10 December 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

An inscription with the name of the ancient city was found at the excavation site in Gordion, the capital of the Phrygians

An inscription bearing the name of the ancient city was found at the excavation site in Gordion, the capital of the Phrygians.

In 1900, a 3-month excavation was carried out in the ancient city, which was discovered by the brothers Alfred and Gustav Körte during the construction of the Berlin-Istanbul-Baghdad railway line in the Polatlı district of Ankara.

Although the Körte brothers determined that the capital of the ancient city of Phrygian was Gordion, no information confirming this could be found so far.

The excavations, which were restarted in 1950 after a long break, are now being carried out by the team led by Professor C. Brian Rose from the University of Pennsylvania Museum, with the permission and supervision of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Located just southeast of the confluence of the Sakarya and Porsuk rivers, the Gordion archeological site. It is located 117 kilometers (72.7 miles) from downtown Ankara, the capital of Turkey, northwest of central Polatlı.

This year, a Phrygian stone inscription was found in the area of the ancient city called the outer city. The inscription, dated to the years when I. Antiochus (281-261 BC) reigned in the Hellenistic Period, is the first and only inscription in which the name Gordion is mentioned.

An inscription bearing the name of the ancient city was found at the excavation site in Gordion, the capital of the Phrygians.

The inscription, which is thought to be related to a tumulus tomb, is also notable for being the longest inscription ever found in Gordion.

This inscription, which was reached in the ancient city, which was under the rule of the Persian Empire between 540-333 BC, also includes a Persian male name.

In 546 BCE the forces of the Lydian king Croesus were decisively defeated by the Persian army commanded by Cyrus II “The Great.” As a result of this campaign and subsequent “mopping up” operations, the Lydian state, which included Gordion, was integrated into the Persian empire along with the rest of Anatolia

Archaeologist Umut Alagöz, Deputy Director of the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, and philologist Rostyslav Oreshko are preparing a detailed study on the inscription for publication.

PHRYGIAN INSCRIPTIONS

The earliest known inscriptions in Phrygian date from the 8th century BC and were written in an alphabet derived from Phoenician. The language of these inscriptions is known as Paleo-Phrygian. Later inscriptions, in Neo-Phrygian, were written in a version of the Greek alphabet.

Before the 1950s, Gordion had only produced three Early Phrygian inscriptions, one of which had been mistakenly recognized as Greek and discovered during the German excavations of the Körte brothers (1900). But starting in 1950, the Rodney S. Young-led American excavations showed off the site’s outstanding epigraphic richness. Young offered a broad overview in a 1969 Hesperia essay after making numerous preliminary observations on inscriptions in the excavation reports (particularly in the American Journal of Archaeology).

All of the inscriptions discovered up to the present have been published by C. Brixhe and M. Lejeune. With 11 inscriptions on stone and 245 graffiti, primarily on vases, Gordion is still by far the richest site for Early Phrygian epigraphy.

Related Articles

Archaeologists uncovered a ‘golden tomb’ during excavations in Armenia

26 March 2023

26 March 2023

A team of archaeologists made up of Polish and Armenian scientists has discovered a “golden tomb” containing two skeletons in...

Southwest Germany’s Oldest Gold Artifact Found

28 May 2021

28 May 2021

Archaeologists discovered the 3,800-year-old burial of a woman who died when she was around 20 years old in what is...

‘Australia’s silk road’: the quarries of Mithaka Country dating back 2100 years

4 April 2022

4 April 2022

In Queensland’s remote Channel Country of red dirt and gibber rock, traditional owners and archaeologists have unearthed what researchers have...

Neanderthals of the North

13 May 2022

13 May 2022

Were Neanderthals really as well adapted to life in the cold as previously assumed, or did they prefer more temperate...

A very Rare Medieval Pocket Sundial Discovered in Germany

31 July 2023

31 July 2023

A rare Medieval sundial, which is approximately the size of a matchbox was discovered in the old town of Marburg,...

2,700-year-old Unique Rock Tombs Disappear

18 July 2023

18 July 2023

The 2,700-year-old rock tombs, unique in Turkey, in the Taşköprü district of Kastamonu are in danger of extinction due to...

Archaeologists unearth 128 ancient urn burial tombs for children in north China

22 November 2021

22 November 2021

Archaeologists have uncovered urn burial chambers containing the remains of 128 infants among the ruins of an ancient city of...

INAH archaeologists discovered a nose ornament made of human bone in Mexico

31 August 2023

31 August 2023

Archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered a nose ornament made of human bone in...

A surprising discovery in Lublin countryside! Ancient figurines of Egyptian and Roman gods found

6 May 2023

6 May 2023

Two ancient figurines depicting the Egyptian god Osiris and a bust of the Roman god Bacchus were found in the...

The 3200-year-old Mycenaean figure that brought Ephesus together with the Hittite civilization: Found in the excavations of Ayasuluk Tepe

11 June 2022

11 June 2022

A 3,200-year-old Mycenaean figurine that could change the perspective on the history of civilization in Western Anatolia during the Bronze...

A center on the Anatolian Mesopotamian trade route; Tavsanli Mound

24 October 2021

24 October 2021

Excavations at Tavşanlı mound, which is known to be the first settlement in Western Anatolia during the Bronze Age, continue....

It may have been designed in Nevali Çori before Göbeklitepe was built

10 October 2021

10 October 2021

Göbeklitepe, Nevali Çori, Karahantepe, and Taştepeler, which will make us rethink what we know about human history, change the information...

Archaeologists opened an untouched Etruscan tomb

31 October 2023

31 October 2023

In Vulci Archaeological Park, central Italy, a 2,600-year-old intact double-chambered Etruscan tomb that was discovered in April and had remained...

The researchers may have cracked the mystery of da Vinci’s DNA

7 July 2021

7 July 2021

A recent study of Leonardo da Vinci’s family tree indicates that the renowned Renaissance artist, inventor, and anatomist had 14...

Statue heads of “Aphrodite” and “Dionysus” were found in Aizanoi Ancient City in Turkey’s

30 October 2021

30 October 2021

The statue heads of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, and Dionysus, the god of wine, were unearthed in...