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Document Details : Title: Gordion in the Middle Phrygian Period, ca. 800-540 BCE Author(s): ROSE, Charles Brian Journal: Ancient Near Eastern Studies Volume: 61 Date: 2024 Pages: 119-146 DOI: 10.2143/ANES.61.0.3294026 Abstract : This article provides a survey of Gordion during the Middle Phrygian period, which extends from a great conflagration in 800 BCE to the Persian attack in 540. New excavations during the last ten years have provided considerable insights into this period in particular, although equally important advances have been made in our understanding of the citadel during the second half of the ninth century. Following the first arrivals of the Phrygians in the second half of the 12th century, the site remained a relatively unimportant village for roughly 300 years, changing only ca. 850 into a strongly fortified citadel. The impetus behind this sudden change remains unclear, but it inaugurated a 150-year period of steadily increasing political and military strength, culminating in the reign of Midas ca. 740 and seemingly ending with his death ca. 700. When the fortunes of Gordion rose again ca. 600 BCE, it was due primarily to the advent of Lydian control over what had once been Phrygia. This veneer of prosperity evaporated in the Persian attack in the 540s, and would never reappear. |
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