Trip to Turkey: Pergamum

We left Susanna and Ismail's home in Izmir on Wednesday, June 17 and traveled about 2 and a half hours to the ancient ruins of the city of Pergamum. Pergamum is in the modern city of Bergama in Turkey.

 

We stopped off for some lunch at this restaurant.  Amazing lamb meatballs, or Kofte!  We had them many times with our stay in Turkey, sooo good!  We learned a phrase, "afiyet olsun"  which is Turkish for "Bon Appetite" 

After lunch we went to the Pergamum site, it was truly a city on a hill, enveloped with a tall wall, a very strong city. The only way to get there is by air tram...

 

 

This is what Revelation 2:12-17 says, “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:  These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. ¹³ I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

¹⁴ Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. ¹⁵ Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
¹⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it."

So the believers of Pergamum were commended for their faithfulness in the face of persecution in a place where "Satan has his throne".  Pergamum had an amazing altar that was excavated and brought to Berlin back in the late 1800's.   It was reconstructed and is there today.

In the passage there is a reference to "white stone"..."To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it."
  
Everything in worship area was covered in white marble...much of which had engraving on it...

 Pergamum has a large amphitheater and so I went down to the bottom and "preached"! I read this passage from Matthew 16:13-18, "When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  ¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  ¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it."  

So to Satan I ended the passage with, "Take that!"  We also found what we called, "Satan's Throne" which is a Turkish toilet!:)

Here are some other fun pics from the site...

Altar

We got some refreshment after our time up on the hill, fresh squeezed OJ...it was HOT up on the hill but these ladies made it refreshing!

We traveled from Pergamum to the town of Dikili, where we spent the night, a little town on the sea.  This hotel has the coolest elevator, you could only fit 2 or 3 people in it, but I termed it the "Disco Elevator"!  Here are some shots of the town...a local ice cream man challenged Jeff to see if he could grab a cone away from him...you be the judge!

 

 

 

Off to Thyatira tomorrow...thanks for tuning in!