Berlin, Pergamon Museum

Q157298

The Pergamonmuseum is probably Berlin’s most famous cultural institution. It contains three major collections which, each in itself, might have been fine museums: a classical department, a department of ancient Near Eastern art, and a department of Islamic art. What they have in common is their connection to the former Ottoman Empire. In each of these departments, you will see splendid works of art.

The museum is named after the city of Pergamon, where German archaeologists found the famous altar that now stands in the central room of the museum. (In fact, the museum was built around the altar.) The north wing is devoted to Greek and Roman art, and you will find archaic sphinxes, classical reliefs, and so on.

The south wing contains the department of ancient Near Eastern art, which includes the famous Ištar Gate from Babylon and the ancient procession road, which appears to date back to the Seleucid age. Among the other objects are orthostats from Tell Halaf, prehistoric finds from Uruk, the royal tombs of Assur, bronzes from Luristan, objects from Nineveh, and of course lots of cuneiform tablets. Among the most fascinating documents is a tablet that mentions the Judaean king Jehoiachin.

If you go upstairs, you will find yourself in the department of Islamic art. Again, a complete building has been moved from its original location to the German capital: this time, a substantial part of the wall of the early Islamic Mshatta, one of Jordan’s desert castles. But there’s a lot more to see. I must have been gazing at a splendid manuscript of Saadi’s Rose Garden for at least half an hour.

It is easy to spend a day in the Pergamonmuseum, and that is also a problem: it can be extremely crowded. When I was there last June, I could easily enter the building, but last week, early August, there was a long queue. When I entered the museum, it felt muggy, and I wondered whether the humidity wasn’t dangerous for the objects.

This museum was visited in 1988, 1989, 2000, 2010.

68 pictures related to this museum

Zincirli, Column base: a double sphinx	Samos, Temple of Hera, Statue of three goddesses and a lion	Zincirli, Stela of Esarhaddon	Pergamon Altar, Zeus
Aššur, Royal Tombs, Sarcophagus of Šamši-Adad V	Miletus, Theater, Relief of Apollo	Zincirli, Inner gate, lions	Zincirli, Northern hall, orthostat of king Barrakib receiving a scribe
Piraeus, Relief of Cybele (small figures of Hermes and Hecate)	Aššur, Glazed brick panel with a capricorn	Aššur, Royal Tombs, Glazed pottery	Nineveh, Palace of Aššurbanipal, Soldier with a captured bull and a female slave from Elam
Pergamon Altar, detail	Pergamon Altar, Athena	Zincirli, Figurine of a warrior	The Pergamon Altar on a coin
Babylon, Royal procession entering the Gate of Ištar. In front: the Procession Street; center: the Ištar Gate; on the horizon: the Etemenanki.	Pergamon Altar, detail	Tarsus, Figurine of a Persian man	Aezani, Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices
Aššur, Glazed brick panel with the god Aššur	Didyma, Temple of Apollo, archaic column base	Aššur-šarrat	Pergamon, Copy of Phidias' Athena
Didyma, Inscription from Justinian	Piraeus, Relief of Cybele, Hecate, and Hermes	Samos, Temple of Hera, Column	Baalbek, temple of Jupiter, Great Court, Northern basin, Fountainhouse
Esarhaddon Stela, cast, detail	Tarentum, Seated Persephone	Ctesiphon, Sasanian relief of a boar	Pergamon Altar, Auge establishes the cult of Athena
Ur, Inscription of Šu-Sin	Van-Rusahinili, Urartian bowl	Miletus, Harbor district, Model	Aššur, Statue of an early king
Babylon, Procession Street, Decoration, Lions	Babylon, Gate of Ištar	Babylonian tablet mentioning King Jehoiachin	Hatra, Statue of the Moon goddess
Miletus, Orpheus Mosaic	Babylon, Figurine of Heracles	Pergamon, Model of the citadel (Roman age)	Hattusa, Statuette of a warrior
Nineveh, Palace of Senacherib, Assyrian soldiers	Griffin on an Assyrian amulet	Aššur, Figurine of Aššur	Pergamon Altar, Model
Aššur, Basin of Sennacherib	Boeotia, Tombstone of Polyxena	ZIncirli, Palace, Orthostats	Babylon, Esagila, Model
Carystus, Funerary relief of a man	Aššur, Glazed pottery	Zincirli, Egyptian ivory	Uruk, Stone vessel, Detail
Kition, Relief of Sargon II	Aššur, Assyrian capital	Megara, Funerary relief of an athlete	Pergamene capital
Rhodes, Relief with the rape of Brygindis	Nineveh, Palace of Senacherib, Two soldiers	Ur, Cadastre	Zincirli-Gerdshin, Statue of Hadad
Amarna, Letter from King Abdi-Hepa of Jerusalem	Magnesia on the Meander, Temple of Zeus	Aššur, Royal Tombs, Sarcophagus of Aššurnasirpal II	Aššur, Temple of Aššur, Old-Assyrian relief of three deities (and two goats)