[PRIMEVAL]

Hellenistic Architecture and Art - 1600 pixels photos​

After the death of Alexander the Great, his empire was divided between his generals, each one founding a kingdom. In the next period, many political changes happened and the borders of these kingdoms changed much, new smaller kingdoms appeared etc.

Except the Greek Peninsula and islands (broadly the today Greece), most of this territory were inhabited by peoples speaking various languages and representing a great variety of cultures and religions. The Greek speaking Macedonian aristocracy imported the Greek language and culture and from the mix between the Greek culture and the cultures of the native peoples resulted the Hellenistic culture. Considered in past and even today a degenerative form of Classical Greek culture, the Hellenistic culture is in fact far more diverse and interesting, as inheriter of so many influences and traditions.

The Hellenistic kingdoms were conquered one by one by the Roman empire. Conventionally, the end of Hellenistic period in art and culture is considered the year 31 BCE, when the Romans conquered the Ptolemaic Egypt (the Hellenistic kingdom of Egypt, ruled by the dinasty of Ptolemies).


As result of Hellenisation of the eastern half of the Mediterranean basin, the territories from Near East became Greek-speaking in various degree:

- in Anatolia all the languages of the native peoples disappearead, being replaced by Greek
- in Egypt a considerable part of population became Greek speaking (through migration of Greeks here or by adopting of Greek language by the Egyptians) but most people mantained the Egyptian language, which later will be called Coptic language
- in Syria and Judeea most people continued to speak Aramaic and Hebrew languages.

Thousands of cities appeared in the regions of the Hellenistic kingdoms, which were ornated with splendid buildings, as happened too with the older cities, that existed since before the Macedonian conquest. Today, only in Turkey there are hundreds of archaeological sites with colossal ruins (or, in some cases integrally preserved structures) of theatres, temples, fortresses etc. The magnificence of these ancient vestiges, often situated in breathtaking natural setting, is beyond description.

 

[PRIMEVAL]

Pergamon (a city in today Turkey)

Pergamon (a city in today Turkey)

Founded as one of the Greek colonies (perhaps in 5th century BCE) on the Aegean coast of Minor Asia, at the beginning of Hllenistic period Pergamon was part of the Kingdom of Lysimachus, who ruled in Thracia (today Bulgaria, eastern Greece and European part of Turkey). In 281 BCE the Kingdom of Pergamon was established, ruled by the Attalid dinasty.

Pergamon reached its apogee in 2nd century BCE, becoming one of the most important cities of the ancient world. Pergamon's library on the Acropolis was the second best in the ancient Greek civilization, after the one in Alexandria, the capital of the Ptolemaic Egypt. When the Ptolemies stopped exporting papyrus, partly because of competition and shortages, the Pergamenes invented a new substance to use in codices, called pergaminus or pergamena (parchment) after the city. The library at Pergamom was believed to contain 200,000 volumes, which Mark Antony later gave to Cleopatra as a wedding present. After the integration in the Roman empire (being former allies, they weren't conquered by the Romans), the city continued to be important. In the golden age of Christian Church, in 4th-5th century, Pergamon represented one of th two schools of religious teachings, the other being at Alexandria. this has had much importance for the shaping of what is today the Christian ideology and the European identity and philosophy.


Many amazing works of art have been discovered in the ruins of Pergamon, including the famous Great Altar of Pergamon preserved at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.


The most remarkable structures preserved in the archaeological site are the Theatr, the Sanctuary of Asclepios, the Temple of Serapis etc. Many or some parts of these structures date from Roman period, but as the Roman art was an emulation of the Hellestic one, is not wrong to present them here.


In 2014, Pergamon was designed an Unesco World Heritage site.

Pergamon, Acropolis by stevelewalready, on Flickr







Pergamon, Acropolis by stevelewalready, on Flickr









Pergamon, Acropolis by stevelewalready, on Flickr









Pergamon, Acropolis by stevelewalready, on Flickr









Pergamon, Acropolis by stevelewalready, on Flickr










Pergamon, Acropolis by stevelewalready, on Flickr










Pergamon, Red Basilica by stevelewalready, on Flickr

 

[PRIMEVAL]

Sardis (modern Turkey)

Sardis (modern Turkey)​

Sardis, located near the modern village Sart, was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia, one of the many Iron Age kingdoms in Minor Asia, inhabited by Lydians, a people speaking an Indo-European language related to Hittite.

The city was captured by the Cimmerians in the 7th century BCE, by the Persians in the 6th, by the Athenians in the 5th, and by Hellenistic king Antiochus III the Great at the end of the 3rd century BCE.

Like Pergamon too, was a center of early Christianity, as they both are mentioned in the Book of Revelation among the "seven churches of Asia".

The name of Sephardi Jews comes from this city where was a strong Jewish community, as result of King Antiochus III encouraging Jews from various countries, including Babylonia, to move to Sardis.

Sardis has many important vestiges from Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. Among them, the Temple of Artemis built in 300 BCE and renovated by the Romans in the 2nd century CE and the large and well preserved gymnasium-bathhouse built during the reign of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211 AD).

Sardis by tetarteron, on Flickr









Sardis by tetarteron, on Flickr








Sardis by tetarteron, on Flickr








Sardis by tetarteron, on Flickr









Sardis by tetarteron, on Flickr







Sardis by tetarteron, on Flickr










Sardis by tetarteron, on Flickr

 

[skymantle]

Very interesting but afaik the name Sephardi comes from the 'Jews of Spain' not the 'Jews of Sardis' as you claim.

Currently on australian tv there is a series on Alexander's Lost World with the latest program looking at how the Greeks created a dazzling eastern capital in a remote corner of Afghanistan - the city of Lady Moon...watch [URL="http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/312805955999/Alexanders-Lost-World-City-Of-Lady-Moon"]here[/URL] if interested.

 

[PRIMEVAL]

About the etymology of Sephardi Jews:

The name Sephardi ... comes from Sepharad (Hebrew: סְפָרַד, Modern Sfarád Tiberian Səp̄āráḏ ), a Biblical location.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews#Etymology



Sepharad, or Sefarad, or Sfard, is a biblical place name of uncertain location. It is mentioned only once in the Bible, in the Book of Obadiah Obadiah 1:20. There are, however, Old Persian inscriptions that refer to two places called Saparda (alternative reading: Sparda): one area in Media and another in Asia Minor. It is speculated that Sepharad could have been Sardis, whose native Lydian name is Sfard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepharad







About that city in Afghanistan: acording to tradition, Alexander the Great founded 70 cities throughout his empire, many of them in Central Asia, most of them baptized Alexandria. In fact, is more plausible he founded only 20 towns, the others being in fact older settlements that were re-baptized after his name. Here are some of them:
http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z2.html

 

[Ronaq34]

Sephardi great pics...