The Midas Monument in Phrygian Yazılıkaya about 50 km from Afyon includes on the

right margin a Phrygian inscription whose last word can be deciphered as Midas.
The Artemis of Ephesus probably represents a transitional form of the former
Phrygian mother goddess Cybele to the Greek and later Roman goddess.
The large tumulus of Gordion is about 50 meters high and 300 meters wide. The
grave contained the remains of a 60-70 year old noblemen; probably King Gordios.
Gordion, the capital of Phrygia, was located at the intersection of a trade route to
Babylon and the valley of the river Sangarius.
The Midas Monument in Phrygian Yazılıkaya about 50 km from Afyon includes on the
right margin a Phrygian inscription whose last word can be deciphered as Midas.
The Artemis of Ephesus probably represents a transitional form of the former
Phrygian mother goddess Cybele to the Greek and later Roman goddess.

The area of western Central Asia that later became Phrygia was
part of the Hittite Empire. After the fall of the empire the capital
Gordium had initially been abandoned but was resettled shortly
thereafter – possibly by immigrants from the Balkans, who mixed
with the local population. The kingdom of Phrygia, which probably
consisted of a coalition or confederation of various principalities,
was considered to be fabulously wealthy. Excavations at Gordium
do not extend to Bronze Age settlement layers. Findings of Luwian
hieroglyphic writing, however, suggest that the Phrygians were able
to base themselves on cultural achievements of their Luwian
predecessors.

CURRENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE

D uring the 13th century BCE, western central Asia Minor was part of

the Hittite Empire. According to administrative documents from Assyria, a

group of people named Muški seems to have existed on the territory of the
collapsed Hittite Empire for several centuries. A certain Mita of the Muški
has been repeatedly recognized as powerful potentate in central Asia Minor
at the end of the 8th century BCE. According to Greco-Roman
historiography, the influential king Midas reigned over the Great Kingdom of
Phrygia at that time.

Royal residence and capital of the Phrygian kingdom was Gordium, which
was located close to where the Porsuk drains into Sakarya River (the
ancient Sangarius). The town, which had been settled over the entire
Bronze Age, was located at an important east-west route that had already
been frequented intensively during the Late Bronze Age. When the Hittite
Empire was destroyed in the early 12th century BCE, Gordium was
abandoned by its residents. Soon after, however, new populations settled
there. In the 10th century BCE, a citadel protected by ramparts went up,
and a palace district was built in the same place during the 9th century.
Around 800 BCE the palace fell victim to a fire. At that time, other cities in
central Asia Minor (Ankara, Alişar, Hacıbektaş) displayed a Phrygian
presence. In Hattuša, a Phrygian city was built that covered the entire area
of its Hittite predecessor. During the 8th century BCE, the Phrygian
kingdom of Dascylium in northwestern Asia Minor extended to Tyana in
Taurus. The kingdom’s central locations were Gordium and Midas city.
Near Gordium, a royal necropolis with large tumuli went up, of which the
most famous one, the so-called Midas Mound, was built around 740 BCE.
Archaeologists were able to explore the intact grave, which also contained
a great number of valuable burial gifts. They found the skeleton of a 60- to
70-year old unidentified man.

The Phrygian language clearly does not belong to the Anatolian language
group. In order to write Phrygian, an alphabetic script was used that had
been transferred from Phoenicia and resembled Greek.

SUGGESTIONS
In Midas’s hands everything turned to gold

A Homeric Hymn (no. 5, To Aphrodite) mentions that Phrygia possessed

many fortresses. In the Iliad, Homer states that the Phrygians were
“aggressive” (2.864) and riding on horses (10.432), which apparently was
rare or even unique at the time. Strabo (12.4.4; 14.5.29) describes
Phrygians as “barbarians and warriors” who had migrated to Central Asia
from Macedonia and Thrace around the time of the Trojan War. According
to Homer, during the Trojan War the kingdoms of the southeastern Balkans
had fought on the side of the Trojans. If troops from these regions had
actually been involved in the Sea Peoples’ invasions and had thus
contributed to the fall of the Hittite Empire, their migration to central Asia
Minor would make sense: The victorious powers would have taken over key
trade routes that previously had been on Hittite territory. One counter
argument against possible immigration from the Balkans, however, is that
the Phrygian language is not related to Thracian.

The city of Gordium, supposedly named after its founder Gordias, has been
explored archaeologically since 1950 and is considered the only extensively
researched city of influence during the Early Iron Age in Asia Minor. The
excavations demonstrate that the location has been inhabited since at least
2500 BCE. The Bronze Age settlement layers of Gordium, however, are not
well known, because they are hidden under the foundations of the Phrygian
era. Findings of Luwian hieroglyphic writing indicate to which civilization this
place belonged.

Gordium’s development as a city peaked only after the fall of the Hittite
Empire. The immigrants did not completely oust the local population, but
rather complemented them. Apparently, the immigrating Phrygians kept in
touch with their country of origin, which contributed to the empire’s
enormous economic success. The Phrygian kingdom was likely composed
of a coalition or confederation of various principalities. The American
prehistorian Machteld Mellink described the west Phrygian culture as
“incredibly powerful,” and expressed the opinion that many of its
achievements rooted in the previous – almost unknown – Late Bronze Age
culture. Behind these words, one might argue today, lies the hidden Luwian
culture. Those who want to learn more about the Luwians would only need
to dig one to two meters deeper into the ground at Gordium.

The fabulous wealth of Phrygian kings, among whom the names of Gordias
and Midas were apparently common over several generations, has been
preserved in the legend of king Midas, in whose hands everything turned to
gold. When Midas bathed in the Pactolus River (today Sart Çayı), he
transferred this gift to the river, thereby turning the Pactolus into the richest
gold-carrying river and the kings of Sardis on its banks into the wealthiest
rulers of Asia Minor at the time.

According to Herodotus, even the Egyptians considered Phrygians to be the

most ancient people:

When Psammetichos [II] having become king desired to know what

men had come into being first, they suppose that the Phrygians
came into being before [the Egyptians].

Herodotus, Histories 2.2 (Macaulay)

REFERENCES

Darbyshire, Gareth & Gabriel H. Pizzorno (2009): “Gordion in

History.” Expedition 51.2, 11-22.
Joukowsky, Martha Sharp (1996): Early Turkey – Anatolian Archaeology from
Prehistory through the Lydian Period. Kendall Hunt, Dubuque, Iowa, 1-455.
Mellink, Machteld (1965): “Mita, Mushki and Phrygians.” Jahrbuch für Kleinasiatische
Forschung 2(1/2), 317-325.