But I must admit that, yes, the Pergamon museum deserves to be on all those “top 5” list. If you come to Berlin, you will simply have to tough it out and go. Their collection of ancient near eastern artifacts is spectacular. Apparently, the Pergamon, the British Museum, and the Louvre house the best collections of such artifacts outside the near east.
The museum has many smaller statues etc, but it is most famous for three massive ancient structures that were brought to Berlin and reassembled inside the museum. 1. The blue gate of Ishtar. It's incredible that you can see something so gigantic in almost the exact same way that ancient Babylonians would have seen it. The gate’s purplish-blue color is also extremely beautiful.
2. The Market Gate of Miletus – I’m sure its spectacular, but it’s currently under renovation. Sigh.
3. The Pergamon Altar – Pergamon was a city in ancient Greece. The “altar” is actually a massive structure of the sort that most of us would call a “temple.” You can sit on the huge staircase that led into the inner courtyard of the altar/temple. Large parts of the friezes that decorated the courtyard are reconstructed, and the audio guide tells you the stories that they depict so you can follow along. It’s very cool.
It’s strange to think that the Pergamon– like most of the musea in Berlin – was in the Eastern part of the city. So 20 years ago it would still have been off-limits to me.
I read on the internet that some important parts of the Pergamon museum's collection were taken by the Russians – who have for years now been defying court orders to return them. That cracked me up. I suspect that is what the ancient Babylonians would have done too. Some things never change.
