THE FIRST WELLNESS CENTRE IN ANATOLIA IN ANCIENT TIMES: BERGAMA ASKLEPION
Today, many of us turn to the philosophy of “wellbeing” to maintain our mental and spiritual balance, reduce stress, prevent illness and support our health and well-being. These programmes include exercise classes, sleep aids, breathing techniques, meditation, affirmation techniques, nutritional programmes, aromatherapy and massage.
Thousands of years ago, in the 4th century BC, the Asclepion, the centre of medicine and pharmacy, was established in Pergamon in Anatolia. It was not only the largest health centre of antiquity, but also the oldest wellness centre. This health centre continued to function efficiently until the 4th century AD.
Asclepion takes its name from Asclepius, the god of health. Asclepius, who healed the sick, was taught the secrets of healing by Chiron and a grateful snake. Asclepius is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad as a demigod who heals the sick.
We always see Asclepius with his staff and a snake wrapped around it. There are also snake figures on the altar that stands in the centre at the entrance to the Asclepion Healing Centre. The snake wrapped around the staff of Asclepius was used as a symbol of medicine and pharmacy.
The Asclepion in Pergamon was built far away from the settlement, in a quiet valley with a strong positive vibration, suitable for seclusion.
So when we ask, “What treatments were used in this ancient wellness centre?”, the answer is surprisingly similar to today’s wellness protocols. There were hot and cold baths, physical exercises similar to yoga poses, and special diets. Herbs, medicines, music, the sound of water, psychotherapy based on affirmations and the interpretation of dreams, mud and sun baths were all used to great effect.
Situated in a wet and lush valley to the south-west of Bergama, Asclepion can be reached via the 1km-long Sacred Way. As you approach the entrance gate to the Asclepion, you will see shops lined up on either side of the stone road with a drainage system in the middle. These shops sold medicinal herbs, resins, perfumes, oils, incense and natural medicines. The bazaar, built to cater for the needs of patients and visitors from far away, was also used to make offerings to the gods. Archaeological excavations have unearthed many fragments of sculptures such as small hands, feet and eyes. These were offerings for the healing of the organ they represented.
At the entrance to the Asclepion, according to legend, there was a sign which read: “For the sanctity of all the gods, death is forbidden to enter the Asclepion”. Visitors were first examined at the entrance gate and terminally ill and pregnant women were never allowed inside. Patients who thought that death would not enter the gate would begin to heal with the first affirmation.
The priest-doctors, who were clergymen, worked here and were called Asclepiades. People of all classes, creeds and races were admitted to the Asclepion and anyone who came without discrimination was treated for a fee to get rid of their physical or mental illness. From the information gathered during the excavations, we know that the visually impaired were treated here.
It was staffed by priest-doctors, who were clergymen, and they were called Asclepiades. People of all classes, creeds and races were admitted to the Asclepion and anyone who came without discrimination was treated for a fee to get rid of their physical or mental illness. From the information gathered during the excavations, we know that the visually impaired were also treated here.
In the ancient spa, with its lush green gardens and mineral-rich thermal waters, the first step is a personalised herbal cleansing diet. After a day of fasting, at sundown you would move on to invigorating thermal baths to purify your energy. Washing and entering the temple with a clean body was the first protocol. In the temple, both priest-doctors and patients had to wear white robes. In the white robes you would go into relaxing meditation. At the end of the meditation, you were given a relaxing, sleep-inducing herbal drink and then taken to the sleeping room called the “abaton”. Sleep was very important in Asclepion. It was believed that sleep provided inner purification. It was also believed that during sleep the soul left the body and contacted higher beings. Careful interpretation of dreams was therefore very important.
It was believed that Asclepius, the god of health, and his snake would visit you in your dreams and give you guidance. Sometimes priests would give you suggestions while you slept and perform subconscious cleansing. These priests were healers trained with the experience of knowledge passed down through generations.
Running around the temple, exercising on the gallery in the green garden were daily routines.
In the south-east corner of the temple was a two-storey healing centre. The healing centre is connected to the sacred spring by an underground passage. Water from the sacred spring flows through this underground tunnel. Walking through the 70 metre long tunnel, one walks under the sunlight that enters through small holes drilled at regular intervals.
The similarity of music therapy, baths, massages, aromatherapy, physical exercises, sleep and meditation techniques carried out in Asclepion some 2000 thousand years ago with the well-being protocols for feeling good and happy today, and the fact that these healing methods were first implemented in Anatolia, in the largest treatment centre of ancient times, reminds us once again of the wisdom of the land where we live.
If you ask where you can find Asclepius today, raise your head and look at the sky; you will see him eye-to-eye. He’s called in ancient Greek ” ‘Snake-bearer’, which means ‘snake-bearer’. The constellation ‘Ophiuchus’ will continue to guide you from the sky with its snake …
Sinem US | Homeopathic Pharmacist & Health Writer