Pergamum

A long road trip again today in which we realized the incredible geography that Paul traveled. More than likely Paul did not visit Pergamon (referenced as Pergamum in Revelation 2), but it was one of the seven churches which was praised for its perseverance.

This ancient city has temples dedicated to Athena and Zeus. At one point in history, the kings of Pergamon were known for their immense love of books. They imported books from all over, particularly Egypt. It was said at one time that the library of Pergamon competed with the library at Alexandria. In fact, Egypt quit exporting papyrus to Pergamon so as to maintain their prominence for libraries. Therefore the people of Pergamon invented what is referred to the world over as parchment. In the first century BC Cleopatra moved the libraries of Pergamon to Alexandria. And in the 700s the libraries of Alexandria were burned for the ruler believed only the Koran was sacred reading.

The day ended with Andrew Dyerhood leading the group in a devotional about God's immense nature. He challenged us to not just learn facts and the context of scripture but to really have our view of God expand! We took communion together which was a beautiful ending to the day.

Pictures include the sunset at our hotel, beautiful archways built by Romans, part of the group in front of the temple to Athena, Melissa and Carrie overlooking the city, Grace and the group enjoying the archways, the view down to the modern city as we heard the call to prayer from the mosque and the group listening to Osgurd our wonderful Turkish tour guide.