Defining Lydia

The endonym 
 (the name the Lydians called themselves) survives in bilingual and trilingual stone-
carved notices of theAchaemenid Empire: the satrapy of 

(Old
Persian), Aramaic 


, Babylonian 

, Elamitic 

.[1] These in the Greek tradition are
associated with Sardis, the capital city of Gyges, constructed in the 7th century BC.

The cultural ancestors appear to have been associated with or part of the Luwian political entity
of Arzawa; yet Lydian is not part of the Luwian subgroup (as is Carian and Lycian).

Despite events portrayed as historic in Virgil's epic poem the Aeneid and the Etruscan-like language of
the Lemnos stele, the recent decipherment of Lydian and its classification as an Anatolian language
mean that Etruscan and Lydian were not even in the same language family; moreover, there is no
substantial evidence of Etruscans in Lydia.

[edit]Geography

The boundaries of historical Lydia varied across the centuries. It was first bounded
by Mysia, Caria, Phrygia and coastal Ionia. Later on, the military power of Alyattes and Croesus
expanded Lydia into an empire, with its capital at Sardis, which controlled all Asia Minor west of the River
Halys, except Lycia. Lydia never again shrank back into its original dimensions. After the Persian
conquest the Maeander was regarded as its southern boundary, and under Rome, Lydia comprised the
country between Mysia and Caria on the one side and Phrygia and the Aegean on the other.

[edit]Language

The Lydian language was an Indo-European language in the Anatolian language family, related
to Luwian and Hittite. It used many prefixes and particles.[2] Lydian finally became extinctduring the first
century BC.

[edit]History

[edit]!

 





Lydia arose as a Neo-Hittite kingdom following the collapse of the Hittite Empire in the 12th century BC.
In Hittite times, the name for the region had been Arzawa, a Luwian-speaking area. According to Greek
source, the original name of the Lydian kingdom was º ioni (or º eoni ): Homer (
i d ii. 865; v. 43, xi.
431) refers to the inhabitants of Lydia as º iones(ȂĮȓȠȞİȢ). Homer describes their capital not as Sardis
but as Hyde (
i d xx. 385); Hyde may have been the name of the district where Sardis
[3]
stood. Later, Herodotus (Histories i. 7) adds that the "Meiones" were renamed Lydians after their
king, Lydus (ȁȣįȩȢ), son of Attis, in the mythical epoch that preceded the rise of the Heracleid dynasty.
This etiologicaleponym served to account for the Greek ethnic name Lydoi (ȁȣįȠȓ). The Hebrew term for
Lydians, p
 (ʭʩʣʥʬ ), as found in Jeremiah 46.9, is similarly considered to be derived from the

eponymous Lud son of Shem; in Biblical times, the Lydian warriors were also famous archers. Some
Maeones still existed in historical times in the upland interior along the River Hermus, where a town called
Maeonia existed, according to Pliny the Elder (D tur History book v:30) and Hierocles.

[edit]
 



Lydian mythology is virtually unknown, and their literature and rituals lost, in the absence of any
monuments or archaeological finds with extensive inscriptions; therefore those myths involving Lydia are
mainly in the realm of Greek mythology.

For the Greeks, Tantalus was a primordial ruler of mythic Lydia, and Niobe his proud daughter; her
husband Zethos linked the affairs of Lydia with Thebes, and through Pelops the line of Tantalus was part
[4]
of the founding myths of Mycenae's second dynasty.

In Greek myth, Lydia was also the first home of the double-axe, the  rys.[5] Omphale, daughter of the
river Iardanos, was a ruler of Lydia, whom Heracles was required to serve for a time. His adventures in
Lydia are the adventures of a Greek hero in a peripheral and foreign land: during his stay, Heracles
enslaved the Itones, killed Syleus who forced passers-by to hoe his vineyard; slew the serpent of the river
Sangarios;[6] and captured the simian tricksters, the Cercopes. Accounts speak of at least one son born to
Omphale and Heracles:Diodorus Siculus (4.31.8) and Ovid (Heroides 9.54) mention a son Lamos, while
pseudo-Apollodorus (Biiotheke 2.7.8) gives the name Agelaus, and Pausanias (2.21.3) names Tyrsenus
son of Heracles by "the Lydian woman."

All three heroic ancestors indicate a Lydian dynasty claiming descent from Heracles. Herodotus (1.7)
refers to a Heraclid dynasty of kings who ruled Lydia, yet were perhaps not descended from Omphale. He
also mentions (1.94) the recurring legend that the Etruscan civilization was founded by colonists from
Lydia led by Tyrrhenus, brother of Lydus. However,Dionysius of Halicarnassus was skeptical of this story,
pointing out that the Etruscan language and customs were known to be totally dissimilar to those of the
Lydians. Later chronographers also ignored Herodotus's statement that Agron was the first to be a king,
and included Alcaeus, Belus, and Ninus in their list of kings of Lydia. Strabo (5.2.2) makes Atys, father of
Lydus and Tyrrhenus, to be a descendant of Heracles and Omphale. All other accounts place Atys,
Lydus, and Tyrrhenus among the pre-Heraclid kings of Lydia. The gold deposits in the river Pactolus that
were the source of the proverbial wealth of Croesus (Lydia's last historical king) were said to have been
left there when the legendary king Midas ofPhrygia washed away the "Midas touch" in its waters.
[edit]ö

Early 6th century BC one-third stater coin.

According to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coin and
the first to establish retail shops in permanent locations.[7] It's not clear, however, whether Herodotus
meant that the Lydians were the first to introduce coins of pure gold and pure silver or the first precious
metal coins in general. Despite this ambiguity, this statement of Herodotus is one of the pieces of
evidence often cited in behalf of the argument that Lydians invented coinage, at least in the West, even
though the first coins were neither gold nor silver but an alloy of the two.[8]

The dating of these first stamped coins is one of the most frequently debated topics in ancient
numismatics,[9] with dates ranging from 700 BC to 550 BC, but the most commonly held view is that they
were minted at or near the beginning of the reign of King Alyattes (sometimes incorrectly referred to
as Alyattes II), who ruled Lydia c. 610-550 BC.[10] The first coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold
and silver that occurs naturally but that was further debased by the Lydians with added silver and
copper.[11]

The largest of these coins are commonly referred to as a 1/3 stater (trite) denomination, weighing around
4.7 grams, though no full staters of this type have ever been found, and the 1/3 stater probably should
more correctly be referred to as a stater, after a type of a transversely held scale, the weights used in
[12]
such a scale, (from amcient Greek ȓıIJȘȝȚ=to stand) and which also means "standard." These coins
were stamped with a lion's head adorned with what's likely a sunburst, which was the king's symbol.[13] To
complement the largest denomination, fractions were made, including a hekte (sixth), hemihekte (twelfth),
and so forth down to a 96th, with the 1/96 stater weighing only about 0.15 grams. There is disagreement,
however, over whether the fractions below the twelfth are actually Lydian.[14]

Alyattes' son was Croesus, who became synonymous with wealth. Sardis was renowned as a beautiful
city. Around 550 BC, near the beginning of his reign, Croesus paid for the construction of
the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which became one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.
Croesus was defeated in battle by Cyrus II of Persia in 546 BC, with the Lydian kingdom losing its
autonomy and becoming a Persian satrapy.
Y

Y
Lydia is an ancient country that was part of Asia Minor that is now known as Turkey. It consists of the
valleys between the Hermus and Cayster rivers. (These rivers are currently called the Gediz and
Y
Büyükmenderes rivers.) Homer, the infamous Greek writer knew the Lydian country by the name
Maeonia. It was best known for its fertile soil, rich deposits of gold and silver, (which later became part of
their coining,) and its magnificent capital, Sardis. A few other accomplishments of the Lydians include
Ionian Sciences, the touchstone, and fair treatment of conquered peoples. Lydia's major language is now
known as one of the Anatolian languages.

Lydia reached its peak in power under the dynasty of the Mermnadae, beginning about 685BC. By the 6th
century BC Lydian conquests had transformed the kingdom into an empire. Its borders reached up to
Greece! The most famous Lydian King, King Croesus, Lydia's last µgreat' king and most wealthy king ever
of Lydia watched as him empire attained its greatest splendor. In fact, Croesus was so rich, people still
say today, "As rich as Croesus"

The empire came to a surprisingly nasty end, however, when the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great captured
Sardis, the Lydian capital about 546BC and incorporated Maeonia, (Lydia,) into the Persian Empire. After
the defeat of Persia by Alexander III, king of Macedonia, Lydia was brought under Greco-Macedonian
control. In 133BC it became part of the Roman province of Asia.





 

"It was here in the little known kingdom of Lydia that humans first produced coins, and it was here the first
great revolution began. The revolution was destined to have a far greater impact than all the heroes of
ancient Greece. "

Lydia's most famous accomplishment is its coinage of money. A combination of silver and gold, (common
resources of the area,) it is considered the first country ever to use coins. These coins were used in the
rule of King Croesus who ruled from 560 to 546 BC. The approximate year of use for the coins was 560
BC.

These coins made trading much easier. For example, if there was an artisan who made pottery and he
wished to have a sack of barley, he would need to find a farmer who wanted a piece of pottery. With the
money system the
Y
artisan could sell his pottery to anybody and then use that money for his sack of barely. It made trade
much easier.

This fabulous and innovative new idea was quickly adopted by surrounding nations. This is where the
Greeks, Romans, and Persians got their ideas.

Of course with every great idea there is a problem. In this case the problem was counterfeit money. Some
people did not use gold or silver in their coins. One way that the Lydians tested for fake coins was a
touchstone. A touchstone is a hard, black stone, used in assaying, the testing for the purity of gold and
silver. The first touchstone was a peculiar piece of bituminous quartz obtained from Lydia in Asia Minor to
test for ersatz money. For those reasons, the touchstone became known as the Lydian stone.



Lydian money was very thick, a lot thicker than today's money about the size of the end part of a person's
thumb. The coin a natural combination of silver and gold called electrum, were all the same weight
allowing for a fairer trade between a merchant and a purchaser. Before this time one who was not an
expert with a scale or did not possess one would not be able to participate fairly in the market without
being cheated. It was stamped official by a picture of a lion's head.








Lydia had an influence on the whole world. Every country or almost every country has a form of money
and it is because of the Lydians that they exist. In fact, if there were no Lydians there wouldn't be any
banks nor any stock market. A lot of things might be different, anything that involved money would be
changed, purchasing a home, working at a job, or even much simpler things such as bills or playing a
board game.

Imagine saying, "12 sheep a share? OK, let me have 1000 shares of Cisco at 12 sheep a share." Or
imagine saying, "Only a ¼ a sheep a year interest for a bank account? No thank you!" Or, "Wow! You get
5 ½ pots a year if you take this CD." Or imagine playing Monopoly, "240 sacks of Barley for Boardwalk."

It is for these reasons that we must thank the Lydians. The innovators of money and coins for if they had
not thought of this. Who knows how our world might be changed.
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As the Urartian kingdom in the east and the Phrygian kingdom in central Anatolia, were coming to their
end, a new kingdom based in the city Sardis emerged in the western Anatolia. This was the Lydian
Kingdom that ruled Western Anatolia in the 7th C. BCE, roughly from 690 to 546 BCE. As we can see
from the above map, Lydians ruled a large territory in Anatolia, extending from the Black Sea and the
Marmara Sea to the Lycian coast on the Mediterranean, and from the Aegean shores to the bend of the
river Halys.

The origin of Lydians is a problem that is still awaiting to be settled. Scholars think, they might have
entered Anatolia from East or North. We know that Lydians used a language of Indo-European origin.
Much of the information about Lydians comes from the ancient Greek sources. Lydia was ruled by three
dynasties from beginning to the end. These dynasties were Atyads, Heraclids-Tylonids in Lydian
language- and the Mermnads who ruled from 2000 BCE to 546 BCE. A Hittite cuneiform from the time
of Tudhaliya IV (1250-1220 BCE) confirms what Herodotus says about Atyad dynasty. So, this is enough
evidence to believe that Lydians were among the Anatolian peoples as early as 13th C. BCE, even
earlier. Herodotus, in his account, explains that the Atyad dynasty was replaced by Heraclids, during
the destruction of Anatolian cities in the wave of migration among which Phrygians were available as
well. According to Herodotus, Lydian state was founded by Heraclid dynasty and he adds this dynasty of
Thracian origin ruled for 22 generations over a period of 505 years from 1185 BCE. We know a little
about the first kings of Heraclid dynasty, but at the time of the first Olympic games in 776 BCE,
Alyattes was the king of Lydia. The last king of Heraclid dynasty as known in Greek was Mursylos, and in
Lydian language was Candaules whose name comes from a Lydian god and means "dog-strangler".
Indeed, excavations have provided the remains of a feast in honor of the god "Candaules", and the
skeletons of many puppies sacrificed to this god were found in 30 clay urns.

In about 687 BCE, we see another change in dynasty from Heraclids to Mermnads. Gyges (ruled 687 to
652 BCE), the first king of this dynasty, with the help of a woman-probably the wife of Candaules-,
killed Kandaules and took over both throne and queen. Also, with the change in dynasty, the name of
the area was changed to Lydia, which was known earlier as Maionia and the name of their capital was
changed to Sardis which was known as Hyde earlier. Lydian state under the Mernmad dynasty followed
expansionist policies and took its place in the balance of power in the Near East and Mediterranean
area. Gyges, to put an end to internal conflicts and to expand his borders launched military campaigns
towards North first, and against the Ionian cities along the Aegean coast. He founded military bases
and posts in Ionia area which served the Lydian benefits. By this time, as we have read in other
chapters, Cimmerians were terrorizing this area, first they destructed Phrygian state and made their
way towards the Lydians. The first Cimmerian attack was turned and their leader fell captive to
Lydians. But, second attempt by the Cimmerians who fought with heavy iron weapons, succeeded and
Lydians lost the battle. Gyges died at the battlefield. Almost all of Lydian cities and towns, except
Sardis which the Cimmerians were not able to take, were sacked by barbarian Cimmerians.
Ardys (ruled 652-621 BCE), who took over the throne, after his father Gyges' death, continued to
struggle Cimmerians. Sometime, he was obliged to ask help and support from the Assyrian king,
Asurbanipal. In 640 BCE, Cimmerians were defeated by the Assyrians in a decisive battle and
Cimmerians have never been able to recover since and after wandering in Anatolia for some time they
moved to Cappadocia and settled there. Ardys, following the years of terror in his country, started a
big reconstruction project all over Lydia. Many cities and towns that were sacked and destroyed by the
Cimmerians were rebuilt. After that, Ardys, marched towards the Ionian cities on the Aegean coastline
and took Priene. Ardys was an able king and did a great job in re-establishing his country and also
followed his father's expansionist policies.

Following his death in 621 BCE, his son Sadyattes became the ruler of Lydia. However, the reign of
Sadyattes brought almost nothing worthy to his people. His death in 609 BCE, has brought a great
opportunity for the Lydian people, his son Alyattes, one of the greatest kings became the ruler of
Lydia.

Alyattes (ruled 610 to 560 BCE), the fourth of the Mernmad kings, brought Lydia great prosperity and
extended his borders over a large territory. His diplomatic skills, arranging marriage alliances with
neighboring states, reasserting Lydia's sway over Ionian and Carian cities made Lydia one of the most
powerful states in the Near East. Meanwhile, the Medes in Persia following aggressive expansionist
policies covered as far as the river Halys, and made this river a border between Medes and Lydians.
Alyattes tried to reinforce his western borders knowing that Medes, one day, would be trouble for the
Lydians. He developed his relations with the Greek world, invited Greek sculptors to his capital Sardis,
built two shrines in Miletus ad sent gifts to the Oracle at Delphi. As a consequence of these close
relations with the Greek world, Alyattes' reign saw an abrupt Hellenic influence in Lydian art and
culture. The expected trouble came in in the year 585 BCE and Lydians and Medes set out to fight on
the eastern bank of the river Halys. About noon time, a solar eclipse occurred and suddenly became
dark. Taking this as a sign from the god, both armies put down their weapons on the ground and made
a peace treaty. The conclusion of the war with neighbors and peace treaties with other kingdoms in the
area brought a short lived balance of powers to be destroyed later in 547 BCE by the Persian Empire
rising from the East. Alyattes, after a long successful reign, died and he was replaced by his son
Croesus, another able king of Lydia.

Croesus (ruled 560 to 546 BCE.), inherited a prosperous state and he also made his contribution to
make Lydia even more powerful and wealthier. During his reign, Lydia reached the zenith in political
and cultural development and wealth. And also during his reign, Lydian state came to its unexpected
end. Croesus is the best known king of the Mernmad dynasty by the Greek and Roman writers. His name
became synonymous with the wealth, you know the expression "as rich as Croesus". Croesus when he
became king of Lydia, he set out to reinforce the western borders. First, he started a military
campaign against Ephesus, and then other Aeolian and Ionian cities. He always found an excuse to
attack his neighbors and put them under his hegemony. Almost all of western Anatolia, except the
Lycians in southwest, came under the Lydian state. Croesus imposed heavy taxation on the Ionian and
other cities in the area which was the main source of income for the Lydians. On the other hand,
Croesus was also a great patron of arts; he financed the rebuilding of Ephesus, reconstruction of the
Artemis Temple which was destroyed by Cimmerians earlier. Artemis Temple contained an inscription
that recognizes Croesus as the main contributor to the rebuilding of this temple.
Meanwhile, on the Persian frontier, some noticeable changes were taking place. Cyrus, from Persian
stock, after a battle against Astyages of Medes dynasty-Cyrus' grandfather from mother side- took the
throne and the power changed from Medes to Persians. Croesus, to expand his borders and include
Cappadocia in his state launched a campaign against Persians. Croesus crossed the river Halys and
arrived at the ancient Pteria-probably the Greek name for Hattusas. The war between two armies was
near this town. Herodotus says the war between the Lydians and Persians was very severe, and
countless soldiers died on the first day. Then night came in, and they stopped fighting. Next day,
Croesus did not attack Cyrus, he thought he would go back home and get some support from his allies
and strike back next spring. As he was getting close to his capital, Cyrus with his army appeared nearby
Sardis. Cyrus was smart by placing the camels in front of his army. The idea here was that horses were
afraid of camels and could not stand their smell either. Indeed, the horses of the Lydian army started
wildly running away as soon as they saw the camels. Though Lydian army lost the battle in Gediz plain,
they kept the order and retreated to their fortified acropolis at Sardis. On the 14th day of the siege by
Persians, a hole in the city walls was noticed by a Persian soldier through which the Persians swept into
the acropolis and put a heavy massacre on the Lydian soldiers. Herodotus explains that Cyrus first
decided to burn Croesus on a pile of wood, but later changed his mind and made Croesus his
consultant. However, some inscriptions from Babylon states that Cyrus went to Lydian war in April 547
BCE, and in May crossed the river Tigris and killed the king after defeating Lydians. A story goes like
that, when Cyrus conquered Sardis, his soldiers started looting the wealth of this city. Cyrus told
Croesus, pointing out to screams by the soldiers, "they sack you city", Croesus told him back, "not my
city any longer, they sack your city". Then Cyrus ordered his assistant to stop looting in the city. That
was the end of another great civilization of the past

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he Lydians were one of the many nations of ancient Anatolia. After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, the
Lydian people emerged as a local power in western Anatolia. They remained an independent state until
absorption into the Persian Empire, and later into Alexander the Great's Empire. Firmly in the Hellenistic
world, the Lydians slowly lost their culture and their language, and the last Lydian inscription was
recorded in the 1st century BCE.

The language of the Lydians belonged to a branch of the Anatolian language family that also included
older tongues such as Hittite and Luwian as well as contemporaneous languages such
as Carian, Lycian and Phrygian. Unlike the older languages, which employed logophonetic scripts, Lydian
adopted the early Greek alphabet for its writing system and modified it to suit its phonology.

The following is the Lydian alphabet:

In the table above, each row contains three subrows. The first subrow is the Lydian letter. The second
subrow (in blue) is the traditional transliteration of Lydian. The third subrow (in red) is the phonetic
transcription of Lydian. Note: [ã] and [Ӂ] are nasalized vowels, meaning that the vowels are pronounced
with a resonance in the sinus cavity. Of interest also are the consonants [ty], [dy], and [ly], which are
palatalized versions of the consonants [t], [d], and [l]. They are like the original consonants simultaneously
pronounced with the [y] sound.

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The Lydian mode in music theory

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The name Lydian refers to the ancient kingdom of Lydia in Anatolia. In Greek music theory, there was a
scale or "octave species" based on the Lydian tetrachord,[it tionneeded]
extending from p rhyp te
hyp ton to tritediezeu
menon, equivalent in the diatonic genus to the modern major scale: C D E F | G A
B C. (In the chromatic and enharmonic genera, the Lydian scale was equivalent to C D EF|GA BC
and C E EĹ F | G B BĹ C, respectively, where "Ĺ" signifies raising the pitch by approximately a quarter
tone) (Barbera 1984, 240). Placing the two tetrachords together, and the single tone at bottom of the
scale produces the Hypolydian mode (below Lydian): F | G A B C | (C) D E F. Placing the two tetrachords
together, and the single tone at the top of the scale produces the Hyperlydian mode (above Lydian),
which is effectively the same as the Hypophrygian mode: G A B C | (C) D E F | G.
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