Anatolian Civilizations and Historical Sites - TEDA

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS:10x19 antik kentler 8/1/11 10:51 AM Sayfa
Sardis
The site of the ancient Lydian capital of Sardis is located near the present
day village of Sart in the province of Manisa. The ruins are located on
either side of the Ankara-‹zmir highway, 72 km. from ‹zmir. Excavations
here have shown that settlement of the sit goes back as far as 1300 BC.
Owing to its strategic position in the Hermos (now called the Gediz) river
valley, the city became the capital and chief city of the kingdom of the 1 st
millennium BC. While the earliest Lydian dynasties are legendary, under
the Mermnadae (685-546 BC) the kingdom became both powerful and cultured
and encompassed all of western Anatolia as far as the Halys river
(K›z›l›rmak). Sardis is where the earliest examples of minted coins (from
the late 7 th century BC) have been found and the invention of statecontrolled
coinage is generally attributed to the Lydians.
The first historical Lydian king of whom we do not know anything for
certain is Gyges, Herodotos tells us that this king ruled from 680-652 BC
and that he was originally a Carian condottiere who later assumed the
Lydian throne. Gyges was suceeded by Ardys (651-625 BC) and he in
turn by Sadyattes (625-610 BC) and Alyattes (609-560 BC). In 560 BC
King Kroisos (Kroisos) ascended to the Lydian throne and it was he
who donated part of his kingdom's legendary wealth to help in the
construction of the great Temple of Artemis in Ephesos. Kroisos's
brilliant reign was interrupted however by invading Persian armies. In
546 BC he fought the Persians led by Kyros (Kyros the Great) and in
defeat withdrew to his capital. Sardis was besieged and before long fell to
the Persians who set about pillaging the city and putting it to the torch.
Taken captive and brought before Kyros, the Persian king was impressed
by Kroisos's wisdom and uprighteousness. In the course of the interview,
Kroisos asked Kyros what his men outside were so intentent upon doing.
As Herodotos relates, Kyros replied:
‘They are plundering your city and carrying off your treasures’. Not my
city or my treasures', Kroisos answered. ‘Nothing there any longer
View of the restored gymnasion at Sardis.
Dating to the 3 rd century AD, this structure bears an inscription over
the architrave referring by name to Geta, Caracalla and
her mother Julia Domna.
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