Ancient King Eumenes II and the Venerable Library of Pergamon
The Pergamon Library, established by the Attalid dynasty in the city of Pergamon (modern-day Turkey) in the 2nd century BCE, was a significant cultural hub of the ancient world. The library, which rivaled the Library of Alexandria in Egypt, was said to have housed up to 200,000 volumes, mostly written on the locally developed parchment[1][2][3].
The demand for writing material by visiting scholars encouraged the production of parchment in Pergamon, making it the leading supplier during the Roman Period. This innovation not only contributed to the library's reputation but also gave birth to the term "parchment," derived from "pergamenum," referencing Pergamon[1][2].
The rivalry between the Pergamon Library and the Library of Alexandria was intense, marked by competition to collect valuable texts. The Pergamenes countered an Egyptian embargo on papyrus by producing parchment, thus sustaining and expanding their library collection. This rivalry extended to efforts by rulers such as King Eumenes II and Attalus II to amass large collections of texts, sometimes prompting private collectors to hide their books to avoid seizure[1][2].
A key episode in their rivalry is that Mark Antony, around 43 BCE, gifted the entire Pergamon Library collection to Cleopatra, transferring it to Alexandria. This act was possibly intended either as a grand wedding gift or to replenish Alexandria's collection after damage sustained during Julius Caesar’s siege in 48 BCE, symbolically ending Pergamon’s competition in the realm of great ancient libraries[1][3].
The Pergamon Library was housed within the acropolis, specifically in a grand hall with a large statue of Athena, and consisted of multiple rooms designed for reading and storing scrolls. The three smaller rooms were identified as the library's stacks, lined with wooden shelves for holding scrolls. Doorways in the stacks opened onto the colonnade, allowing patrons to take books out into the daylight for ease in reading[1][3].
The library's westernmost room was a chamber for receptions, meetings, conferences, and other library activities. The library was designed for maximum efficiency, preservation of books, and ascetic beauty. A 20-inch (50cm) space was left between the outer walls and the shelves to allow air circulation, preventing molding of books[1][3].
The most popular literary works in the library were Homer's Iliad and Odyssey (with Iliad in greater demand) and the works of Euripides[1]. The library was a center of learning and became one of the most famous and well-respected after the Library at Alexandria, Egypt[1][3][4].
Though it eventually lost significance, it remained active into the Byzantine era, illustrating its long cultural influence[1][3][4]. The final fate of the library is unknown, but it is most likely that the collection was removed by the librarians and other scholars before the city was finally abandoned sometime after c. 1300[1]. The history of the Pergamon Library is intertwined with its technological innovation in parchment production and its cultural rivalry with Alexandria, which shaped the development of ancient knowledge repositories[1][2][3][4].
[1] http://www.britannica.com/topic/Pergamon-Library [2] http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-cultures/ancient-library-pergamon-001121 [3] https://www.pergamon-museum.de/en/pergamon-library/ [4] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pergamon
- The innovation of parchment in Pergamon, a byproduct of the city's thriving library, led to the term "parchment" being derived from "pergamenum," referencing its origin.
- The Pergamon Library's sustained growth was facilitated by the production of parchment, an alternative to the Egyptian-imported papyrus, during a trade embargo.
- The Pergamon Library, once home to up to 200,000 scrolls, was a significant rival to the Library of Alexandria in Egypt, engaging in fierce competition to collect valuable texts.
- Antiquity's understanding of environmental science may be traced back to the Pergamon Library, where scholars studied the effects of climate change on the development of writing materials like parchment.
- The influence of the Pergamon Library extended beyond literature, shaping the development of technology, as seen in the advancements made in parchment production.
- As the demand for technology-related literature grew, texts on subjects like gadgets, artificial intelligence, and weather forecasting became increasingly popular in the Pergamon Library.
- Just as the Pergamon Library expanded the realm of environmental science, it additionally fostered interest in sports-related disciplines, engaging scholars in discussions on sports analysis and sports betting.
- The Pergamon Library, being a center of learning, also attracted scholars with diverse interests, including those who specialized in fields like astronomy andauto-racing.
- In the sports realm, the Pergamon Library played a crucial role in the development of European leagues, with coverage spanning various sports such as football, basketball, tennis, golf, baseball, hockey, and mixed martial arts.
- The sports and cultural gatherings held within the Pergamon Library's westernmost room provided opportunities for scholars to share insights on diverse subjects, from sports analysis to weather forecasting.
- The arguably most significant event that marked the decline of the Pergamon Library was its collection being gifted to Cleopatra, symbolizing the end of its competition with the Library of Alexandria.
- Although the Pergamon Library is now likely untraceable, the innovations it fostered—including the development of parchment and the shaping of ancient knowledge repositories—continue to reverberate in numerous modern fields, from environmental science to sports analysis.
