Home › Glossary › Letter P

Pergamum

Historical Location
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Hellenistic capital in Mysia, famed for its library, altar, and Asclepeion

Detailed Definition
Pergamum was a center of art, medicine, and power—home to one of the Seven Wonders (Altar of Zeus). It appears in Revelation as a seat of Satan. Poets use Pergamum to explore the tension between cultural achievement and spiritual compromise, imperial grandeur and moral danger.
Example
Example in poetry:
A Hellenistic hymn praises Pergamum as Attalid capital of library and Asclepius; In a Christian lyric, Pergamum is where Satan’s throne looms over faithful; A modern Turkish poem uses Bergama to explore Greco-Roman legacy in Anatolia; A minimalist verse reduces Pergamum to acropolis height and parchment scroll; A post-Ottoman lyric contrasts Pergamum’s ancient prestige with provincial present.
Additional Notes
Pergamum was a Hellenistic powerhouse with a famed library (rivaling Alexandria), Great Altar of Zeus, and Asclepeion; its blend of scholarship, art, and healing made it a microcosm of Hellenistic civilization—key for understanding references to cultural prestige in Roman poetry.
Also Known As
Pergamon Pergamos
Skip to main content