The Pergamon Project

Pergamon: 1992 In 1992, as part of an experiment using computer technology in Theatre History education, graduate students and faculty at the University of Washington made use of a computer, digitizing tablet and 3D computer software to explore the acropolis and theatre at Pergamon in Anatolia, Turkey. The Pergamon Project, which moved here to its new web site from the University of Washington web server in March 2004, has been left in the same format in which it was developed more than a twenty years ago. Were we to recreate this today, the graphics would perhaps be more refined, the navigational tools more sophisticated. But in 1992, the work of Dr. David Shulz, then a graduate student, was on the cutting edge. He did well with what he had to work with.

Pergamon: 2020

Of equal importance, the World Wide Web has made available materials for study that twenty years ago could only be accessed by costly visits to distant parts of the world. While it is perhaps true that "nothing can replace being there," it is nevertheless possible to approximate the experience with increasing degrees of success.

The links and commentary provided below give access to these materials, opening the way for a better understanding of Pergamon and its place in the history of the theatre.

• Theatre at Pergamon, part of the Theatre Tours: Virtual Reality Tours of Historic Theatres, illustrates the leap taken by both interactive and visual technology. In an exciting format developed by Thomas G. Hines, Department of Theatre, Whitman College we are able to explore theatre sites through a series of photo panoramas that provide 360 degree views of the theatre and its environs. The sites are often linked to Google Maps which highlights nearby sites of interest as well. Regrettably, this excellent site, hosted for several years by Whitman College, lost funding and came to a somewhat inglorious end. What's left is but a shadow of the original site.

• The home page of Burak Sansal, Istanbul, Turkey, a professional tour guide, whose site includes links to several theatre sites in Anatolia, including the theatre at Pergamon. The link to archaeological sites is a treasury of information related to Anatolia and the other ancient theatres of Asia Minor. Navigating the site is cumbersome and in the years since 1992 it has become littered with advertising pop-ups, but it's still probably worth the effort.

  I wrote in 1992: "What makes this site of great value is that while not a professional scholar, Mr. Sansal is a professional guide, approaching the history of his country, past and present, with the enthusiasm of a man who loves his homeland and makes his livelihood from his passion."

• Pergamon, maintained by Peter Richardson, University of Toronto. The somewhat chaotic site includes topographical site maps, views of a model of the acropolis, and photos of parts of the site as it looks today.

• Pergamon Entry from the site catalog of the Perseus Project, Tufts University. A great many excellent links, selected bibliography and numerous links to photographs of Pergamon and the theatre.

  The Perseus Digital Library is the gateway to Classical material on the WWW, as well as to a wealth of material from other historical periods.

• Pergamon, plan of the Acropolis.

• Pergamon Theatre on the Trip Advisor web site. Excellent photo montage of the site and its surroundings.

Last Update: 5/29/2020