Pergamos

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

A city of Mysia, three miles N. of the River Caicus. Eumenes II (197-159 B.C.) built a beautiful city round an impregnable castle on "the pine-coned rock." Attalus II bequeathed his kingdom to Rome 133 B.C. The library was its great boast; founded by Earaches and destroyed by Caliph Omar. The prepared sheepskins were called pergamena charta from whence our "parchment" is derived. The Nicephorium, or thank offering grove for victory over Antiochus, had an assemblage of temples of idols, Zeus, Athene, Apollo, Aesculapius, Dionysus, Aphrodite. Aesculapius the healing god (Tacitus, Ann. 3:63) was the prominent Pergamean idol (Martial); the Pergamenes on coins are called "the principal "temple care-takers" (neokoroi ) of Asia," and their ritual is made by Pausanias a standard. The grove of Aesculapius was recognized by the Roman senate under Tiberius as having right of sanctuary.

The serpent (Satan's image) was sacred to him, charms and incantations were among medical agencies then, and Aesculapius was called "saviour." How appropriately the address to the Pergamos church says, "I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat (throne) is," etc. Here Antipas, Jesus' "faithful martyr," was slain (Revelation 2:12-16). (See ANTIPAS.) "Thou hast them that hold the doctrine of Beldam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before ... Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication"; this naturally would happen in such an idol-devoted city. The Nicolaitanes persuaded some to escape obloquy by yielding in the test of faithfulness, the eating of idol meats; even further, on the plea of Christian "liberty," to join in fornication which was a regular concomitant of certain idols' worship.

Jesus will compensate with "the hidden manna" (in contrast to the occult arts of Aesculapius) the Pergamene Christian who rejects the world's dainties for Christ. Like the incorruptible manna preserved in the sanctuary, the spiritual feast Jesus offers, an incorruptible life of body and soul, is everlasting. The "white stone" is the glistering diamond, the Urim ("light") in the high priest's breast-plate; "none" but the high priest "knew the name" on it, probably Jehovah. As Phinehas was rewarded for his zeal against idol compliances and fornication (to which Balaam seduced Israel), with "an everlasting priesthood," so the heavenly priesthood is the reward of those zealous against New Testament Balaamites. Now Bergamo.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Per'gamos. (in Revised Version, Pergamum). (height, elevation). A city of Mysia, about 3 miles to the north of the river Caicus, and 20 miles from its present mouth. It was the residence, of a dynasty of Greek princes, founded after the time of Alexander the Great, and usually called the Attalic dynasty, from its founder, Attalus. The sumptuousness of the Attalic princes hall raised Pergamos to the rank of the first city in Asia as regards splendor.

The city was noted for its vast, library, containing 200,000 volumes. Here were splendid temples of Zeus or Jupiter, Athene, Apollo and Aesculapius. One of "the seven churches of Asia" was in Pergamos. Revelation 1:11; Revelation 2:12-17. It is called "Satan's seat" by John, which some suppose to refer to the worship of Aesculapius, from the serpent being his characteristic emblem. Others refer it to the persecutions of Christians, which was work of Satan. The modern name of the city is Bergama.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Now Bergamo, a city of Mysia, in Asia Minor, and the residence of the Attalian princes. There was here collected by the kings of this race a noble library of two hundred thousand volumes, which, after the country was ceded to the Romans, was transported to Egypt for Cleopatra, and added to the library at Alexandria. Hence the word parchment, from the Latin pergamentum, Greek pergamene; great quantities of this material being here used, and its manufacture perfected. Pogroms was the birthplace of Galen, and contained a famous temple of Esculapius the god of medicine, who was worshipped under the form of a living serpent. A Christian church was established here in the apostolic age, and was addressed by St. John, Revelation 1:11; 2:12 . The modern city, called Bergamo, lies twenty miles from the sea on the north side of the river Caicus, and contains twelve thousand inhabitants. A large castle in ruins stands on the highest of three mountains, which environ the town, and many remains of the ancient city still exist.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Pergamos (per'ga-mŏs, Revelation 1:11, A. V., but in R. V. Pergamum), height, elevation. A city of Mysia, about three miles to the north of the river Caicus, and 20 miles from its present mouth. The city was noted for its vast library, containing 200,000 volumes. Here were splendid temples of Zeus or Jupiter, Athene, Apollo, and Æsculapius. One of "the 3even churches of Asia" was in Pergamos. Revelation 1:11; Revelation 2:12-17. It is called "Satan's seat" by John, which some suppose to refer to the worship of Æsculapius, from the serpent being his characteristic emblem. The modern name of the city is Bergama.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Royal city of Mysia in Asia Minor: it was not visited by Paul as far as is recorded. The church there is one of the seven in Asia to which the addresses in the Revelation were sent. The saints dwelt where Satan's throne was (the city was renowned for its idolatry). Revelation 1:11; Revelation 2:12 . The city is still in existence, and is called Bergama, with a population of about 20,000, some 2,000 of whom are nominally christian. See REVELATION.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Revelation 1:112:17

This city stood on the banks of the river Caicus, about 20 miles from the sea. It is now called Bergama, and has a population of some twenty thousand, of whom about two thousand profess to be Christians. Parchment (q.v.) was first made here, and was called by the Greeks pergamene, from the name of the city.

Holman Bible Dictionary

Revelation 1:11Revelation 2:12

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Per´gamos or Purgamum, a town of the Great Mysia, the capital of a kingdom of the same name, and afterwards of the Roman province of Asia Propria. The River Caicus, which is formed by the union of two branches meeting thirty or forty miles above its mouth, waters an extensive valley not exceeded in natural beauty and fertility by any in the world. In this valley, in N. lat. 39° 4′, E. long. 27° 12′, stood Pergamos, at the distance of about twenty miles from the sea. It lay on the north bank of the Caicus, at the base and on the declivity of two high and steep mountains, on one of which now stands a dilapidated castle. About two centuries before the Christian era, Pergamos became the residence of the celebrated kings of the family of Attalus, and a seat of literature and the arts. King Eumenes, the second of the name, greatly beautified the town, and increased the library of Pergamos so considerably that the number of volumes amounted to 200,000. As the papyrus shrub had not yet begun to be exported from Egypt, sheep and goat skins, cleaned and prepared for the purpose, were used for manuscripts; and as the art of preparing them was brought to perfection at Pergamos, they, from that circumstance, obtained the name of pergamena, or parchment. The library remained at Pergamos after the kingdom of the Attali had lost its independence, until Antony removed it to Egypt, and presented it to Queen Cleopatra. The valuable tapestries, called in Latin aulæa, from having adorned the hall of King Attalus, were also wrought in this town. The last king of Pergamos bequeathed his treasures to the Romans, who took possession of the kingdom also, and erected it into a province under the name of Asia Propria. Pergamos retained under the Romans that authority over the cities of Asia, which it had acquired under the successors of Attalus, and it still preserves many vestiges of its ancient magnificence. Remains of the Asclepium and of some other temples, of the theater stadium, amphitheater, and several other buildings, are still to been seen. Even now, Pergamos, under the name of Bergamo, is a place of considerable importance, containing a population estimated at 14,000, of whom about 3000 are Greeks, 300 Armenians, and the rest Turks. The town consists for the most part of small and mean wooden houses, among which appear the remains of early Christian churches, showing 'like vast fortresses amid vast barracks of wood.'

In Pergamos was one of 'the seven churches of Asia,' to which the Apocalypse is addressed. This church is commended for its fidelity and firmness in the midst of persecutions, and in a city so eminently addicted to idolatry. 'I know.' it is said, 'thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is' . Now there was at Pergamos a celebrated and much frequented temple of Æsculapius, who probably there, as in other places, was worshipped in the form of a living serpent, fed in the temple, and considered as its divinity. Hence Æsculapius was called the god of Pergamos, and on the coins struck by the town Æsculapius appears with a rod encircled by a serpent. As the sacred writer mentions the great dragon and the old serpent, there is reason to conclude that when he says in the above passage, that the church of Pergamos dwelt 'where Satan's seat is,' he alludes to the worship of the serpent, which was there practiced.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography InformationMcClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Pergamos'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/p/pergamos.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

The citadel of Troy, a name frequently given by the poets to the city itself.