Notes on Midas City in Western Phrygia

Abstract

This paper examines archaeological, sculptural, architectural, epigraphic and historical evidence in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the cultic centre at Midas City from the Late Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age. Firstly, evidence for a Hittite date for the relief sculptures on the rockface beside the so-called “Processional Way” leading up to the Midas City plateau is examined. It is suggested that these reliefs might have belonged to a Hittite sanctuary to the Stag-God of the Countryside, possibly attributable to the Great King Tudḫaliya IV. Secondly, further consideration is given to the date of the Upper Defences around the citadel. Relationships between the kingdoms of Phrygia and Lydia and the possible impact of the Cimmerian invasion(s) are then discussed with particular regard to the likely date of the Upper Defences and the supposed Cimmerian threat. Finally, Phrygian kings named Midas are considered with emphasis on the Midas Monument inscription. This Midas, it is suggested, reigned in the second quarter of the sixth century. It is also concluded that the power and wealth of the Anatolian Iron Age kingdoms of Phrygia and Lydia were not as extensive as has sometimes been assumed.

All dates are BCE unless otherwise stated.