A silent broken stone, a cunning god

A STONE IS HEAVY IN ITS PLACE-172-. LET US NOT FORGET, LET US NOT LET BE FORGOTTEN

As if they were looting a fire, as if they had stacked them up, piled them high, and carried them away from Anatolia—the stones of Gaziantep, the marketplace of Didim-Miletus, the statues of Pergamon, and so many others.

At the end of the 19th century, officials disguised as archaeologists for German imperialism ruthlessly tore them from the lands where they were made, through theft and dubious permits.

They kept their own records, numbering our artifacts like the numbers given to prisoners placed in jail. They recorded them, but they never gave a copy of these records to the Turkish authorities.

One of the statue fragments taken from Pergamon is a broken male head made of marble, its damage unclear. A part of the right side of its face is missing. Its only remaining eye is large. Its hair is curly.

Dimensions: 12.3 x 12.5 x 6.4 cm.

This head belongs to Hermes, the son of Zeus, who was the chief god in the ancient Hellenic faith and in whose name a magnificent altar was built in Pergamon.

In mythology, Hermes is the messenger of the gods. He is intelligent and cunning. For this reason, Hermes is also known as the protector of thieves, gamblers, and merchants.

Roaming without leaving a trace in his winged sandals, Hermes not only ensures communication among the gods but is also the patron of those who walk through shadows and those who engage in dark dealings.

It is no coincidence that on the very day he was born, he stole the cattle herd of his half-brother, the god of light, Apollo; this story is a declaration of a truth etched into his nature: Hermes is the god of those who cross borders illegally, those who pick locks, and those who take things without being seen.

For him, theft is not just a crime; it is a test of intelligence used for ill intent and of sleight of hand.

Taking without being caught, disappearing without leaving a trace, carving out space for oneself by bending and twisting the truth… In Hermes' world, these are feats of mastery.

That is why Hermes is also the protector of those who fall outside general morality, those who bend the law to their own advantage, and those who open invisible paths.

The famous staff he carries represents not only peace but also the subtlety of deception; for Hermes knows that power lies in the agility of cunning alongside brute force.

Perhaps that is why this broken marble head taken from Pergamon is not just a statue fragment; it also symbolizes the mentality of those who displaced it.

Because behind every great plunder lies a cunning that justifies itself, a "Hermes mind."

This broken head of Hermes, held captive in the Berlin Museum/Prison under the registration number Ident.Nr. AvP VII 29, fits quite well with the reason for its placement in this museum-prison.

Located on an island in a swamp, in a decaying Museum/Prison, is this Hermes head longing to return to its homeland, perhaps pointing to Carl Humann and his gang, who smuggled and stole the Zeus Altar and historical artifacts of Pergamon, and his successors, the thieves?

Is it whispering of the deeds of Osman Hamdi Bey, the painter and Director of the Imperial Museum, who paved the way for what the robber Carl Humann, a tool of German imperialism, smuggled out?

Or the silent acquiescence of Sultan Abdul Hamid II?

How cautionary it is that Berlin, in the heart of Europe, hosts the largest and most comprehensive robbery of historical artifacts in human history!

How ironic it is that the names of Berlin, the richest city in Europe, and the thieves of Pergamon are found side by side!

THE ZEUS ALTAR AND PERGAMON ARTIFACTS DO NOT BELONG TO COLD AND FOGGY BERLIN, BUT TO BEAUTIFUL PERGAMON. THEY MUST DEFINITELY BE RETURNED, THEY MUST RETURN HOME

(Source: http://www.smb-digital.de/eMuseum, Database-Antikensammlung. … Encyclopaedia Britannica – “Hermes Greek mythology” …. Perseus Digital Library – ancient texts and translations)