February 12

The plan for this morning had been to leave the hotel at the usual 8:30, but the rain, wind and lighting this morning posed a bit of a problem. Apparently, the Davidson group always has weather problems at Pergamum, so Krentz wasn’t surprised. SO we adjusted the schedule in hopes that the weather would clear up soon. We had a discussion about one of our readings in the conference room of the hotel and then had a lively debate about the second reading, which dealt with the controversy over finds that were removed from the excavation site and whether they ought to be returned.
At 10:00 rode to the acropolis of Pergamum, hoping that the wind and rain wouldn’t be too bad (the lightning had stopped shortly after breakfast). We had barely gotten off the bus before it was obvious that the weather was just too bad to make the acropolis site worth seeing. So again, we switched things up and went to the lower site first. Here we checked out the ruins of some temples and the Aesclepion, which was a religious hospital of sorts. The god of medicine was worshipped here and people with ailments came to the baths here for healing. Then it started to hail. After that died down we got back on the bus and headed for lunch. Everything here is so much cheaper than Europe. You can find much more reasonanble food. I got a vegetable plate for 7 Lira (which ends up being less than 5 bucks and the Diet Coke came with the meal).
We tried for the Acropolis again, since the rain clouds had passed. This time, the only factor was the wind. Though there were some gale force winds at times (we took some pretty cool pictures of people at almost 45 degree angles into the wind), the weather was much nicer than it had been all day. During the gale force winds, however, Krentz told me to present my information on the archeological history of the Altar of Zeus. I shouted out the basics, and tried to get the gist of the controversy out as quick as possible because everyone was having a hard time standing in one place, let alone hearing me. I later asked if anyone could hear what I said and the only thing people really took in was my last line, which was, “So just think about those issues and see which side you agree with.” (The issues – Germany acquired the altar by completely legal means from the Ottoman government, but according to the museum’s curator, the reason it was moved was to protect it from stone robbers. Since Turkey now has better means to protect the Altar, should it go back to its original location?) It sounds like I may need to recap my little presentation. We spent about 3 hours at the acropolis site, looking at the temple ruins, the theater, the homes with mosaic floors, and Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine structures. This ancient city was very impressive in its prime.
We made it to the museum before it closed and Krentz had us spend about 30 mins trying to find the items on display that came from the Aesclepion.
We finally came back to the hotel around 4:45 and I was pooped. It was a very good day, but very long. We reconvened in the lobby to go to dinner at the same restaurant as last night. The owner sang for us again, but would only sing a second time if we sang a song to him. We decided that Wheat should rap “Ice, Ice, Baby” again, but this time Darrel served as a backup dancer. It was hilarious. I guess everyone was still in the musical spirit because we broke out into a Back Street Boys song on the bus ride home.
So now it is late and I am going to bed. Valete amici. (“Goodbye friends”)