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GORDION (Ancient city) TURKEY
Gordium (Gorsion), a town of Bithynia, a little to the north of the
river Sangarius, was in later times called Juliopolis. This city must have been
of considerable antiquity, having been the residence of the ancient Phrygian kings;
but in the time of Strabo (xii. p. 568) it had sunk to the condition of a mere
village it appears, however, that it was rebuilt and enlarged in the time of Augustus
under the name of Juliopolis, and thenceforth it continued to flourish for several
centuries. (Strab. l. c. p. 574; Polyb. xxii. 20; Liv. xxxviii. 18; Plin. v. 42;
Ptol. v. 1. § 14.) In the time of Justinian it had suffered from the inundations
of the river Scopas, and was therefore repaired by that emperor. (Procop. de Aed.
v. 4.) Gordium is celebrated in history as the scene of Alexander's cutting the
famous Gordian knot. This adventure took place in the acropolis of the town, which
had been the palace of king Gordius. (Arrian, Anab. i 29, ii. 3; Q. Curt. iii.
1, 12; Justin, xi. 7.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
(Gordion, also Gordieion). The ancient capital of Phrygia, situated on the Sangarius; the royal residence of the kings of the dynasty of Gordius, and the scene of Alexander's celebrated exploit of cutting the Gordian knot.
A city near the confluence of the Sangarios and Tembris rivers in
Anatolia, about 96 km SW of Ankara. Situated on a natural route from the sea to
the central Anatolian plateau, it was already settled in the Early Bronze Age.
Throughout the Hittite period it was evidently an important provincial town. It
reached its greatest development in Phrygian times during the Dark Age following
the fall of the Hittite Empire (9th and 8th c. B.C.).
The Phrygian city was sacked at the time of a Kimmerian raid dated
to the opening decades of the 7th c. It was rebuilt in the 6th c., probably by
Alyattes the Lydian king, as a market and garrison town. In the early years of
the Persian Empire, Darius reorganized the ancient route to the Aegean sea by
creating the Royal Road, of which stretches have been uncovered at Gordion. Visits
by a number of travelers following the Royal Road are recorded: by the Satrap
Pharnabazos in 411; by Agesilaos in 395; and by Alexander, who is alleged to have
cut the Gordian knot during his visit in 333. Later the king of Bithynia settled
Galatians who had crossed into Asia in the region subsequently known as Galatia.
In B.C. 189 Manlius Volso, leading a Roman army to chastise the Gauls for their
depredations, found the city deserted. It was never resettled as a place of importance;
Strabo speaks of the old Phrygian capital as a mere hamlet in his time.
The Phrygian city, burned about 690 B.C., was surrounded by a massive
wall of coursed masonry pierced by gates at E, N, and W. The E gateway, completely
cleared, still stands to a height of 9 m and comprises a ramped central passageway
with the gate itself at the inner end and flanking courts at either side. Within
the city the palace occupied a large area shut off from the rest of the town by
its own enclosure walls. A number of separate buildings grouped around a central
plaza have been cleared. All were laid out on the same "megaron" plan
of inner room with round central hearth, entered only through a vestibule in front.
The buildings were all constructed of stone or of crude brick strengthened by
frameworks of timber and covered by gable roofs of clay spread over reed beddings.
In the largest megaron, which had a width of more than 15 m, two rows of wooden
posts helped support the roof. At least three of the buildings were adorned by
floors of pebble mosaic laid in geometric patterns; the walls of one were scribbled
over by graffito drawings which illustrate the contemporary 8th c. scene. On a
terrace to the S of the plaza a long building of eight adjoining rooms housed
the service area of the palace. There were clearly several phases and successive
building periods of the town which must extend well back into the 9th c. B.C.
The cemeteries lay around the city on higher ground above the river
valley. Royalty and the wealthy had tumuli heaped over their graves. The greatest
tumulus, 53 m in height, covered a tomb constructed of wood with gabled roof,
admirably preserved. The sole occupant must have been a king, probably the predecessor
of King Midas. With him were buried Phrygian inlaid wooden furniture and many
bronze vessels. The finds from tombs and city are shown at the local Gordion museum
and in the Ankara Museum.
R. S. Young, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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