On Thursday the 19^th we were off to Izmir, named after an Amazon queen. Here we visited Meli’s beautiful home and met her mom and several of her friends.  It was a real treat. Her mother joined us for the rest of the trip. We actually took a ferry across the inlet to get to the other side of Izmir. 

Our first stop was Pergamum. 200 years before Ephesus became the Roman capital, Pergamum had been the capital.   There were two sites we visited here—the Asclepion and the acropolis. The city was built around the acropolis and the temple to Zeus. The kingdom of Pergamum was given to a man who refused to take his mother as a reward for winning a war.  We visited the Asclepion first, which I (seh) was most excited about. We walked the sacred walkway to the Asclepion.  The sacred road began up at the acropolis, which is a long walk. As we looked at the acropolis from the Asclepion, we could see two pine trees that used to be the altar of dedication to Zeus. The God of the underworld, Hades, was mad that Asclepius was not only healing people but raising them from the dead.  Zeus stepped in and told Asclepius that he could only heal.  This was the largest cult in the Ancient World. Along the road there were typically altars where animals were sacrificed before they actually got to the Asclepion; the sacrifice of animals was to get the healing started. At the end of the road were two symbols, the medicine symbol and the pharmacy symbol (that we had seen in Ephesus). We also saw an altar to Asclepius with reliefs of snakes.

The asclepion would only take those they felt they could heal.  Once the patient made a sacrifice they could enter into the tunnel. The door was closed and the only light was from the sky lights.  They could hear the sound of water running at the end of the tunnel.  As they walked down the tunnel they could hear what they thought to be the voice of God affirming, “You will be well, you will be healed”. As the patient came out the end of the marble-faced tunnel, they went into a corridor. This was the main body of the hospital. There would be patients roaming around the hospital and some sleeping. There were three different waterways, so the patient always heard water running which was the natural sound of water.  There were stairways that led to the 2^nd floor that held bedrooms, which allowed more than 50 people to be treated at the same time.

After the patient entered the sleeping area, they would lay on the beds and be given a sedative by the priest or doctor to help them sleep, and the priest or doctor would whisper into the ear of the patient.  It was thought that Asclepius would appear to them in their sleep. Healing was very holistic: some would be told to partake of gymnasium activities, some were told to listen to music or enjoy the play at the theatre, some were told to read, so there was a large library on site. There was also a pool or bath of sacred water where people would wash and bath. This Asclepion in Pergamum was one of the largest found; it was very cool!

Meli talked to us about the letter to the church of the Ephesians—they had abandoned their first love.  It was thought that the Nicolotians were people who ate the flesh of sacrificed animals.

The letter to Smyrna referred to the giving of those who would be given a crown and we saw a woman wearing a crown of a walled city. This represented political power.

In Thyatira there is a reference to those whose legs look like brass.  As one would walk through the town they would hear sounds of copper and brass works, because there was a copper mine nearby.

Pergamum had a double sword.  Sardis is said to be alive but dead. This town held the largest synagogue in the ancient world. They were Christians only in name. The river Pictalos was full of gold, so the town was very wealthy and they often dressed in white.

Philadelphia- the city of brotherly love.

Messages to the churches in Revelation:

Ephesus expanded to 1^st century-confusion among followers of Christianity. 

Smyrna - make your own crown, symbolizing political power. Made Christians hide from the Romans.

Pergamum- seat of Satan eliminated. Christianity, as promised, established as a state religion. Teachings of Baal, gotten from the pagan ways.  The word is the double-edged sword in the Christian church.

Thyatira:  By 1058 CE Christianity stared into the dark ages, which is represented in Thyatira. They would not accept Jezebel - false works. Break into pieces of pottery.

Sardis: asks for reawakening, reconciliation. Have to wake up (renaissance).  Dress in white - baptism, representing purity and acceptance into God’s kingdom.

Philadelphia - new humanity through brotherly love

Laodicea- neither hot nor cold - they lacked spirituality

We then headed to the Acropolis, built in 400 BCE by Telesporus. There were two major attractions. First was the large temple of Trajan, built of white marble.  We also saw the temple of Athena and the altar of Zeus.  There was a large Theatre built on the side of the hill that had 80 rows of seats and an estimated capacity of 10,000 people. The second interesting thing was that the hill was quite a slope that the acropolis was built on, so they had to build arches with platforms on top to extend the earth.  It was fascinating. We also saw a 2400 yr old cistern, built as a perfect circle.  They were amazing architects.