Phrygia

Phrygia (fri'jēu) [key], ancient region, central Asia Minor (now central Turkey). The Phrygians, who settled here c.1200 B.C., came from the Balkans and apparently spoke an Indo-European language. A kingdom, associated in Greek legend with the names of Midas and Gordius, flourished from the 8th to the 6th cent. B.C., when it fell with the Cimmerian invasion (676–585 B.C.) and became dominated by Lydia. Phrygia was best known to the Greeks as a source of slaves and as a center of the cult of Cybele. N Phrygia became part of Galatia with the invasion of the Gauls (3d cent. B.C.). The kings of Pergamum ruled much of Phrygia until it passed to the Romans. There has been much archaeological excavation in the area.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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