Today began early with a 6 am wake up call, with breakfast at 6:30 and on the bus at 7:30. We had a two hour drive ahead of us to get to the ancient city of Pergamum, which sits looking over the modern day city of Bergama. We took a pit stop along the way at an onyx and jewelry store, which sold the most beautiful onyx pieces I have yet to see, and after being in Israel and Jordan, I have seen a lot.

After the stop, Mr. Jenkins, our tour leader, read and commented on Revelation 2:12-17, Christ’s letter to Pergamum. It was very interesting and allowed us to have a greater appreciation for the ruins of the city when we got there. The ruins were quite amazing to see. For one, they were filled with red poppies, which made for a gorgeous setting and beautiful pictures.

Of special interest and connection to Christ’s letter to the Pergamum church, were the ruins of the temple built by Roman Emperor Hadrian, and dedicated to Emperor Trajan. In Christ’s letter He says that He knows that the saints dwell where Satan’s throne is, but have remained faithful to Him. What Jesus means by Satan’s throne is not known for certain, but the ruins provide some clues. Pergamum was elected three times to build a temple to a Roman Emperor, which tells us that Emperor worship was prominent in this city. You will also find among the ruins the foundation for the Temple of Zeus. This temple was excavated and removed for its protection and now sits in the Berlin Museum in Germany. You may follow this link to see a good picture of the museum. A huge theater on the side of the hill and stumped columns of a library can also be seen at Pergamum.

We stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant in Bergama, where I ate a meat and cheese pita, which they liken to a pizza, but its really not. However, nourishment was necessary to press on, so I ate it and then ate David Thomley’s also. Next to the restaurant was a shop selling authentic goat parchment. There is an interesting story behind why parchment was used in Pergamum, but I will spare you all of that for now. I will say this that the city of Pergamum that was second only to the library in Alexandria, Egypt. The manuscripts in Pergamum were primarily made of animal skins – parchment – while the manuscripts in Alexandria were papyrus.

After lunch we headed to the sanctuary of Asklepios, the god of healing, which was very close to Pergamum. While there were plenty of healers in the in Romans times, most worked independently. This sanctuary was similar to a hospital, where doctors worked in conjunction with each other. They used mud baths, dream interpretation, psychology and medicinal drugs to bring healing to people. Jane and Olen must have drawn great strength from Asklepios, feeling they could lift giant stone ruins. By the look on Olen’s face, I think he might have hurt something.

The sign for Asklepios was a serpent, which is the sign still used today as an icon for medicine. This might contribute to the reason Jesus spoke of Pergamum as where Satan (the serpent of old, Genesis 3:1) dwells.

Upon leaving Bergama, we took a one drive to Thyatira. Unfortunately, the ruins of Thyatira offer little. There is only a remnant of an 8^th century Byzantine church and then columns and arches laying randomly around a small fenced in area. Oh, yeah, we also saw an Thyatira turtle, that I would love to bring home to my girls, but I’m not sure how I would have carried it on the plane. I think there is some law against tourists exporting live animals. The highlight at Thyatira was kicking around a soccer ball with some of the local kids and eating a Magnum ice cream bar.

The ride home took about an hour and a half. We passed the time singing spiritual songs, taking naps and then listening to our tour guide’s stories of previous tours. Ask me about the story of Antonio and the story of the Taiwanese. We all laughed pretty hard.

We head off tomorrow morning at 8:00 to go to Philadelphia, Sardis and Laodicea.