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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



there is no God but God ! I testify Mo- 

 hammed is God's messenger ! Come ye 

 and pray ! Come ye and pray ! It is 

 better to pray than to sleep ! There is 

 no God but God!" 



According to Pliny, the ancient city of 

 Pergamus was at one time the most cele- 

 brated city in the whole of Asia and one 

 of the brightest centers of Hellenic civil- 

 ization. Today the ruins are situated 18 

 miles from Dikili, a small Turkish town 

 on the seacoast just opposite the island 

 of Mitylene and 27 miles from Soma, 

 the nearest inland railway station. The 

 modern town lies at the foot of the acrop- 

 olis hill and has a population of 17,000 

 inhabitants, chiefly Moslems and Greeks. 



In the old town the traveler may feast 

 his curiosity upon imposing Roman ruins 

 which attest to the development and 

 prosperity of the city under the emper- 

 ors. The Romans left the Greek city 

 upon the hill intact, and built one of their 

 own in the valley, on both banks of the 

 river which traversed it from northwest 

 to southwest. Their engineers con- 

 structed a curious work over the river 

 which covered it for a distance of 640 

 feet, and some sections of this double- 

 arched tunnel through which the Selinus 

 flowed may still be seen. It was upon 

 this tunnel that the huge bath was built 

 which is known by the Turks today as 

 the Red Hall. On a cypress-covered 

 hill, upon which is spread a large Turk- 

 ish cemetery, there is also an extensive 

 group of Roman ruins, consisting of the 

 imposing remains of an amphitheater, a 

 badly preserved circus, and the gate of a 

 theater. 



The acropolis of Pergamus consists of 

 an immense rock which rises to a maxi- 

 mum height of 1,090 feet above sea-level. 

 It measures about goo feet from north 

 to south and 400 feet at its narrowest 

 point. Nature had formed upon this 

 mountain four terraces, and upon these 

 were built the monuments of its kings. 

 The acropolis crowned the summit, while 

 on a terrace underneath stood a Roman 

 temple, the Trajaneum, and the shrine 

 of Athena Polias. Lower down rises 

 the foundation of the great altar of Zeus 



and Athena, while still lower is the en- 

 closure of the Agora. This city, built 

 upon a rock of trachytis, had a double 

 character, that of a fortress protected by 

 high cliffs, as well as that of a luxurious 

 city looking out upon a beautiful land- 

 scape. 



The creation of the Greek city of Per- 

 gamus was practically the work of one 

 family of kings. Some 400 years B. C. 

 the town was insignificant, and Xeno- 

 phon carried the place by storm on his 

 march through Asia Minor. It may 

 possibly have been visited by Alexander 

 the Great. For safe keeping King Lysim- 

 achus deposited a large treasure in its 

 fortress with Philetearos, who succeeded 

 in keeping it after the former's death. 

 This treasure, which was something like 

 $10,000,000, an enormous sum in those 

 days, proved to be the starting point of 

 the rise of Pergamus to power. 



Philetearos left the government and 

 legacy to his nephew Eumenes, who was 

 a prince of exceptional qualities. His 

 successor was Attalus I, who was pro- 

 claimed first king of Pergamus after a 

 series of successful wars against the 

 Syrian kings. He reigned 44 years and 

 endowed Pergamus with many of its 

 most splendid monuments. His son Eu- 

 menes II founded a famous library con- 

 sisting of 200,000 volumes, which was 

 presented later by Mark Antony to Cle- 

 opatra and was eventually destroyed at 

 Alexandria. About this time parchment 

 was discovered at Pergamus. 



According to Pliny, the Egyptian king 

 Ptolemy prohibited the exportation of 

 papyrus from his country in order to 

 check the development of the library at 

 Pergamus. As a substitute the people 

 of Pergamus invented parchment, which 

 derived its name from the city of Perga- 

 mus. 



From the acropolis a fine view is ob- 

 tained of the surrounding country. In 

 the valleys everywhere may be seen the 

 ruins of crumbling aqueducts and broken 



bridges. 



The hills, however, for the most part, 

 are barren of forestry. The ruthless de- 

 vastation of the timber resources of this 



