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LYDIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 158 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LYDIA , in See also:

ancient See also:geography, a See also:district of See also:Asia See also:Minor, the boundaries of which it is difficult to See also:fix, partly because they varied at different epochs. The name is first found under the See also:form of Luddi in the See also:inscriptions of the See also:Assyrian See also:king Assurbani-See also:pal, who received See also:tribute from See also:Gyges about 66o B.C. In See also:Homer we read only of Maeonians (Il. ii. 865, v. 43, X. 431), and the See also:place of the Lydian See also:capital See also:Sardis is taken by See also:Hyde (Il. xx. 385), unless this was the name of the district in which Sardis stood (see See also:Strabo xiii. p. 626).1 The earliest See also:Greek writer who mentions the name is See also:Mimnermus of See also:Colophon, in the 37th See also:Olympiad. According to See also:Herodotus (i. 7), the 1bleiones (called Maeones by other writers) were named Lydians after See also:Lydus, the son of See also:Attis, in the mythical See also:epoch which preceded the rise of the Heraclid See also:dynasty. In See also:historical times the Maeones were a tribe inhabiting the district of the upper Hermus, where a See also:town called Maeonia existed (See also:Pliny, N.H. v. 30; See also:Hierocles, p.

670). The Lydians must originally have been an allied tribe which bordered upon them to the See also:

north-See also:west, and occupied the See also:plain of Sardis or See also:Magnesia at the See also:foot of Tmolus and Sipylus. They were cut off from the See also:sea by the Greeks, who were in See also:possession, not only of the See also:Bay of See also:Smyrna, but also of the See also:country north of Sipylus as far as Temnus in the pass (boghaz), through which the Hermus forces its way from the plain of Magnesia into its See also:lower valley.2 In a Homeric See also:epigram the See also:ridge north of the Hermus, on which the ruins of Temnus See also:lie, is called Sardene. Northward the Lydians extended at least as far as the Gygaean See also:Lake (Lake Coloe, mod. Mermereh), and the Sardene range (mod. Dumanli Dagh). The See also:plateau of the See also:Bin Bir Tepe, on the See also:southern See also:shore of the Gygaean Lake, was the See also:chief See also:burial-place of the inhabitants of Sardis, and is still thickly studded with tumuli, among which is the " See also:tomb of See also:Alyattes " (26o ft. high). Next to Sardis the chief See also:city was Magnesia ad Sipylum (q.v.), in the neighbourhood of which is the famous seated figure of " See also:Niobe " (Il. See also:xxiv. 614-617), cut out of the See also:rock, and probably intended to represent the goddess See also:Cybele, to which the Greeks attached their See also:legend of Niobe. According to Pliny (v. 31), Tantalis, afterwards swallowed up by See also:earthquake in the See also:pool See also:Sale or Saloe, was the ancient name of Sipylus and " the capital of Maeonia " (Paus. vii. 24; Strabo xii.

579). Under the Heraclid dynasty the limits of Lydia must have been already extended, since according to Strabo (xiii. S90), the authority of Gyges reached as far as the See also:

Troad. Under the Mermnads Lydia became a maritime as well as an inland See also:power. The Greek cities were conquered, and the See also:coast of See also:Ionia included within the Lydian See also:kingdom. The successes of Alyattes and of See also:Croesus finally changed the Lydian kingdom into a Lydian See also:empire, and all Asia Minor westward of the Halys, except See also:Lycia, owned the supremacy of Sardis. Lydia never again shrank back into its See also:original dimensions. After the See also:Persian See also:conquest the Maeander was regarded as its southern boundary, and in the See also:Roman See also:period it comprised the country between See also:Mysia and See also:Caria on the one See also:side and See also:Phrygia and the See also:Aegean on the other. Lydia proper was exceedingly fertile. The See also:hill-sides were clothed with See also:vine and See also:fir, and the See also:rich broad plain of Hermus produced large quantities of See also:corn and See also:saffron. The See also:climate of the plain was soft but healthy, though the country was subject to frequent earthquakes. The Pactolus, which flowed from the See also:fountain of Tarne in the Tmolus mountains, through the centre of Sardis, into the Hermus, was believed to be full of See also:golden See also:sand; 1 Pliny (v.

30) makes it the Maeonian name. 2 See See also:

Sir W. M. See also:Ramsay in the See also:Journal of Hellenic Studies, ii. 2. and See also:gold mines were worked in Tmolus itself, though by the See also:time of Strabo the proceeds had become so small as hardly to pay for the expense of working them (Strabo xiii. 591). Maeonia on the See also:east contained the curious barren plateau known to the Greeks as the Katakekaumene ("Burnt country "), once a centre of volcanic disturbance. The Gygaean lake (where remains of See also:pile dwellings have been found) still abounds with See also:carp. Herodotus (i. 171) tells us that Lydus was a See also:brother of Mysus and See also:Car. The statement is on the whole See also:borne out by the few Lydian, Mysian and Carian words that have been preserved, as well as by the See also:general See also:character of the See also:civilization prevailing among the three nations.

The See also:

race was probably a mixed one, consisting of See also:aborigines and See also:Aryan immigrants. It was characterized by See also:industry and a commercial spirit, and, before the Persian conquest, by bravery. The See also:religion of the Lydians resembled that of the other civilized nations of Asia Minor. It was a nature See also:worship, which at times became See also:wild and sensuous. By the side of the supreme See also:god Medeus stood the See also:sun-god Attis, as in Phrygia the chief See also:object of the popular cult. He was at once the son and bridegroom of Cybele (q.v.) or Cybebe, the See also:mother of the gods, whose See also:image carved by Broteas, son of See also:Tantalus, was adored on the cliffs of Sipylus (Pans. iii. 22). The cult may have been brought westward by the See also:Hittites who have See also:left memorials of themselves in the pseudo-See also:Sesostris figures of Kara-See also:bel (between Sardis and See also:Ephesus) as well as in the figure of the Mother-goddess, the so-called Niobe. At Ephesus, where she was adored under the form of a meteoric See also:stone, she was identified with the Greek See also:Artemis (see also See also:GREAT MOTHER OF THE GODS). Her mural See also:crown is first seen in the Hittite sculptures of Boghaz Keui (see See also:PTERIA and HITTITES) on the Halys. The priestesses by whom she was served are depicted in See also:early See also:art as armed with the See also:double-headed See also:axe, and the dances they performed in her See also:honour with See also:shield and See also:bow gave rise to the myths which saw in them the See also:Amazons, a nation of woman-warriors. The pre-Hellenic cities of the coast—Smyrna, Samorna (Ephesus), Myrina, Cyme, See also:Priene and Pitane—were all of Amazonian origin, and the first three of them have the same name as the See also:Amazon Myrina, whose tomb was pointed out in the Troad.

The See also:

prostitution whereby the Lydian girls gained their dowries (See also:Herod. i. 93) was a religious exercise, as among the Semites, which marked their devotion to the goddess Cybele. In the legend of Heracles, Omphale takes the place of Cybele, and was perhaps her Lydian See also:title. Heracles is here the sun-god Attis in a new form; his Lydian name is unknown, since E. See also:Meyer has shown (Zeitschr. d. Morg. Gesell. xxxi. 4) that Sandon belongs not to Lydia but to See also:Cilicia. By the side of Attis stood See also:Manes or Men, identified later with the See also:Moon-god. According to the native historian See also:Xanthus (46o B.c.) three dynasties ruled in See also:succession over Lydia. The first, that of the Attiads, is mythical. It was headed by a god, and included See also:geographical personages like Lydus, Asies and Meles, or such heroes of folk-See also:lore as Cambletes, who devoured his wife.

To this mythical See also:

age belongs the See also:colony which, according to Herodotus (i. 94), Tyrsenus, the son of Attis, led to See also:Etruria. Xanthus, however, puts Torrhebus in the place of Tyrsenus, and makes him the eponym of a district in Lydia. It is doubtful whether Xanthus recognized the Greek legends which brought See also:Pelops from Lydia, or rather Maeonia, and made him the son of Tantalus. The second dynasty was also of divine origin, but the names which See also:head it prove its connexion with the distant East. Its founder, a descendant of Heracles and Omphale, was, Herodotus tells us (i. 7), a son of See also:Ninus and See also:grandson of Belus. The Assyrian inscriptions have shown that the Assyrians had never crossed the Halys, much less known the name of Lydia, before the age of See also:Assur-bani-pal, and consequently the theory which brought the Heraclids from See also:Nineveh must be given up. But the Hittites, another See also:Oriental See also:people, deeply imbued with the elements of Babylonian culture, had overrun Asia Minor and established themselves on the shores of the Aegean before the reign of the See also:Egyptian king See also:Rameses II. The subject See also:allies who then fight under their See also:banners include the Masu or Mysians and the Dardani of the Troad, while the Hittites have left memorials in Lydia. G. See also:Dennis discovered an inscription in Hittite See also:hieroglyphics attached to the figure of " Niobe " on Sipylus, and a similar inscription accompanies the figure (in which Herodotus, u.

See also:

Ion, wished to see Sesostris or Rameses II.) in the pass of Karabel. We learn from See also:Eusebius that Sardis was first captured by the See also:Cimmerii ro78 B.C.; and since it was four centuries later before the real Cimmerii (q.v.) appeared on the See also:horizon of See also:history, we may perhaps find in the statement a tradition of the Hittite conquest. As the authority of the Hittite satraps at Sardis began to decay the Heraclid dynasty arose. According to Xanthus, Sadyattes and Lixus were the successors of Tylon the son of Omphale. After lasting five See also:hundred and five years, the dynasty came to an end in the See also:person of Sadyattes, as he is called by See also:Nicolas of See also:Damascus, whose See also:account is doubtless derived from Xanthus. The name Candaules, given him by Herodotus, meant " See also:dog strangler " and was a title of the Lydian See also:Hermes. Gyges (q.v.) put him to See also:death and established the dynasty of the Mermnads, 687 B.C. Gyges initiated a new policy, that of making Lydia a maritime power; but towards the See also:middle of his reign the kingdom was overrun by the Cimmerii. The lower town of Sardis was taken, and Gyges sent tribute to Assur-bani-pal, as well as two Cimmerian chieftains he had himself captured in See also:battle. A few years later Gyges joined in the revolt against See also:Assyria, and the Ionic and Carian mercenaries he despatched to See also:Egypt enabled See also:Psammetichus to make himself See also:independent. Assyria, however, was soon avenged. The Cimmerian hordes returned, Gyges was slain in battle (652 B.C.), and Ardys his son and successor returned to his See also:allegiance to Nineveh.

The second See also:

capture of Sardis on this occasion was alluded to by See also:Callisthenes (Strabo xiii. 627). Alyattes, the grandson of Ardys, finally succeeded in extirpating the Cimmerii, as well as in taking Smyrna, and thus providing his kingdom with a See also:port. The See also:trade and See also:wealth of Lydia rapidly increased, and the Greek towns See also:fell one after the other before the attacks of the Lydian See also:kings. Alyattes's See also:long reign of fifty-seven years saw the See also:foundation of the Lydian empire. All Asia Minor west of the Halys acknowledged his sway, and the six years' contest he carried on with the Medes was closed by the See also:marriage of his daughter Aryenis to See also:Astyages. The Greek cities were allowed to retain their own institutions and See also:government on See also:condition of paying taxes and dues to the Lydian monarch, and the proceeds of their See also:commerce thus flowed into the imperial See also:exchequer. The result was that the king of Lydia became the richest See also:prince of his age. Alyattes was succeeded by Croesus (q.v.), who had probably already for some years shared the royal power with his See also:father, or perhaps grandfather, as V. Floigl thinks (Geschichte See also:des semitischen Alterthums, p. 20). He reigned alone only fifteen years, See also:Cyrus the Persian, after an indecisive battle on the Halys, marching upon Sardis, and capturing both See also:acropolis and monarch (546 B.C.).

The place where the acropolis was entered was believed to have been overlooked by the mythical Meles when he carried the See also:

lion See also:round his fortress to make it invulnerable; it was really a path opened by one of the landslips, which have reduced the See also:sandstone cliff of the acropolis to a See also:mere See also:shell, and threaten to carry it altogether into the plain below. The revolt of the Lydians under Pactyas, whom Cyrus had appointed to collect the taxes, caused the Persian king to disarm them, though we -can hardly See also:credit the statement that by this measure their warlike spirit was crushed. Sardis now became the western capital of the Persian empire, and its burning by the Athenians was the indirect cause of the Persian See also:War. After See also:Alexander the Great's death, Lydia passed to Antigonus; then Achaeus made himself king at Sardis, but was defeated and put to death by See also:Antiochus. The country was presented by the See also:Romans to See also:Eumenes, and subsequently formed See also:part of the proconsular See also:province of Asia. By the time of Strabo (xiii. 631) its old See also:language was entirely supplanted by Greek. The Lydian empire may be described as the See also:industrial power of the ancient See also:world. The Lydians were credited with being the inventors, not only of See also:games such as See also:dice, huckle-bones and See also:ball (Herod. i. 94), but also of coined See also:money. The See also:oldest known coins are the See also:electrum coins of the earlier Mermnads (See also:Madden, Coins of the See also:Jews, pp. 19-21), stamped on one side with a lion's head or thefigure of a king with bow and See also:quiver; these were replaced by Croesus with a coinage of pure gold and See also:silver.

To the latter monarch were probably due the earliest gold coins of Ephesus (Head, Coinage of Ephesus, p. 16). The electrum coins of Lydia were of two kinds, one weighing 168.4 grains for the inland trade, and another of 224 grains for the trade with Ionia. The See also:

standard was the silver See also:mina of Carchemish (as the Assyrians called it) which contained 8656 grains. Originally derived by the Hittites from Babylonia, but modified by themselves, this standard was passed on to the nations of Asia Minor during the period of Hittite conquest, but was eventually superseded by the Phoenician mina of 11,225 grains, and continued to survive only in See also:Cyprus and Cilicia (see also See also:NUMISMATICS), The inns, which the Lydians were said to have been the first to establish (Herod. i. 94), were connected with their See also:attention to commercial pursuits. Their literature has wholly perished. They were celebrated for their See also:music and gymnastic exercises, and their art formed a See also:link between that of Asia Minor and that of See also:Greece. R. Heberdey's excavations at Ephesus since 1896, like those of D. G. See also:Hogarth in 1905, belong to the history of Greek and not native art.

The See also:

ivory figures, however, found by Hogarth on the level of the earliest See also:temple of Artemis show See also:Asiatic See also:influence, and resemble the so-called " Phoenician " ivories from the See also:palace of See also:Sargon at See also:Calah (Nimrud). For a description of a See also:pectoral of See also:white gold, ornamented with the heads of animals, human faces and the figure of a goddess, discovered in a tomb on Tmolus, see See also:Academy, See also:January 15, 1881, p. 45. Lydian See also:sculpture was probably similar to that of the Phrygians. Phallic emblems, for averting evil, were plentiful; the See also:summit of the tomb of Alyattes is crowned with an enormous one of stone, about 9 ft. in See also:diameter. The See also:tumulus itself is 281 yds. in diameter and about See also:half a mile in circumference. It has been partially excavated by G. Spiegelthal and G. Dennis, and a sepulchral chamber discovered in the middle, composed of large well-cut and highly polished blocks of See also:marble, the chamber being II ft. long, nearly 8 ft. broad and 7 ft. high. Nothing was found in it except a few ashes and a broken See also:vase of Egyptian See also:alabaster. The stone See also:basement which, according to Herodotus, formerly surrounded the See also:mound has disappeared.

End of Article: LYDIA

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