Anatolian Civilizations and Historical Sites - TEDA

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS:10x19 antik kentler 8/1/11 10:50 AM Sayfa
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While the god Dionysos was wandering around the Phrygian mountains,
Silenos –an aged and drunken satyr among his companions– fell asleep
under a tree. A shepherd found the satyr and brought him to Midas.
Midas recognized him and accommodated him in his palace for ten days
and then took him to the god Dionysos. This made Dionysos very happy
and he asked Midas what his wish was, saying, “You may wish from me
anything you want.” He wished, “everything I touch shall become gold.”
Although he was not very pleased with Midas’s wish, Dionysos made it
come true. While Midas was on his way, the crops he touched and the
pebbles he picked transformed into gold. Rejoicing in this, he ordered
that a great feast be prepared when he returned to the palace, but the
roasted thigh he grabbed became gold and the wine he wished to drink
also transformed into gold. Then Midas understood what an imprudent
wish he had made and went straight to the god Dionysos for
forgiveness. The deity forgave him and told him to take a bath and to be
purified at the source of the Paktos Stream (flowing through Sardes).
Although King Midas has always been rooted in our minds with these
legendary stories, the fact that his name is cited in the Assyrian
documents puts forth his historical personality. In their documents, the
Assyrians referred to Phrygians as Mushki, and to Midas as Mita and
spoke of him as ‘Mita of Mushki.’ It is assumed that Midas sat on the
Phrygian throne around 742 BC. Furthermore, it has become clear that
he was the king of a confederative state in the Central Anatolian
Plateau; made up of Thracian-origin Phrygians in the western division
with Gordion as its center and of Mushki and Tabals in the eastern and
south eastern division.
Archaeological findings have proved that the Phrygians expanded the
sphere of their dominion to Çorum, Tokat and K›rflehir in the east of
K›z›l›rmak; to Samsun in the north; to Ni¤de and Konya in the south; to
Burdur, Elmal› Plain in the south west; to Eskiflehir, Afyonkarahisar and
Kütahya in the west, and to Band›rma in the north west.
On one hand, King Midas had contacts with the Urartians and the
Assyrians in the east, on the other hand, he established relations with
Continental Greece in the west. Consequently Midas went down in
history as the first eastern king who had relations with the Greeks. The
Aslankaya relief, near Afyon.