Photos of Amazing Historic Ancient Phrygian Sites & Art Antiquities from Turkey. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams
Photos of Classical Period Ancient Phrygian Archaeology Museum Art & Antiquity
Themed Ancient Phrygian Museum Antiquity Photo Galleries
Photos of Ancient Phrygian Historic Archaeology Sites
Individual Museum Phrygian Art & Antiquity Collections
Photos of Amazing Historic Ancient Phrygian Sites & Art Antiquities
Photos of Phrygian Archaeological Sites of ancient Phrygia , Phrygian Art & Antiquities from Anatolia, Turkey.
Who were the Phrygians
The Phrygians were one of the Thracian peoples that migrated from Macedonia and Thrace around 200 BC to Anatolia through the Bosporus. They settled in the Sangarios River Valley, and continued to move south and eastward, into the Anatolian heartland for the next 400 years.
Phrygians King Midas
The heartland of Phrygia was the Sangarios River Valley, with the capital at Gordion (Polath-Yassihoyuk). The first king of the Phrygian Kingdom was Gordios. His son became the legendary King Midas. In ancient legends King Midas turned anything he touched into gold.
It is not clear how and when the Phrygian Kingdom ceased to exist politically. Archeological data shows that there was stability and prosperity at Gordion in the late 7th century BC. According to Herodotus the Phrygian Kingdom was still independent by the time of king Alyattes (610-560BC).
The Phrygian Goddess Cybele
The Phrygians worshipped a Mother Goddess, called Matar (Mother), Matar Areyastin, or Matar Kubileya / Kubeleya. The Phrygian Mother Goddess cult was adopted by Greeks and Romans and she was known to them as Cybele and Magna Mater.
The Phrygian Mother Goddess Matar Kubileya was believed to be the owner of the mountains, animals, cities and agriculture. She was also the protector of young girls, and the symbol of the nature, fertility and abundance.
Phrygians located their cult centres in nature as they believed the goddess existed on the grass near the fresh water springs, in the wooded desolate nature and on the rocky places and mountains. They carved altars and niches into the rocks to worshipped the Mother Goddess Matar Kubeleya.
The Phrygian population was mainly comprised of a peasants who lived on their agriculture and livestock.
Weaving was also an important economy for the Phrygians. Phrygian textiles, woven with geometric motifs, were among the popular goods in the ancient world.
According to Pliny, needle lace was another Phrygian invention, and because of that clothes with needle lace were called Phrygian.
The Phrygian Cap
The Phrygian Cap is conical cap with its apex bent over. It has been popular since ancient times. Today it is better known the liberty cap worn as a sign of freedom and liberty in the American and French Revolutions. It has been known as a jacobin cap.