Saturday, June 17, 2017

Pergamon, the Asclepion and Opium


The Asclepion, hospital of Asclepius in Pergamon, was founded in the 4th century BC. by the poet Archias, in thanks to the care he had received in the Epidaurus Asclepion sanctuary in the Peloponeso peninsula. 
The hospital of Pergamon was one of the best known health centers in the ancient world and, for some authors, one of the first hospitals for the mentally ill in the world, although some of the therapies that were applied in this center were also practiced in Epidaurus. 
In this hospital was formed and worked Galeno -who was original of Pérgamo- and where he had the responsibility of attending the injured gladiators. 
The whole installations were reminiscent of a modern spa, with its fountains, gyms and baths, but also has an odeon theatre where concerts were held with the purpose of applying a kind of protomusicotherapy - following the Pythagorean current - for the betterment of the sick

The hospital was surrounded by woods and gardens where priests cultivated the sacred plants of Asclepius (medicinal plants), mainly poppy plants for the production of opium. 
It also had a tunnel through which naked patients ran in the manner of a psychotherapeutic treatment, where doctor/priests installed on little windows on top of the tunnel would motivate or encourage the patients while they ran. 
There was also a theater where performances were carried out for therapeutic purposes, and a library that at the time, was second only to the Alexandria library in Egypt.
About the city of Pergamon
The ancient city of Pergamon, now Bergama, was located in north-western Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey, 30 kilometers off the coast of the Aegean, in the Misia region. Archaeological remains show their occupation from 3000 a.n.e. During the Hellenistic period (from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 a.m. to 31 a.m., the time of Augustus in Rome), Pergamum was, along with Alexandria, one of the most important cultural, scientific and medical centers in the classical world.






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