Phrygia

After the collapse of the Hittite Empire at the beginning of the 12th century BC. the political vacuum in central/western Anatolia was filled by a wave of Indo-European migrants from south-east Europe (possibly Thrace) including the Phrygians, who established the kingdom of Phrygia with its capital at Gordium[?].

Although inscriptions in the Phrygian language have been found, they at present remain untranslated, and so much of what is thought to be known is from third-party sources - probably unreliable.

The chief deity was Cybele, a fertility or Earth-mother goddess.

Oft-used names for their kings were Gordius, Tantalus and Midas, which have passed into Greek Mythology.

Phrygia seems to have been able to co-exist with whichever was the dominant power of Mesopotamia at the time (Hurrian, Urartu, Assyria for example). However, the invasion of Anatolia in the late 8th century BC to early 7th century BC by the Cimmerians was to prove fatal, with Gordium falling in 695 BC[?]. Phrygia would become subject to its former western neighbour Lydia after the latter had recovered.

Lydia would be conquered by Cyrus in 546 BC, leaving the area under Persian control. After Darius[?] became Persian Emperor in 521 BC he instituted administrative reforms which included setting up satrapies. The capital of the Phrygian satrapy was at Dascylion[?]. This organization would remain until Alexander the Great passed through in 333 BC.

The name continued in intermittent use until the collapse of the Byzantine Empire.

External link

• http://www.phrygians.com/index.html