2015 Phrygien

S. Gaspa, A. Greco, D. Morandi Bonacossi, S. Ponchia and R. Rollinger (eds.), From Source to History: Studies on Ancient Near Eastern Worlds and Beyond Dedicated to Giovanni Battista Lanfranchi on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday on June 23, 2014. Alter Orient und Altes Testament 412., 2014

This article discusses the extent and interactions of the Phrygian kingdom in the period of ca. 1000–650 BCE, i.e. from the emergence of monumental architecture in Gordion until the Lydian occupancy of the city. It argues that Phrygia initially just encompassed the wider area around the city of Gordion. By the ninth century, it additionally controlled the entire region of the Sangarios River Bend, and was in close contact with the Syro-Hittite states. Evidence for the presence of Phrygians or Phrygian cultural elements elsewhere starts to be found only in the eighth century. In the west, Phrygian territorial expansion reached the city of Daskyleion by the middle of the century. In the east, the region of the Halys River bend was conquered at the latest in the following decades. Then and afterwards, Phrygia was heavily involved in politics in Tabal and Tyana, while it was also in contact with Urartu. Further, in the late eighth and seventh centuries a certain level of prestige came to be attached to Phrygian culture, causing elites throughout Anatolia to look for ways to be associated with it. Thus, Phrygia developed into a state of supraregional political and cultural importance. By the mid or late seventh century, however, Gordion was conquered by the Lydians, spelling a definitive end to the Phrygian kingdom.

Phrygia between the East and the West, 2022

Phrygia between the East and the West

Phrygia in Antiquity: from the Bronze Age to the Byzantine Period, 2019

PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE AMENDMENTS IN PUBLISHED VERSION. Starting from a reassessment of a monumental tomb, the historical importance of which has been overlooked due to its collapsed state, this paper shows how such monuments, including their artistic and architectural details, form essential data in modelling the history of places, and how attention to them can also expose gaps in research on landscape and economy that could make significant contributions to understanding the impact of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in ways not so far explored. "In its day the collapsed, massive rock-cut tomb known as the Broken Lion Tomb, or Yılan Taş, located in the Köhnüş Valley north of Afyon, would have been one of the most impressive tomb monuments in Asia Minor. Now lying in a pile of confused blocks that sheared off the edge of the cliff face into which it was carved, its original form is hard to imagine and its past glory and status not widely appreciated. The style of its once rich relief sculptures suggests it was erected in the Achaemenid Persian Period, possibly in the first half or middle of the 5th century BC. Contemporary occupation in the Phrygian Highlands is not well understood, but settlement remains seem modest, and although there may be some elements of continuity, overall the religious status of the area seems to change through the Persian period, the main locus of Matar worship shifting at some point to Pessinus further east. This paper considers the appearance of the tomb and poses questions about its context, which can contribute to the history of the Phrygian Highlands and Achaemenid Empire more broadly."

Proceedings of the International Conference on Environment: Survival and Sustainability, 2009

Altorientalische Forschungen

This paper considers the concept of Phrygia, its origins at the cusp of the Early Iron Age, the beginning of the process of state formation marking the start of the Middle Iron Age and the possible development of a large unified kingdom under Midas son of Gordias. Secondly, the paper turns to consider the aftermath of the Phrygian state following the death of Midas and the period of Lydian hegemony together with the establishment of a new Phrygian petty kingdom east of the Kızılırmak (the Red River, the classical Halys River) in the first half of the 6th century BCE. In order to assess the extent of the territory of Phrygia, it has been necessary to consider evidence for neighbouring polities, particularly the Neo-Hittite kingdoms to the south and ‘Cappadocia’ to the southeast and east. Two maps graphically illustrate the principal suggestions.

Introduction to Old Phrygian, Winter School in Indo-European Linguistics, Feb 10-14, Belgrade (Serbia). Feat. grammatical overview of Old and New Phrygian and a selection of texts from Midas City (M) and West Phrygia (W).

1998

Recent progress in Phrygian studies changed the traditional view on the Thracian-Phrygian kinship and the Phrygian migration from Europe to Asia Minor. The archaeological investigations of the Propontis area, the linguistic studies of the so-called Western Phrygian inscriptions, as well as the careful analysis of the Greek literary sources, support the consideration of a Thracian-Phrygian cultural zone. The earliest Greek written texts refer to Phrygia as a coastal land, and the Hellespontine zone is outlined as an important contact zone. Phrygian presence is attested in the Northwestern Asia Minor still in the time of the Persian rule, while the Phrygian funerary rite resembles more and more the Thracian burials. The closest parallels can be found in the 6th century B.C. Phrygian tumuli. Interactions can be followed later as well. The Hellenistic domed tombs which appeared in Mysia, Bithynia and Phrygia cannot be simply assigned to the Celtic invasion. Cultural interactions can be ...

Symposium on Mediterrranean Archaeology (SOMA 2005), 2008

The Pluygian Kingdom has a vel)' important role both political and cu/tura/lzistOJy of Anatolia in the Early Iron Age. The Ph1)1gian rock cut cult tnonunzenls (far-odes, altars and niche~) dedicated to the 1~fother Goddess present the 1 impressive and outstanding K'ork.Y of Phr;_zgian rock architecture, culture and art. Among these cult monurnents the:~~~ Jnagnificenl. are tl:e fflonumel~tal rock ja9ades. lvlost of the monuments are situated in the territories of Eskisehir-Afyonkarahlsar~Kutahya provinces. The rock fa9a_des repres~nt th~ front of a bull ding with lo\.v-pitched roof, imitating wood constniCtlon. They were generally carved 111 the vertzcal s1de of the volcanic rocks During the time span. the facades were hadly affected by the weather condition and they are still continue to damage not only by the weather but also by treasure hunters. The destntction and solidity conditions of Phrygians monuments in Eski&#351 ;ehir-Afyonkarahisar-Kiitahya provinces are the same, because of the stn1cture of tuffs. Our paper will try to demonstrate the physical, chemical, biological and human hand destructions of the Phrygian rock fa9ades and some restoration processes which we plan to apply on one of the Phrygian far;ade monuments.