the gate, along which during the holidays (for example, the Babylonian New Year), processions with statues of the gods passed.

Conditionally, the procession road was reconstructed, though it is much narrower and lower than the original...

Time did not spare the ancient lions =(

The Processional Path led to the ziggurat of Etemenanki. The seven-story Etemenanki was the tallest (90 m) building in Babylon. At its top stood the temple of Marduk, the patron god of Babylon. The ziggurat of Etemenanki was probably the prototype of the biblical Tower of Babel. Only ruins are left of it now.

Some ancient symbols:

And here it is - a stone with a set of laws of Hammurabi. Unfortunately a copy, because. the original is in the Louvre

In addition to the gates, the museum contains quite a few interesting exhibits of the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian cultures.

Here, for example, King Barrakib and his clerk:

soldiers

The museum also had an exhibition dedicated to the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk. This city was considered very large, as many as 6 thousand people lived in it! But there were few interesting exhibits at the exhibition, but they showed an interesting film, where everything was clear even without knowing the language

And on the second floor of the Pergamon Museum was the so-called "Museum of Islamic Art". It presented the art of the Islamic peoples of the 8th-19th centuries, who lived in the vastness from Spain to India. After the monumental masterpieces of the ancient Greeks, Romans and Babylonians, medieval Islamic art was perceived with boredom. Beautiful, of course .... but somewhere I saw this. Yes, and I do not like all these oriental curls.
cute bird:

Mihrabs - niches in the walls of the mosque, indicating the direction of Mecca.

Carved ceiling from the Alhambra, by the way, this is Spain. It is made of wood and history is connected with it - the building in which it was located, which was some kind of palace, became a private dwelling in the 19th century. In 1865, the German banker Arthur von Gwinner bought the land with his building, lived there for some time, and in 1891 he gave the land and the building to the Spanish state, but in return received permission to take out the decorative ceiling. I don't even know if it's a good exchange =)

Funny Arabic Drawings:

Oh yes, and carpets, there were a lot of them in the exposition:

I have never seen such a number of His works, so I could not resist:

And here is the "pearl" of the Museum of Islamic Art - the Mshatta Frieze - an ornamental relief frieze of the middle of the 8th century, which adorned the Mshatta palace in the desert of Jordan. The ruins of Mshatta were discovered 30 km south of the Jordanian capital Amman in 1840.

The construction of the palace supposedly began during the reign of Caliph Al-Walid II in 743-744. Its construction was stopped after the assassination of the caliph, and after a while the unfinished palace was destroyed by an earthquake. The name "Mshatta" was given to the palace by the Bedouins who made stops near the ruins. Well, at the end of the 19th century, the Ottoman Sultan Abdul-Hamid II presented the frieze to Kaiser Wilhelm II, so they ended up in the museum.
Of course, in the original, the walls were twice as high!