Anatolian Civilizations and Historical Sites - TEDA

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS:10x19 antik kentler 8/1/11 10:50 AM Sayfa
Phrygian Civilization 1200-695 BC
“And Phorkys and godlike Askanios led the Phrygians from far
Askania, and these were eager to fight in the battle-throng”.
This is how Homeros talks about the Phrygians while enumerating the
subsidiary forces assisting in the Troian War. Given that the Troian War
took place around 1200 BC, it is apparent that the Phrygians lived in
Anatolia around this date. However, it is also known that Phrygians
previously inhabited Europe (where they were named Brygians or
Brigians), they were one of the Thracian tribes who migrated to
Anatolia crossing the straits, and their original country was Macedonia.
The reason why Phrygians came to Anatolia was because their country
was occupied by other European peoples.
In the period following the decadence of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia,
Thracian migrations intensified and they continued for about 400 years.
These migrants settled along the River Sakarya and surroundings, while
blending with the Anatolian people here, adopting their customs and
traditions, thus creating their own Phrygian civilization. Phrygians, who
considered themselves Anatolian, went to the aid of Troia like other
Anatolian people. They were first organized in a tribal system and were
headed by leaders such as Mygdon, Askanios and Otreus. While living
around Lake ‹znik and in the Sakarya Valley, they later enlarged and
expanded towards inner Anatolia. Phrygian artifacts in all the Hittite
cities, found during modern archaeological excavations, prove this.
Formerly organized as separate principalities, they became a state and
made Gordion their capital.
Gordios is the first king of the Phrygians. We do not have much
information about this king, whom the capital Gordion (near today’s
Polatl›) was named after, except for the knot he tied and hung, which
was untied by Alexander the Great with his sword. It is known that after
him, his son Midas succeeded to the Phrygian throne. Midas, who is
cited in historical and archaeological sources and who is better known
for his legendary character, is famous for the story about his long ears.
Another legend about Midas as told in Ovidius’s ‘Metamorphoses’ reads:
Midas Phrygian Monument.
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