Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Geographic - All Periods| ▸ |Anatolia| ▸ |Phrygia||View Options: ![]() ![]() Phrygia lies in western central Anatolia (Asia Minor) between Bithynia, Mysia, Lydia, Pisidia, and Galatia. The cities were found in the valleys and high plains between the many high mountains of the land. The native Phrygians, whose inscriptions have not yet been deciphered, fell under Lydian, then Persian, then Macedonian rule. Greek and Macedonian settlers were planted in Phrygia by the Seleucids and Attalids in a mutual rivalry, but northern Phrygia was overrun by Celts (eventually it would become Galatia). After the defeat of Antiochus at Magnesia, Phrygia was assigned to the kingdom of Pergamum in 188 B.C., after which it became intensely Hellenized and first struck coins. Rome took control, along with the rest of the Pergamene kingdom, in 133 B.C. |
Ankyra, the chief city of the district Abbaitis in western Phrygia, should not be confused with Ankyra in Galatia, the modern capital of Turkey. The image on the reverse resembles sculptures of Artemis, the Lady of Ephesus, including one at the Ephesus Archaeological Museum and another at the Vatican. The Ionians worshiped Artemis as a mother goddess, akin to the Phrygian Cybele. Her cult image was adorned with multiple rounded breast like protuberances on her chest. They have been variously interpreted as accessory breasts, eggs, grapes, acorns, or even bull testes. Excavation at the site of the Artemision in 1987/8 found a multitude of tear-shaped amber beads that once adorned the ancient wooden xoanon. |