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PHRYGIA

(Gk. Phrygía)

A territory in west central Asia Minor (Acts 2:10; 18:23), a plateau which includes rock mesas and mountains as well as broad river basins. Phrygia’s pine forests and sheep herds yielded timber and wool, and Phrygian artisans produced fine metal work, embroidery, and carpets.

The Phrygians probably migrated from Thrace at the end of the 2nd millennium b.c.e. Following Hittite domination of central Asia Minor, they ruled a more loosely organized confederation, flourishing during the middle of the 1st millennium. The short-lived Phrygian Empire (ca. 725-675), founded by King Midas, ruled western Asia Minor until the Cimmerian invasion allowed the Lydians to gain ascendancy. The Phrygian capital was at Gordion. Pessinus, the temple-state of the Mother of the Gods (Cybele), was also a major Phrygian city.

Many settlements in the Phrygian highlands centered around “kales,” fortified rock mesas. At these sites, the Phrygians left behind huge rock-cut monuments, flat facades carved with geometric designs surrounding niches for huge images of the Mother of the Gods. Some are inscribed in Old Phrygian. The most prominent is the Midas monument at the remains of Midas City, a village near modern Eskisehir.

In the Roman era, Phrygia was recognized as an ethnic territory comprising the eastern portion of the Roman province of Asia. The eastern part of what had been the Phrygian kingdom was absorbed into the province Galatia. The ethnic name Phrygian was frequently synonymous with “slave” during the Greco-Roman era. Inscriptions from as late as the 3rd century c.e. are found in the Neo-Phrygian language.

Bibliography. E. Akurgal, Ancient Civilizations and Ruins of Turkey, 8th ed. (Istanbul, 1993); C. H. Haspels, The Highlands of Phrygia, 2 vols. (Princeton, 1971).

Susan (Elli) Elliott

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PHRYGIA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)