The Pergamon Museum, Berlin, around 1930. Image courtesy of the German Federal Archive.
The Pergamon Altar, around 1930. Image courtesy of the German Federal Archive.
The Pergamon Museum today. The building, patterned after the shape of the Pergamon Altar, is part of Museum Island on the River Spree in Berlin.
The Pergamon Altar today.
View from the top of the altar. In the background: cameraman Lior Sperandeo, reporter Scott Ross, and the bored security guard assigned to watch us.
The altar is surrounded by marble friezes on all sides.
The friezes on the Pergamon Altar portray the Gigantomachy, the epic battle between the Greek gods and the giants. In this relief, the gods Zeus, Hecate and Artemis battle serpent-monsters from the underworld.
Athena and Nike battle the giant Alkyoneus, while his mother Gaia rises up from the underworld to defend him.
The lion goddess Ceto attacks a giant.
Two of the Greek “Fates” attack two giants.
Zeus battles three giants.
Serpents were a large part of worship in ancient Pergamum.
An unidentified statue from ancient Pergamum.
An unidentified Roman statue from Pergamum. The head originally belonged to a different body, but proved to be a good fit for this statue.
View of Museum Island in Berlin. Pictured here is the Bode Museum. On the far right, you can see the columns of the Pergamon Museum.
The Reichstag, or German parliament building, in Berlin. The German inscription is a dedication “To the German people.”
Visit CBN's Pergamum Special Section!
