Notable Exhibitions at the Pergamon Museum

The exhibitions and collections at the Pergamon Museum contain archaeological artefacts from the archaic to Hellenistic ages as well as artwork from Greek and Roman antiquity: architecture, sculptures, inscriptions, mosaics, bronzes, jewelry and pottery. The collection also greatly incorporated the finds from the excavations in Olympia, Samos, Pergamon, Miletus, Priene, Magnesia, Cyprus and Didyma.

Overview

The collections at the Pergamon Museum also exhibit artefacts from the areas of ancient Babylon, Uruk, Assur, Miletus, Priene and ancient Egypt.

In 1945 CE, the Red Army collected all of the loose museum items, either as war booty or to rescue them from looting and fires then raging in Berlin. Not until 1958 CE were most of the objects returned to East Germany. Significant parts of the collection belonging to the Pergamon Museum still remain in Russia. Some are currently stored in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Notable Exhibits

circa 575 BCE

Ishtar Gate and the Processional Street of Babylon
The Ishtar Gate was an ancient Babylonian monument that, originally built in the city of Babylon, which is located in present-day Iraq. The gate along with the processional street (inspect) or the ritual path was constructed in the 6th century BCE by King Nebuchadnezzar II and served as the main entrance to the city's inner complex. In the early twentieth century CE, a team of German archaeologists led by Robert Koldewey excavated the site of the Ishtar Gate and transported its remains to Berlin, where it was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum. The reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum is an impressive and faithful recreation of the original monument. The gate is approximately 14 meters high, 30 meters long, and 5 meters deep, and is made up of over 8,000 individual bricks. Another point of note is that the current exhibited gate is merely a part of a much larger gate complex.

circa 130 BCE

Pergamon Altar of Zeus and Athena
The Pergamon Altar is an ancient Greek monument that was originally built in the city of Pergamon (Pergamum), which is located in present-day Turkey. The altar was constructed in the 2nd century BCE and served as a place of sacrifice and worship for the gods. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries CE, a team of German archaeologists led by Carl Humann excavated the site of the Pergamon Altar and transported its remains to Berlin, where it was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum. The reconstruction of the Pergamon Altar in the Pergamon Museum is a remarkable feat of engineering and restoration. The altar is displayed in a large room that was specifically designed to accommodate its size and scale.

circa 125 CE

Market Gate of Miletus
The Market Gate of Miletus is a monumental marble structure that was originally constructed in the second century CE in the Roman Miletus. In the early twentieth century CE, a team of German archaeologists led by Theodor Wiegand excavated the site and transported the gate's remains to Berlin, where it was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum. Today, the Market Gate of Miletus is one of the most impressive exhibits in the museum's collection, and is a popular attraction for visitors interested in ancient Roman architecture and history. The reconstruction was completed in the 1930s, and the monument has been on display at the Pergamon Museum ever since.

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See Also

• Pergamon Museum
• Miletus
• Pergamon or Pergamum
• Babylon

References

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• Panel with Striding Lion". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2018.
• De Grummond, Nancy Thomson, and Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway. 2000. 'From Pergamon to Sperlonga: Sculpture and Context. Berkeley: University of California Press.
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• Ridgway, B.S. 2000. Hellenistic Sculpture II. The Styles of ca. 200-100 BC, (Madison, Wisconsin).
• MacFarquhar, Neil (August 19, 2003). "Hussein's Babylon: A Beloved Atrocity". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
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• British Museum Website Archived 2014-01-27 at the Wayback Machine
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• Hoffmann, Herbert, "Antecedents of the Great Altar at Pergamon" The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 11.3 (October 1952.
• Bernard Andreae: Datierung und Bedeutung des Telephosfrieses im Zusammenhang mit den übrigen Stiftungen der Ataliden von Pergamon, in: Wolf-Dieter Heilmeyer (ed.): Der Pergamonaltar. Die neue Präsentation nach Restaurierung des Telephosfrieses, Wasmuth, Tübingen 1997.
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