What Was the Origin of the Ancient Phrygians?
Source: GreekReporter.com

The ancient Phrygians were one of the most prominent and important nations in Iron Age Anatolia. As well as being closely involved in key historical events in the Iron Age, they also appear prominently in Greek mythology. King Midas, for example, was a king of this nation. Given their importance, it is worth asking what we know about the origin of the ancient Phrygians.
Herodotus on the origin of the Phrygians
The origin of the Phrygians was, helpfully, something that the ancient Greeks wrote about directly. Herodotus, for example, wrote about this topic. According to him, the Phrygians originally came from the Balkans.
Supposedly, the original name for this nation was the Bryges. Herodotus claimed that this story came from the Macedonians themselves. According to this account, the Bryges were the neighbors of the Macedonians, in the northeast region of the Balkans.
At some undefined point, the Phrygians migrated from the Balkans to western Anatolia. Upon doing so, Herodotus claims that they changed their name from ‘Bryges’ to ‘Phryges’ (that is, ‘Phrygians’). Unfortunately, Herodotus does not provide us with more details about when this was supposed to have happened.
Nonetheless, we should note that the legends of the Trojan War, including Homer’s own Iliad, portray the Phrygians as already having a kingdom at the time of that war. Therefore, the origin of the Phrygians in Anatolia should be dated to before the events of the Iliad.
Bryges in historical records
One reason to lend some credence to this traditional story is related to the Bryges themselves. The evidence is clear that Herodotus did not just make up their existence. They were a real nation that lived in the eastern Balkan region in historical times.
A number of ancient sources attest to their existence, not simply as a nation that supposedly existed in the past but as a nation that still existed when those sources were written. Herodotus, for example, writes about some Bryges in Thrace who attacked the Persians in the early fifth century BCE.
Therefore, the fact that there really was a nation with this name in the Balkans supports Herodotus’ account. The names ‘Bryges’ and ‘Phryges’ are obviously similar enough to be related. The initial letters are so similar that they were easily confused in antiquity, as well as in modern times depending on the language.
Given the unlikelihood of two nations with essentially the same name living so close to each other purely by coincidence, there is clearly an appeal in concluding that they were originally the same nation.
What archaeology reveals
Of course, this does not necessarily mean that the origin of the Phrygians lies in the Balkans. Instead, could the Bryges have migrated into the Balkans from Anatolia?
This possibility is obviously weakened by the fact that it contradicts what Herodotus wrote. However, the archaeological evidence also argues against it. Archaeology, indeed, supports Herodotus’ claim that the origin of the Phrygians was in the Balkans.
One demonstration of this is seen at Troy. Immediately above the famous destruction layer of c. 1180 BCE, archaeologists have uncovered Balkan-style pottery. This supports the conclusion that people from the Balkans arrived in western Anatolia at about that time. Incidentally, it also strongly suggests that the Bryges, or Phrygians, were the ones who destroyed Troy at this time, and not the Greeks as often claimed.
Origin of the kingdom of the Phrygians
Therefore, it would appear that the Bryges did migrate into western Anatolia. This migration evidently occurred in the Late Bronze Age, in the early twelfth century BCE. However, this is not the origin of the kingdom of the Phrygians.
There is no evidence that the Phrygians rapidly grew into a powerful and prominent kingdom immediately after arriving in western Anatolia. In fact, the evidence suggests that the origin of the kingdom of the Phrygians should be placed centuries later.
Gordium was the capital of the kingdom of the Phrygians. Archaeological evidence shows that there was a change of culture at this site just after the Late Bronze Age, fitting the aforementioned evidence for the migration of the Phrygians at that time.
However, it is notable that Gordium first began to be built up in the tenth and ninth centuries BCE. This is the period that archaeologists call the ‘Early Phrygian Period‘. Even from the name, we can see that there is no real evidence of distinctive Phrygian material culture any earlier than that.
Thus, the origin of the Phrygians as a notable kingdom dates to the tenth or even ninth century BCE at the earliest.
The original article: GreekReporter.com .
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