View source for Lydia

{{Short description|Ancient Anatolian kingdom}}
{{redirect2|Maeonia|Maionia|the town of that name|Maionia in Lydia}}
{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|Lycia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = 
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Lydia
| common_name            = Lydia
| era                    = [[Iron Age]]
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]
| area_km2               = 
| year_start             = Before 800 BCE
| year_end               = 546 BCE
| life_span              = ?–546 BCE
| event_start            = [[Late Bronze Age collapse#Anatolia|Bronze Age Collapse]]
| date_start             = 
| event_end              = [[Battle of Thymbra|Fall to Persia]]
| date_end               = 
| event1                 = [[Cimmerians#In Anatolia|Lydian-Cimmerian Wars]]
| date_event1            = 670–630s BCE
| event2                 = [[Lydian–Milesian War]]
| date_event2            = 612–600 BCE
| event3                 = [[Battle of the Eclipse|Lydian-Median War]]
| date_event3            = 590–585 BCE
| p1                     = Hittites
| p2                     = Phrygia
| p3                     = Cimmerians
| p4                     = Treri
| p5                     = Ionian League
| p6                     = 
| flag_p6                = 
| s1                     = Achaemenid Empire
| s2                     = 
| flag_s2                = 
| image_flag             = 
| flag_size              = 
| flag_type              = 
| image_coat             = 
| symbol                 = 
| symbol_type            = 
| image_map              = Kingdom of Lydia.png
| image_map_caption      = Map of the Lydian Kingdom in its final period of sovereignty under [[Croesus]], {{Circa|547 BCE}}.
| capital                = [[Sardis]]
| common_languages       = [[Lydian language|Lydian]]
| religion               = [[Lydian religion]]
| currency               = [[Croeseid]]
| title_leader           = [[List of kings of Lydia|Kings]]{{efn|tūran}}
| year_leader1           = 680–644 BCE
| leader1                = [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]]
| year_leader2           = 644–637 BCE
| leader2                = [[Ardys of Lydia|Ardys]]
| year_leader3           = 637–635 BCE
| leader3                = [[Sadyattes]]
| year_leader4           = 635–585 BCE
| leader4                = [[Alyattes]]
| year_leader5           = 585–546 BCE
| leader5                = [[Croesus]]
| footnotes              = 
}}
'''Lydia''' ({{langx|grc|{{script|Grek|Λυδία}}|translit=Ludía}}; {{langx|la|Lȳdia}}) was an [[Iron Age]] [[Monarchy|kingdom]] situated in western [[Anatolia]], in modern-day [[Turkey]]. Later, it became an important province of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] and then the [[Roman Empire]]. Its capital was [[Sardis]].

At some point before 800 BCE, the [[Lydian people]] achieved some sort of political cohesion, and existed as an independent kingdom by the 600s BCE. At its greatest extent, during the 7th century BCE, it covered all of western Anatolia. In 546 BCE, it became a [[Lydia (satrapy)|satrapy]] of the [[Achaemenid Empire]], known as ''Sparda'' in [[Old Persian]]. In 133 BCE, it became part of the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] [[Asia (Roman province)|province of Asia]].

Lydian coins, made of [[electrum]], are among the oldest in existence, dated to around the 7th century BCE.<ref>"Lydia" in ''Oxford Dictionary of English''. [[Oxford University Press]], 2010. Oxford Reference Online. 14 October 2011.</ref><ref name=coins>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/money/the_origins_of_coinage.aspx|title=The origins of coinage|publisher=britishmuseum.org|access-date=September 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924051955/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/money/the_origins_of_coinage.aspx |archive-date=September 24, 2015 }}</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:Temple_of_Artemis_Sardis_Turkey4.jpg|thumb|left|The temple of [[Artemis]] in [[Sardis]], capital of Lydia]]
[[File:Tripolis_on_the_Meander,_Lydia,_Turkey_(19492900512).jpg|thumb|[[Tripolis on the Meander]] is an ancient Lydian city in Turkey.]]
[[File:Vue_sur_la_plaine_alluviale_du_Méandre.JPG|thumb|[[Büyük Menderes River]], also known as the Maeander is a river in Lydia.]]

Lydia is generally located east of ancient [[Ionia]] in the modern western Turkish provinces of [[Uşak Province|Uşak]], [[Manisa Province|Manisa]] and inland [[İzmir Province|İzmir]].<ref name="rhodes">Rhodes, P.J. ''A History of the Classical Greek World 478–323 BC''. 2nd edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 6.</ref>

The boundaries of historical Lydia varied across the centuries. It was bounded first by [[Mysia]], [[Caria]], [[Phrygia]] and coastal [[Ionia]]. Later, the military power of [[Alyattes of Lydia|Alyattes]] and [[Croesus]] expanded Lydia, which, with its capital at [[Sardis]], controlled all Asia Minor west of the River Halys, except [[Lycia]]. After the Persian conquest the River [[Maeander]] was regarded as its southern boundary, and during imperial Roman times Lydia comprised the country between Mysia and Caria on the one side and Phrygia and the [[Aegean Sea]] on the other.

== Language ==
The [[Lydian language]], which became [[extinct language|extinct]] during the 1st century BCE, was an [[Indo-European language]]<ref>{{cite book |title=The Etruscan Language: An Introduction |first1=Giuliano |last1=Bonfante |first2=Larissa |last2=Bonfante |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1983  |page=50 |quote="..confirmed by an analysis of the Lydian language, which is Indo-European.."}}</ref> in the [[Anatolian languages|Anatolian language family]], related to [[Luwian]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the |editor-first1=Alice |editor-last1=Mouton |editor-first2=Ian |editor-last2=Rutherford |editor-first3=Ilya |editor-last3=Yakubovich |publisher=Brill  |year=2013  |page=4 |quote="Although the Lydian language is only distantly related to Luwian..." }}</ref> and [[Hittite language|Hittite]]. However, Lydian is usually not categorized as part of the [[Luwic]] subgroup, unlike the other nearby Anatolian languages [[Luwian language|Luwian]], [[Carian language|Carian]], and [[Lycian language|Lycian]].<ref>I. Yakubovich, Sociolinguistics of the Luvian Language, Leiden: Brill, 2010, p. 6</ref>

Due to its fragmentary attestation, the meanings of many words are unknown but much of the grammar has been determined. Similar to other Anatolian languages, it featured extensive use of [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefixes]] and [[grammatical particle]]s to chain clauses together.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutturkey.com/lidya.htm|title=Lydia – All About Turkey|website=Allaboutturkey.com}}</ref> Lydian had also undergone extensive [[Syncope (phonology)|syncope]], leading to numerous consonant clusters atypical of most Indo-European languages.

== History ==
=== Origins ===
Lydia's early history remains shrouded in obscurity. During the [[Late Bronze Age]] (1600 BCE-1200 BCE), the territory that later became Lydia overlapped with two kingdoms called [[Mira (kingdom)|Mira]] and [[Seha River Land|Šeḫa]], themselves part of a broader political entity called [[Arzawa]].<ref name = "LydiaBefore" >{{cite encyclopedia|title=Lydia before the Lydians|encyclopedia= The Lydians and Their World|year=2010|last= Roosevelt |first= Christopher |url=https://sardisexpedition.org/en/essays/latw-roosevelt-lydia-before-lydians}}</ref> Like the other Arzawa Lands, these kingdoms had tumultuous relations with the [[Hittite Empire]], acting both as allies, enemies, and vassals at various points in time.<ref name=steadman-bryce24>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bryce|first=Trevor|year=2011|editor-last1=Steadman|editor-first1=Sharon|editor-last2=McMahon | editor-first2=Gregory|encyclopedia=The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia|title=The Late Bronze Age in the West and the Aegean|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195376142.013.0015}}</ref>

By roughly 800 BCE, the [[Lydian people]] appear to have established their presence and achieved some degree of political cohesion. However, precise dates and events are impossible to determine due to the absence of contemporary written records. The only firm evidence for this early period comes from the archaeological excavations at Sardis. Although certain literary accounts purport the existence of two early Lydian dynasties, namely the house of [[Atys of Lydia|Atys]] - after whose son [[Lydus]] the Lydians were supposedly named - and the Heraclids, who allegedly ruled for twenty-two generations before 685 BCE, these sources are steeped in mythology and lack historical credibility.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Payne|first=Annick|title=The Lydian Empire|url=https://www.academia.edu/1838086}}</ref>

===Kingdom of Lydia===
{{Main|List of Kings of Lydia}}
Lydia was an independent kingdom from an unknown time until 546 BCE.

==== Candaules ====
According to Herodotus, one of Lydus's descendants was [[Iardanus (father of Omphale)|Iardanus]], with whom [[Heracles]] was in service at one time. Heracles had an affair with one of Iardanus' slave-girls and their son [[Alcaeus (mythology)|Alcaeus]] was the first of the Heraclid Dynasty said to have ruled Lydia for 22 generations starting with [[Agron of Lydia|Agron]].{{sfn|Herodotus|1975|p=43}}{{Primary source inline|date=July 2024}} In the 8th century BCE, [[Meles of Lydia|Meles]] became the 21st and penultimate Heraclid king and the last was his son [[Candaules]] (died c. 687 BCE).{{sfn|Herodotus|1975|pp=43–46}}<ref name="BM82">{{harvnb|Bury|Meiggs | 1975|p=82}}</ref>

====The Mermnad Empire (680-546 BCE)====
[[File:Gyges Tablet, British Museum.jpg|thumb|left|Gyges tablet, British Museum]]

=====Gyges=====
{{main|Gyges of Lydia}}

Gyges was the first Lydian king whose existence is demonstrable from contemporary records.<ref name = "LydiaBefore"/> According to semi-mythical accounts of his reign, he was the son of a man named [[Dascylus]] and came to power by overthrowing [[Candaules|King Candaules]] with the assistance of a Carian prince from [[Milas|Mylasa]] named Arselis.{{sfn|Braun|1982|p=36}}{{sfn|Mellink|1991|pp=643-655,663}} Gyges's rise to power happened in the context of a period of turmoil following the invasion of the [[Cimmerians]], a nomadic people from the [[Pontic-Caspian steppe|Pontic steppe]] who had invaded [[Western Asia]], who around 675 BCE destroyed the previous major power in Anatolia, the kingdom of Phrygia.{{sfn|Cook|1988|p=196-197}}

Gyges took advantage of the power vacuum created by the Cimmerian invasions to consolidate his kingdom and make it a military power, he contacted the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian]] court by sending diplomats to [[Nineveh]] to seek help against the Cimmerian invasions,<ref name="Spalinger1978">{{cite journal |last=Spalinger |first=Anthony J. |date=1978 |title=The Date of the Death of Gyges and Its Historical Implications |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/599752 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=400–409 |doi=10.2307/599752 |jstor=599752 |access-date=25 October 2021 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and he attacked the [[Ionians|Ionian]] Greek cities of [[Miletus]], [[Smyrna]], and [[Colophon (city)|Colophon]].{{sfn|Cook|1988|p=196-197}} Gyges's extensive alliances with the Carian dynasts allowed him to recruit Carian and Ionian Greek soldiers to send overseas to assist the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] king [[Psamtik I]] of the city of [[Sais]], with whom he had established contacts around 662 BCE. With the help of these armed forces, Psamtik I united Egypt under his rule after eliminating the eleven other kinglets with whom he had been co-ruling [[Lower Egypt]].{{sfn|Braun|1982|p=36}}<ref name="Spalinger1976">{{cite journal |last=Spalinger |first=Anthony |date=1976 |title=Psammetichus, King of Egypt: I |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40001126 |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt  |volume=13|pages=133–147 |doi=10.2307/40001126|jstor=40001126 |access-date=2 November 2021 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Spalinger1978"/>{{sfn|Mellink|1991|p=663}}

In 644 BCE, Lydia faced a third attack by the Cimmerians, led by their king [[Tugdamme|Lygdamis]]. This time, the Lydians were defeated, Sardis was sacked, and Gyges was killed.<ref name="Spalinger1976"/><ref name="Spalinger1978"/>

=====Ardys and Sadyattes=====
{{main|Ardys of Lydia|Sadyattes}}
Gyges was succeeded by his son [[Ardys of Lydia|Ardys]], who resumed diplomatic activity with Assyria and would also have to face the Cimmerians.<ref name="Spalinger1976"/><ref name="Spalinger1978"/> Ardys attacked the [[Ionians|Ionian]] Greek city of [[Miletus]] and succeeded in capturing the city of [[Priene]], after which Priene would remain under direct rule of the Lydian kingdom until its end.<ref>'Miletos, the ornament of Ionia: history of the city to 400 BC' by Vanessa B. Gorman (University of Michigan Press) 2001</ref><ref name="Leloux-1">{{cite thesis |last=Leloux |first=Kevin |date=2018 |title=La Lydie d'Alyatte et Crésus: Un royaume à la croisée des cités grecques et des monarchies orientales. Recherches sur son organisation interne et sa politique extérieure |type=PhD |volume=1 |publisher=[[University of Liège]] |docket= |oclc= |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/220928/1/The%CC%80se%20entie%CC%80re%20vol%20I.pdf |access-date=5 December 2021 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/220928/1/The%CC%80se%20entie%CC%80re%20vol%20I.pdf }}</ref>

Ardys's reign was short-lived,<ref name="Dale">{{cite journal |last=Dale |first=Alexander |date=2015 |title=WALWET and KUKALIM: Lydian coin legends, dynastic succession, and the chronology of Mermnad kings |url=https://www.academia.edu/29719834 |journal=Kadmos |volume=54 |issue= |pages=151–166 |doi=10.1515/kadmos-2015-0008 |s2cid=165043567 |access-date=10 November 2021}}</ref> and in 637 BCE, that is in Ardys's seventh regnal year, the [[Thracians|Thracian]] [[Treri|Treres]] tribe who had migrated across the [[Bosporus|Thracian Bosporus]] and invaded [[Anatolia]],{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=94-55}} under their king Kobos, and in alliance with the [[Cimmerians]] and the [[Lycians]], attacked Lydia.<ref name="Spalinger1978"/> They defeated the Lydians again and for a second time sacked the Lydian capital of [[Sardis]], except for its citadel. It is probable that Ardys was killed during this Cimmerian attack.<ref name="Dale"/><ref>{{cite book | last=Kristensen | first=Anne Katrine Gade | title=Who were the Cimmerians, and where did they come from?: Sargon II, and the Cimmerians, and Rusa I | year=1988 | publisher=The Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters | location=Copenhagen Denmark}}</ref>

Ardys was succeeded by his son, Sadyattes, who had an even more short-lived reign.<ref name="Dale"/> Sadyattes died in 635 BCE, and it is possible that, like his grandfather Gyges and maybe his father Ardys as well, he died fighting the [[Cimmerians]].<ref name="Dale"/>

=====Alyattes=====
{{main|Alyattes of Lydia}}
Amidst extreme turmoil, Sadyattes was succeeded in 635 BCE by his son [[Alyattes of Lydia|Alyattes]], who would transform Lydia into a powerful empire.{{sfn|Herodotus|1975|p=46}}<ref name="Dale"/>

Soon after Alyattes's ascension and early during his reign, with Assyrian approval<ref>{{harvnb|Grousset|1970|p=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppesh00prof/page/8 9] |quote=A Scythian army, acting in conformity with Assyrian policy, entered Pontis to crush the last of the Cimmerians.}}</ref> and in alliance with the Lydians,{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=126}} the [[Scythians]] under their king [[Madyes]] entered Anatolia, expelled the Treres from Asia Minor, and defeated the Cimmerians so that they no longer constituted a threat again, following which the Scythians extended their domination to Central Anatolia<ref>{{cite journal |last=Phillips |first=E. D. |date=1972 |title=The Scythian Domination in Western Asia: Its Record in History, Scripture and Archaeology |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/123971 |journal=World Archaeology |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=129–138 |doi= 10.1080/00438243.1972.9979527|jstor=123971 |access-date=5 November 2021 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> until they were themselves expelled by the [[Medes]] from Western Asia in the 590s BCE.<ref name="Spalinger1978"/> This final defeat of the Cimmerians was carried out by the joint forces of Madyes, whom [[Strabo]] credits with expelling the Treres and Cimmerians from Asia Minor, and of Alyattes, whom [[Herodotus]] and [[Polyaenus]] claim finally defeated the Cimmerians.{{sfn|Ivantchik|1993|p=95-125}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2006|p=151}}
[[File:Alyattes.png|thumb|Tomb of Alyattes.]]

Alyattes turned towards [[Phrygia]] in the east, where he extended Lydian rule eastwards to Phrygia.<ref name="Leloux-2">{{cite thesis |last=Leloux |first=Kevin |date=2018 |title=La Lydie d'Alyatte et Crésus: Un royaume à la croisée des cités grecques et des monarchies orientales. Recherches sur son organisation interne et sa politique extérieure |type=PhD |volume=2 |publisher=[[University of Liège]] |docket= |oclc= |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/220928/2/The%cc%80se%20entie%cc%80re%20vol%20II.pdf |access-date=1 May 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/220928/2/The%cc%80se%20entie%cc%80re%20vol%20II.pdf }}</ref> Alyattes continued his expansionist policy in the east, and of all the peoples to the west of the Halys River whom Herodotus claimed Alyattes's successor Croesus ruled over - the [[Lydians]], [[Phrygians]], [[Mysians]], [[Mariandyni]], [[Chalybes]], [[Paphlagonia]]ns, [[Thyni]] and [[Bithyni]] [[Thracians]], [[Carians]], [[Ionians]], [[Doric Hexapolis|Dorians]], [[Aeolis|Aeolians]], and [[Pamphylia]]ns - it is very likely that a number of these populations had already been conquered under Alyattes, and it is not impossible that the Lydians might have subjected Lycia, given that the Lycian coast would have been important for the Lydians because it was close to a trade route connecting the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] region, the [[Levant]], and [[Cyprus]].<ref name="Leloux-2"/><ref name="Lendering 2003">{{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/alyattes/ |title=Alyattes of Lydia |last=Lendering |first=Jona |author-link=Jona Lendering |date=2003 |website=Livius |publisher= |access-date=7 May 2022 }}</ref>[[File:Bin Tepe, funeral mound.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bin Tepe]] royal funeral [[tumulus]] (tomb of Alyattes, father of Croesus), Lydia, 6th century BC.]][[File:Map of Lydia ancient times.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Lydia's borders under the reign of Croesus]]

Alyattes's eastern conquests brought the Lydian Empire in conflict in the 590s BCE with the [[Medes]],<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Boardman |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Boardman (art historian) |editor2-last=Edwards |editor2-first=I. E. S. |editor2-link=I. E. S. Edwards |editor3-last=Hammond |editor3-first=N. G. L. |editor3-link=N. G. L. Hammond |editor4-last=Sollberger |editor4-first=E. |editor4-link=Edmond Sollberger |editor5-last=Walker |editor5-first=C. B. F. |last1=Sulimirski |first1=Tadeusz |author-link=Tadeusz Sulimirski |last2=Taylor |first2=T. F. |author-link2=Timothy Taylor (archaeologist) |date=1991 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=3 |chapter=The Scythians |issue=2 |url= |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=547–590 |isbn=978-1-139-05429-4}}</ref> and a war broke out between the Median and Lydian Empires in 590 BCE which was waged in eastern Anatolia lasted five years, until a [[Eclipse of Thales|solar eclipse]] occurred in 585 BCE during [[Battle of the Eclipse|a battle]] (hence called the Battle of the Eclipse) opposing the Lydian and Median armies, which both sides interpreted as an omen to end the war. The Babylonian king [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] and the king [[Syennesis]] of [[Kingdom of Cilicia (ancient)|Cilicia]] acted as mediators in the ensuing peace treaty, which was sealed by the marriage of the Median king Cyaxares's son [[Astyages]] with Alyattes's daughter [[Aryenis]], and the possible wedding of a daughter of Cyaxares with either Alyattes or with his son Croesus.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|page=125-126}}<ref name="The Battle of the Eclipse">{{cite journal|url=https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/207259|title=The Battle of the Eclipse|last1=Leloux|first1=Kevin|journal=Polemos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Research on War and Peace|date=December 2016|volume=19|issue=2|publisher=Polemos|hdl=2268/207259|access-date=2019-04-30}}</ref><ref name="Leloux-2"/><ref name="Rollinger 2003 1–12">{{cite book |last=Rollinger |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Rollinger |editor-last1=Lanfranchi |editor-first1=Giovanni B. |editor-last2=Roaf |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Roaf |editor-last3=Rollinger |editor-first3=Robert |editor-link3=Robert Rollinger |date=2003 |title=Continuity of Empire (?) Assyria, Media, Persia |chapter=The Western Expansion of the Median 'Empire': A Re-Examination |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/13842356 |location=[[Padua]] |publisher=S.a.r.g.o.n. Editrice e Libreria |pages=1–12 |isbn=978-9-990-93968-2 }}</ref>

=====Croesus=====
{{main|Croesus}}
[[File:Croesus portrait.jpg|thumb|Portrait of [[Croesus]], last king of Lydia, Attic red-figure amphora, painted ca. 500–490 BC.]]
Alyattes died shortly after the Battle of the Eclipse, in 585 BCE itself,<ref name="Dale"/> following which Lydia faced a power struggle between his son Pantaleon, born from a Greek woman, and his other son [[Croesus]], born from a Carian noblewoman, out of which the latter emerged successful.{{sfn|Mellink|1991|p=643-655}}

Croesus brought [[Caria]] under the direct control of the Lydian Empire,<ref name="Leloux-1"/> and he subjugated all of mainland [[Ionia]], [[Aeolis]], and [[Doric Hexapolis|Doris]], but he abandoned his plans of annexing the Greek city-states on the islands of the [[Aegean Sea]] and he instead concluded treaties of friendship with them, which might have helped him participate in the lucrative trade the Aegean Greeks carried out with Egypt at [[Naucratis]].<ref name="Leloux-1"/> According to Herodotus, Croesus ruled over all the peoples to the west of the Halys River, although the actual border of his kingdom was further to the east of the Halys, at an undetermined point in eastern Anatolia.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|page=125-126}}<ref name="The Battle of the Eclipse"/><ref name="Leloux-2"/><ref name="Rollinger 2003 1–12"/><ref name="Lendering 2003"/>

Croesus continued the friendly relations with the [[Medes]] concluded between his father Alyattes and the Median king [[Cyaxares]], and he continued these good relations with the Medes after he succeeded Alyattes and Astyages succeeded Cyaxares.<ref name="Leloux-2"/> And, under Croesus's rule, Lydia continued its good relations started by Gyges with the [[Sais, Egypt|Saite]] Egyptian kingdom, then ruled by the [[pharaoh]] [[Amasis II]].<ref name="Leloux-2"/> Croesus also established trade and diplomatic relations with the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] of [[Nabonidus]],<ref name="Leloux-2"/> and he further increased his contacts with the Greeks on the European continent by establishing relations with the city-state of [[Sparta]].<ref name="Leloux-1"/>

In 550 BCE, Croesus's brother-in-law, the Median king Astyages, was overthrown by his own grandson, the Persian king [[Cyrus the Great]],<ref name="Leloux-2"/> and Croesus responded by attacking [[Pteria (Cappadocia)|Pteria]], the capital of a Phrygian state vassal to the Lydians which might have attempted to declare its allegiance to the new Persian Empire of Cyrus. Cyrus retaliated by intervening in Cappadocia and defeated the Lydians at Pteria in a [[Battle of Pteria|battle]], and again [[Battle of Thymbra|at Thymbra]] before [[Siege of Sardis (547 BC)|besieging]] and capturing the Lydian capital of [[Sardis]], thus bringing an end to the rule of the Mermnad dynasty and to the Lydian Empire. Lydia would never regain its independence and would remain a part of various successive empires.<ref name="Leloux-2"/>

Although the dates for the battles of Pteria and Thymbra and of end of the Lydian empire have been traditionally fixed to 547 BCE,<ref name="Evans">{{cite journal |last=Evans |first=J. A. S. |author-link=James Allan Stewart Evans |date=1978 |title=What Happened to Croesus? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3296933 |journal=The Classical Journal |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=34–40 |doi= |jstor=3296933 |access-date=11 May 2022}}</ref> more recent estimates suggest that Herodotus's account being unreliable chronologically concerning the fall of Lydia means that there are currently no ways of dating the end of the Lydian kingdom; theoretically, it may even have taken place after the fall of [[Babylon]] in 539 BCE.<ref name="Evans"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Rollinger |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Rollinger |date=2008 |title=The Median 'Empire', the End of Urartu and Cyrus the Great's Campaign in 547 BC |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250139462 |journal=Ancient West & East |volume=7 |issue= |pages=51–66 |doi=10.2143/AWE.7.0.2033252 |access-date=12 May 2022 }}</ref>

===Persian Empire===
{{Main|Lydia (satrapy)}}
[[File:Satrapy_of_Lydia.jpg|thumb|left|Lydia, including Ionia, during the Achaemenid Empire.]]
[[File:Xerxes I tomb Lydian soldier circa 470 BCE cleaned up.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Xerxes I]] tomb, Lydian soldier of the [[Achaemenid army]], circa 480 BC]]
In 547 BC, the Lydian king [[Croesus]] besieged and captured the Persian city of [[Pteria (Turkey)|Pteria]] in [[Cappadocia]] and enslaved its inhabitants. The Persian king [[Cyrus The Great]] marched with his army against the Lydians. The [[Battle of Pteria]] resulted in a stalemate, forcing the Lydians to retreat to their capital city of Sardis. Some months later the Persian and Lydian kings met at the [[Battle of Thymbra]]. Cyrus won and captured the capital city of Sardis by 546 BCE.<ref>''New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor: Light from Archaeology on Cities of Paul and the Seven Churches of Revelation'' {{ISBN|1-59244-230-7}} p. 65</ref> Lydia became a province ([[satrapy]]) of the Persian Empire.

=== Hellenistic Empire ===
Lydia remained a satrapy after Persia's conquest by [[Alexander the Great]].
 
When Alexander's empire ended after his death, Lydia was possessed by the major Asian diadoch dynasty, the [[Seleucids]], and when it was unable to maintain its territory in Asia Minor, Lydia was acquired by the [[Attalid]] dynasty of [[Pergamum]]. Its last king avoided the spoils and ravage of a Roman war of conquest by leaving the realm by testament to the [[Roman Empire]].

=== Roman province of Asia ===
[[File:Roman Empire Asia.svg|thumb|Roman province of Asia]]
[[File:15th century map of Turkey region.jpg|thumb|Photo of a 15th-century map showing Lydia]]

When the Romans entered the capital Sardis in 133 BCE, Lydia, as the other western parts of the Attalid legacy, became part of the [[Asia (Roman province)|province of Asia]], a very rich [[Roman province]], worthy of a governor with the high rank of [[proconsul]]. The whole west of Asia Minor had [[Jewish]] colonies very early, and Christianity was also soon present there. [[Acts of the Apostles]] 16:14–15 mentions the baptism of a merchant woman called "Lydia" from [[Thyatira]], known as [[Lydia of Thyatira]], in what had once been the satrapy of Lydia. [[Christianity]] spread rapidly during the 3rd century CE, based on the nearby Exarchate of Ephesus.

=== Roman province of Lydia ===
[[File:Lydia circa 50 AD - English legend.jpg|thumb|280px|Lydia circa 50 AD]]
Under the [[tetrarchy]] reform of Emperor [[Diocletian]] in 296 CE, Lydia was revived as the name of a separate Roman province, much smaller than the former satrapy, with its capital at Sardis.
 
Together with the provinces of [[Caria]], [[Hellespontus (province)|Hellespontus]], [[Lycia]], [[Pamphylia]], [[Phrygia prima]] and [[Phrygia secunda]], [[Pisidia]] (all in modern Turkey) and the Insulae ([[Ionian islands]], mostly in modern Greece), it formed the [[diocese]] (under a ''[[vicarius]]'') of [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]]na, which was part of the [[praetorian prefecture]] of Oriens, together with the dioceses [[Pontiana]] (most of the rest of Asia Minor), Oriens proper (mainly Syria), Aegyptus (Egypt) and [[Thraciae]] (on the Balkans, roughly Bulgaria).

=== Eastern Roman Empire (and Crusader) age ===
Under the Eastern Roman emperor Heraclius (610–641), Lydia became part of [[Anatolikon]], one of the original ''[[Theme (Eastern Roman administrative unit)|themata]]'', and later of [[Thrakesion]]. Although the [[Seljuk Turks]] conquered most of the rest of Anatolia, forming the [[Sultanate of Ikonion]] (Konya), Lydia remained part of the Byzantine Empire. While the Venetians occupied Constantinople and Greece as a result of the [[Fourth Crusade]], Lydia continued as a part of the Eastern Roman [[rump state]] called the [[Empire of Nicaea|Nicene Empire]] based at [[İznik|Nicaea]] until 1261.

=== Under Turkish rule ===
Lydia was captured finally by Turkish ''[[Anatolian Turkish Beyliks|beylik]]s'', which were all absorbed by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] state in 1390. The area became part of the Ottoman [[Aidin Vilayet]] (''[[province]]''), and is now in the modern republic of [[Turkey]].

=== Legacy ===

==== First coinage ====
[[File:BMC 06.jpg|thumb|Early 6th century BC Lydian electrum coin (one-third stater denomination).]]
{{See also|Croeseid}}

According to [[Herodotus]], the Lydians were the first people to use gold and silver [[coin]]s and the first to establish retail shops in permanent locations.<ref>Herodotus. ''Histories'', I, 94.</ref> It is not known, however, whether Herodotus meant that the Lydians were the first to use coins of pure gold and pure silver or the first precious metal coins in general.<ref>{{cite web |title=Coinage |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/coinage/ |website=worldhistory.org}}</ref> Despite this ambiguity, this statement of Herodotus is one of the pieces of evidence most often cited on behalf of the argument that Lydians invented coinage, at least in the West, although the first coins (under [[Alyattes I]], reigned c.591–c.560 BCE) were neither gold nor silver but an alloy of the two called [[electrum]].<ref>Carradice and Price, Coinage in the Greek World, Seaby, London, 1988, p. 24.</ref>

The dating of these first stamped coins is one of the most frequently debated topics of ancient numismatics,<ref>N. Cahill and J. Kroll, "New Archaic Coin Finds at Sardis," American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 109, No. 4 (October 2005), p. 613.</ref> with dates ranging from 700 BCE to 550 BCE, but the most common opinion is that they were minted at or near the beginning of the reign of King Alyattes (sometimes referred to incorrectly as Alyattes II).<ref>{{Cite web |title=CROESUS – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/croesus |access-date=Sep 28, 2020 |website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref><ref>A. Ramage, "Golden Sardis," King Croesus' Gold: Excavations at Sardis and the History of Gold Refining, edited by A. Ramage and P. Craddock, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2000, p. 18.</ref> The first coins were made of [[electrum]], an [[alloy]] of gold and silver that occurs naturally but that was further debased by the Lydians with added silver and copper.<ref>M. Cowell and K. Hyne, "Scientific Examination of the Lydian Precious Metal Coinages," King Croesus' Gold: Excavations at Sardis and the History of Gold Refining, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2000, pp. 169–174.</ref>

{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| align             = right
| header            = Croeseids
| caption_align     = center
| image1            = KINGS of LYDIA. Kroisos. Circa 561-546 BC. AV Stater (16mm, 10.73 g). Heavy series. Sardes mint.jpg
| width1            = 220
| caption1          = <small>Gold Croeseid, minted by king [[Croesus]] circa 561–546 BC. (10.7 grams, [[Sardis]] mint).</small>
| image2            = KINGS of LYDIA. Kroisos. Circa 560-546 BC. AR Stater.jpg
| width2            = 220
| caption2          = <small>Silver Croeseid, minted by king Croesus, circa 560–546 BC (10.7 grams, Sardis mint) </small>
| footer            = The gold and silver Croeseids formed the world's first [[bimetallism|bimetallic monetary system]] circa 550 BC.<ref name="WM49">{{cite book |last1=Metcalf |first1=William E. |title=The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-937218-8 |pages=49–50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trkUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 |language=en}}</ref>
| footer_align      = center
}}

The largest of these coins are commonly referred to as a 1/3 [[stater]] (''trite'') denomination, weighing around 4.7&nbsp;grams, though no full staters of this type have ever been found, and the 1/3 stater probably should be referred to more correctly as a stater, after a type of a transversely held scale, the weights used in such a scale (from ancient Greek ίστημι=to stand), which also means "standard."<ref>L. Breglia, "Il materiale proveniente dalla base centrale dell'Artemession di Efeso e le monete di Lidia", ''Istituto Italiano di Numismatica Annali'', volumes 18–19 (1971/72), pp. 9–25.</ref> These coins were stamped with a lion's head adorned with what is likely a sunburst, which was the king's symbol.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=E. |year=1951 |title=The Coins from the Ephesian Artemision Reconsidered |journal=Journal of Hellenic Studies |volume=71 |page=159 |doi=10.2307/628197 |jstor=628197 |s2cid=163067302}}</ref> The most prolific mint for early electrum coins was Sardis which produced large quantities of the lion head thirds, sixths and twelfths along with lion paw fractions.<ref>{{cite web |author=KORAY KONUK |title=ASIA MINOR TO THE IONIAN REVOLT |url=http://www.achemenet.com/pdf/in-press/KONUK_Asia_Minor.pdf |access-date=2022-03-12 |website=Achemenet.com}}</ref> To complement the largest denomination, fractions were made, including a ''hekte'' (sixth), ''hemihekte'' (twelfth), and so forth down to a 96th, with the 1/96 stater weighing only about 0.15&nbsp;grams. There is disagreement, however, over whether the fractions below the twelfth are actually Lydian.<ref>M. Mitchiner, Ancient Trade and Early Coinage, Hawkins Publications, London, 2004, p. 219.</ref>

Alyattes' son was [[Croesus]] (Reigned c.560–c.546 BCE), who became associated with great wealth. Croesus is credited with issuing the ''[[Croeseid]]'', the first true [[gold coin]]s with a standardised purity for general circulation,<ref name="WM49" /> and the world's first [[bimetallism|bimetallic monetary system]] circa 550 BC.<ref name="WM49" />

It took some time before ancient coins were used for commerce and trade. Even the smallest-denomination electrum coins, perhaps worth about a day's subsistence, would have been too valuable for buying a loaf of bread.<ref>"Hoards, Small Change, and the Origin of Coinage," Journal of the Hellenistic Studies 84 (1964), p. 89</ref> The first coins to be used for retailing on a large-scale basis were likely small silver fractions, Hemiobol, [[Ancient Greek coinage]] minted in [[Cyme (Aeolis)]] under [[Hermodike II]] then by the [[Ionians|Ionian Greeks]] in the late sixth century BC.<ref>M. Mitchiner, p. 214</ref>

Sardis was renowned as a beautiful city. Around 550 BCE, near the beginning of his reign, Croesus paid for the construction of the [[temple of Artemis]] at [[Ephesus]], which became one of the [[Seven Wonders of the ancient world]]. Croesus was defeated in battle by [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus II]] [[Achaemenid Empire|of Persia]] in 546 BCE, with the Lydian kingdom losing its autonomy and becoming a Persian [[satrapy]].

==== In Greek mythology ====
For the Greeks, [[Tantalus]] was a primordial ruler of mythic Lydia, and [[Niobe]] his proud daughter; her husband [[Amphion and Zethus|Amphion]] associated Lydia with [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] in Greece, and through [[Pelops]] the line of Tantalus was part of the [[founding myth]]s of [[Mycenae]]'s second dynasty. (In reference to the myth of [[Bellerophon]], Karl Kerenyi remarked, in ''The Heroes of The Greeks'' 1959, p.&nbsp;83. "As [[Lycia|Lykia]] was thus connected with [[Crete]], and as the person of [[Pelops]], the hero of Olympia, connected Lydia with the Peloponnesos, so Bellerophontes connected another Asian country, or rather two, Lykia and [[Caria|Karia]], with the kingdom of [[Argolid|Argos]]".)

[[File:Πακτωλός.jpg|thumb|The [[Pactolus]] river, from which Lydia obtained [[electrum]], a combination of silver and gold.]]
In Greek myth, Lydia had also adopted the double-axe symbol, that also appears in the Mycenaean civilization, the ''[[labrys]]''.<ref>Sources noted in Karl Kerenyi, ''The Heroes of the Greeks'' 1959, p. 192.</ref> [[Omphale]], daughter of [[Iardanus (father of Omphale)|Iardanos]], was a princess of Lydia, whom [[Heracles]] was required to serve for a time. His adventures in Lydia are the adventures of a Greek hero in a peripheral and foreign land: during his stay, Heracles enslaved the Itones; killed Syleus, who forced passers-by to hoe his vineyard; slew the [[Serpent (mythology)|serpent]] of the river Sangarios (which appears in the heavens as the constellation [[Ophiucus]])<ref>Hyginus, ''Astronomica'' ii.14.</ref> and captured the simian tricksters, the [[Cercopes]]. Accounts tell of at least one son of Heracles who was born to either Omphale or a slave-girl: Herodotus (''Histories'' i. 7) says this was [[Alcaeus (mythology)|Alcaeus]] who began the line of Lydian [[Heracleidae]] which ended with the death of [[Candaules]] c. 687 BC. [[Diodorus Siculus]] (4.31.8) and [[Ovid]] (''Heroides'' 9.54) mentions a son called Lamos, while pseudo-Apollodorus (''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheke]]'' 2.7.8) gives the name Agelaus and [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (2.21.3) names Tyrsenus as the son of Heracles by "the Lydian woman". All three heroic ancestors indicate a Lydian dynasty claiming Heracles as their ancestor. Herodotus (1.7) refers to a Heraclid dynasty of kings who ruled Lydia, yet were perhaps not descended from Omphale. He also mentions (1.94) the legend that the [[Etruscan civilization]] was founded by colonists from Lydia led by [[Tyrrhenus]], brother of Lydus. [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] was skeptical of this story, indicating that the [[Etruscan language]] and customs were known to be totally dissimilar to those of the Lydians. In addition, the story of the "Lydian" origins of the Etruscans was not known to [[Xanthus of Lydia]], an authority on the history of the Lydians.<ref>[[Robert Drews]], ''Herodotus 1.94, the Drought Ca. 1200 B.C., and the Origin of the Etruscans'', in ''Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte'', vol. 41, no. 1, 1992, pp. 14–39.</ref>

Later chronologists ignored Herodotus' statement that [[Agron of Lydia|Agron]] was the first Heraclid to be a king, and included his immediate forefathers Alcaeus, Belus, and Ninus in their list of kings of Lydia. Strabo (5.2.2) has Atys, father of Lydus and Tyrrhenus, as a descendant of Heracles and Omphale but that contradicts virtually all other accounts which name Atys, Lydus, and Tyrrhenus among the pre-Heraclid kings and princes of Lydia. The gold deposits in the river [[Pactolus]] that were the source of the proverbial wealth of [[Croesus]] (Lydia's last king) were said to have been left there when the legendary king [[Midas]] of [[Phrygia]] washed away the "Midas touch" in its waters.
In [[Euripides]]' tragedy ''[[The Bacchae]]'', [[Dionysus]], while maintaining his human disguise, declares his country to be Lydia.<ref>Euripides. ''The Complete Greek Tragedies Vol IV.'', Ed by Grene and Lattimore, line 463</ref>

==== Lydians, the Tyrrhenians and the Etruscans ====
{{main|Origins of the Etruscans}}
The relationship between the [[Etruscans]] of northern and central Italy and the Lydians has long been a subject of conjecture. The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] believed they came from Lydia, but [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], a 1st-century BC historian, argued that the Etruscans were indigenous to Italy and unrelated to the Lydians.<ref name="Dionysius">{{cite book |author=Dionysius of Halicarnassus |title=Roman Antiquities |at=Book I, Chapters 30 1 |author-link=Dionysius of Halicarnassus}}</ref> Dionysius pointed out that the 5th-century historian [[Xanthus of Lydia]], who was regarded as an important source and authority for the history of Lydia, never linked the Etruscans to Lydia or mentioned Tyrrhenus as a Lydian ruler.<ref name="Dionysius" />

In contemporary scholarship, Etruscologists overwhelmingly support an indigenous origin for the Etruscans,<ref name="Turfa2017">{{cite book |last1=Turfa |first1=Jean MacIntosh |title=The Peoples of Ancient Italy |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-61451-520-3 |editor1-last=Farney |editor1-first=Gary D. |location=Berlin |pages=637–672 |language=en |chapter=The Etruscans |doi=10.1515/9781614513001 |author-link1=Jean MacIntosh Turfa |editor2-last=Bradley |editor2-first=Gary}}</ref><ref name="DeGrummond2014">{{cite book |last1=De Grummond |first1=Nancy T. |title=A Companion to Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4443-3734-1 |editor1-last=McInerney |editor1-first=Jeremy |location=Chichester, UK |pages=405–422 |chapter=Ethnicity and the Etruscans |doi=10.1002/9781118834312 |author-link1=Nancy Thomson de Grummond}}</ref> dismissing Herodotus' account as based on erroneous etymologies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grant |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jeVYyDQqQD8C&q=Michael+Grant,+Lydians+origins+Etruscans&pg=PT181 |title=The Rise of the Greeks |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-684-18536-1 |page=311}}</ref> [[Michael Grant (author)|Michael Grant]] argue that the Etruscans may have propagated this narrative to facilitate their trading in Asia Minor, when many cities in Asia Minor, and the Etruscans themselves, were at war with the Greeks.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grant |first=Michael |title=The Etruscans |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-9650356-8-2 |location=London}}</ref> The French scholar [[Dominique Briquel]] contends that "the story of an exodus from Lydia to Italy was a deliberate political fabrication created in the Hellenized milieu of the court at Sardis in the early 6th century BC."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0awiBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA292 |title=The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-101675-2 |editor1-last=Hornblower |editor1-first=Simon |edition=2 |series=Oxford Companions |location=Oxford |pages=291–292 |language=en |quote=Briquel's convincing demonstration that the famous story of an exodus, led by Tyrrhenus from Lydia to Italy, was a deliberate political fabrication created in the Hellenized milieu of the court at Sardis in the early 6th cent. bce.. |editor2-last=Spawforth |editor2-first=Antony |editor3-last=Eidinow |editor3-first=Esther}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Briquel |first1=Dominique |title=The Etruscan World |publisher=Routledge Taylor & Francis Group |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-415-67308-2 |editor1-last=Turfa |editor1-first=Jean |location=London and New York |pages=36–56 |language=en |chapter=Etruscan Origins and the Ancient Authors}}</ref> Ultimately, these Greek-authored accounts of the Etruscan origins are only the expression of the image that Etruscans' allies or adversaries wanted to divulge and should not be considered historical.<ref>[[Dominique Briquel]], ''Le origini degli Etruschi: una questione dibattuta sin dall'antichità'', in M. Torelli (ed.), ''Gli Etruschi'' [Catalogo della mostra, Venezia, 2000], Bompiani, Milan, 2000, p. 43–51 (Italian).</ref>

Archaeological evidence does not support the idea of Lydian migration to Etruria.<ref name="Turfa2017" /><ref name="DeGrummond2014" /> The Etruscan civilization's earliest phase, the [[Villanovan culture]], emerged around 900 BC,<ref name="Neri">{{cite book |author=Diana Neri |title=Gli etruschi tra VIII e VII secolo a.C. nel territorio di Castelfranco Emilia (MO) |publisher=All'Insegna del Giglio |year=2012 |isbn=978-88-7814-533-7 |location=Florence |page=9 |language=it |chapter=1.1 Il periodo villanoviano nell'Emilia occidentale |quote=Il termine "Villanoviano" è entrato nella letteratura archeologica quando, a metà dell '800, il conte Gozzadini mise in luce le prime tombe ad incinerazione nella sua proprietà di Villanova di Castenaso, in località Caselle (BO). La cultura villanoviana coincide con il periodo più antico della civiltà etrusca, in particolare durante i secoli IX e VIII a.C. e i termini di Villanoviano I, II e III, utilizzati dagli archeologi per scandire le fasi evolutive, costituiscono partizioni convenzionali della prima età del Ferro}}</ref><ref name="Bartolonivillanoviana">{{cite book |author=Gilda Bartoloni |title=La cultura villanoviana. All'inizio della storia etrusca |publisher=Carocci editore |year=2012 |isbn=978-88-430-2261-8 |edition=III |location=Rome |language=it |orig-date=2002}}</ref><ref name="Torellicolonna2000">{{cite book |author=Giovanni Colonna |title=Gi Etruschi |publisher=Bompiani |year=2000 |editor=Mario Torelli |location=Milan |pages=25–41 |language=it |chapter=I caratteri originali della civiltà Etrusca |author-link=Giovanni Colonna (archaeologist)}}</ref><ref name="Torellibriquel2000">{{cite book |author=Dominique Briquel |title=Gi Etruschi |publisher=Bompiani |year=2000 |editor=Mario Torelli |location=Milan |pages=43–51 |language=it |chapter=Le origini degli Etruschi: una questione dibattuta fin dall'antichità |author-link=Dominique Briquel}}</ref><ref name="Torellibartoloni2000">{{cite book |author=Gilda Bartoloni |title=Gi Etruschi |publisher=Bompiani |year=2000 |editor=Mario Torelli |location=Milan |pages=53–71 |language=it |chapter=Le origini e la diffusione della cultura villanoviana}}</ref> which itself developed from the previous [[Proto-Villanovan culture]] of Italy in the late [[Bronze Age]].<ref name="Moser1996">{{cite book |last1=Moser |first1=Mary E. |title=Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the Civilizations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era |publisher=Museum of Art, Brigham Young University |year=1996 |isbn=0-8425-2334-0 |editor1-last=Hall |editor1-first=John Franklin |editor1-link=John F. Hall |location=Provo, Utah |pages=[https://archive.org/details/etruscanitaly00john/page/29 29- 43] |language=en |chapter=The origins of the Etruscans: new evidence for an old question |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/etruscanitaly00john/page/29 |chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> This culture has no ties to Asia Minor or the Near East.<ref name="Bartoloni2014">{{cite book |last1=Bartoloni |first1=Gilda |title=" Origines ": percorsi di ricerca sulle identità etniche nell'Italia antica |publisher=École française de Rome |year=2014 |isbn=978-2-7283-1138-5 |series=Mélanges de l'École française de Rome: Antiquité |volume=126-2 |location=Rome |publication-date=2014 |language=it |chapter=Gli artigiani metallurghi e il processo formativo nelle « Origini » degli Etruschi}}</ref> Linguists have identified an [[Lemnian language|Etruscan-like language]] in a [[Lemnos stele|set of inscriptions]] on [[Lemnos]] island, in the Aegean Sea. Since the [[Etruscan language]] was a [[Paleo-European languages#Paleo-European languages of Italy|Pre-Indo-European language]] and neither Indo-European or Semitic,<ref name="Bonfante2002">{{cite book |last1=Bonfante |first1=Giuliano |title=The Etruscan language: an introduction |last2=Bonfante |first2=Larissa |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2002 |edition=2nd |location=Manchester, UK |page=50 |language=en |author-link1=Giuliano Bonfante |author-link2=Larissa Bonfante}}</ref> Etruscan was not related to [[Lydian language|Lydian]], which was a part of the [[Anatolian language|Anatolian]] branch of the Indo-European languages.<ref name="Bonfante2002" /> Instead, Etruscan language is considered part of the pre-Indo-European [[Tyrrhenian language family]], along with the [[Lemnian language|Lemnian]] and [[Rhaetian language]].<ref name="Rix2004">{{cite book |last1=Rix |first1=Helmut |title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-56256-0 |editor1-last=Woodard |editor1-first=Roger D. |location=Cambridge, UK |pages=943–966 |language=en |chapter=Etruscan |author-link1=Helmut Rix}}</ref>

A 2013 genetic study suggested that the maternal lineages of western Anatolians and modern Tuscans had been largely separate for 5,000 to 10,000 years, with Etruscan [[mitochondrial DNA|mtDNA]] closely resembling modern Tuscans and Neolithic [[Central Europe]]an populations. This suggests Etruscans descended from the [[Villanovan culture]],<ref name="plosone.org">{{cite journal |author=Silvia Ghirotto |author2=Francesca Tassi |author3=Erica Fumagalli |author4=Vincenza Colonna |author5=Anna Sandionigi |author6=Martina Lari |author7=Stefania Vai |author8=Emmanuele Petiti |author9=Giorgio Corti |author10=Ermanno Rizzi |author11=Gianluca De Bellis |author12=David Caramelli |author13=Guido Barbujani |date=6 February 2013 |title=Origins and Evolution of the Etruscans' mtDNA |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=2 |article-number=e55519 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...855519G |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0055519 |pmc=3566088 |pmid=23405165 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Tassi2013">{{cite journal |author=Francesca Tassi |author2=Silvia Ghirotto |author3=David Caramelli |author4=Guido Barbujani |display-authors=etal |date=2013 |title=Genetic evidence does not support an Etruscan origin in Anatolia. |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=152 |issue=1 |pages=11–18 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.22319 |pmid=23900768}}</ref> indicating their indigenous roots, and a link between Etruria, modern Tuscany, and Lydia dating back to the [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic period]] during the migration of [[Early European Farmers]] from Anatolia to Europe.<ref name="plosone.org" /><ref name="Tassi2013" /> A 2019 genetic study revealed that Etruscans (900–600 BC) and [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latins]] (900–500 BC) from [[Latium vetus]] shared genetic similarities, with both groups having a mixture of two-thirds [[Copper Age]] ancestry and one-third [[Steppe-related ancestry]]. This study also suggested indigenous origins for the Etruscans, despite their pre-Indo-European language.<ref name="Antonio2019">{{cite journal |last1=Antonio |first1=Margaret L. |last2=Gao |first2=Ziyue |last3=M. Moots |first3=Hannah |year=2019 |title=Ancient Rome: A genetic crossroads of Europe and the Mediterranean |journal=Science |language=en |location=Washington D.C. |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |publication-date=November 8, 2019 |volume=366 |issue=6466 |pages=708–714 |bibcode=2019Sci...366..708A |doi=10.1126/science.aay6826 |pmc=7093155 |pmid=31699931 |quote=Interestingly, although Iron Age individuals were sampled from both Etruscan (n=3) and Latin (n=6) contexts, we did not detect any significant differences between the two groups with f4 statistics in the form of f4(RMPR_Etruscan, RMPR_Latin; test population, Onge), suggesting shared origins or extensive genetic exchange between them. |hdl-access=free |hdl=2318/1715466}}</ref>

A 2021 study confirmed these findings, showing that Etruscans and Latins in the Iron Age had similar genetic profiles and were part of the European cluster. The Etruscan DNA was completely absent a signal of recent admixture with Anatolia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Etruscans exhibited a blend of WHG, EEF, and Steppe ancestry, with 75% of males belonging to [[Haplogroup R1b#R1b1a1b (R-M269)|haplogroup R1b]] and the most common mitochondrial DNA haplogroup being [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H]].<ref name="Posth2021">{{cite journal |last1=Posth |first1=Cosimo |last2=Zaro |first2=Valentina |last3=Spyrou |first3=Maria A. |date=September 24, 2021 |title=The origin and legacy of the Etruscans through a 2000-year archeogenomic time transect |journal=[[Science Advances]] |language=English |location=Washington DC |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |volume=7 |issue=39 |article-number=eabi7673 |bibcode=2021SciA....7.7673P |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abi7673 |pmc=8462907 |pmid=34559560}}</ref>

== Culture and society ==
===Religion===
==== Early Lydian religion ====
{{main|Lydian religion}}
The Lydians in early Antiquity adhered to a religion which remains marginally attested due to the known sources covering it being largely of Greek origin, while Lydian inscriptions regarding religion are small in number{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=231}} and no Lydian corpus of ritual texts like the Hittite ritual tablets have been recovered.{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=236}}

Despite the small size of the recorded Lydian corpus, the various inscriptions relating to religion date from {{c.|650}} to {{c.|330-325 BC}}, thus covering the period beginning with the establishment of the Mermnad dynasty under Gyges and ending with the aftermath of the Macedonian conquest under Alexander III and the beginning of the Hellenistic period.{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=231-231}} Based on limited evidence, Lydian religious practices were centred around the fertility of nature, as was common among ancient societies which depended on the successful cultivation of land.{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=236}}

The early Lydian religion exhibited strong connections to [[Anatolian peoples|Anatolian]] as well as [[Ancient Greek religion|Greek]] traditions,{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=231}} and its pantheon was composed of native Lydian deities who were reflexes of earlier Aegean-Balkan ones, as well as [[Anatolian peoples|Anatolian]] deities, the latter of whom held lesser roles.{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=137}}

Although Lydia had been conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in {{c.|547 BC}}, native Lydian traditions were not destroyed by Persian rule, and most Lydian inscriptions were written during this period.{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=232}}

The Lydian religion was [[Polytheism|polytheistic]] in nature and was composed of a number of deities:{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=231}}
*unlike traditionally Anatolian pantheons but similarly to the [[Phrygians|Phrygian]] one, the Lydian pantheon was headed by the goddess Artimus ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤠𐤭𐤯𐤦𐤪𐤰𐤮}}}}), who was a deity of wild nature as well as the Lydian variant of an earlier Aegean-Balkan goddess whose other reflexes included the Greek [[Artemis]] ({{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Ἄρτεμις}}}}){{sfn|Neumann|1990|p=186}} and the Phrygian Artimis:{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=154}} Artimus is the most well-attested Lydian deities both in the Lydian corpus and archaeologically;{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=240}}{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=156}}
*the identity of the figure of Qaλdãns or Qaλiyãns ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤲𐤷𐤣𐤵𐤫𐤮}}}}) is still uncertain, and has been variously interpreted as the Lydian king of the gods,{{sfn|Neumann|1990|p=186}} or a Moon-god who was the main masculine deity of the Lydian pantheon and the consort of Artimus,{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=138}} or the Lydian equivalent of the Greek god [[Apollo]] ({{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Ἀπόλλων}}}}),{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=237}} or a high status or royal title.{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=237}} While {{transliteration|xld|Qλdãns}} was once thought to be a [[theonymic]], and referring to Apollo, it has recently become known that a Lydian coin also mentions the name {{transliteration|xld|Qλdãns}} in its legend. Thus, the earlier interpretations as a deity should be revised.<ref name="q571">{{cite journal | last1=Euler | first1=Katrin | last2=Sasseville | first2=David | title=Die Identität des lydischen Qλdãns und seine kulturgeschichtlichen Folgen | journal=Kadmos | volume=58 | issue=1–2 | date=2019-04-01 | issn=1613-0723 | doi=10.1515/kadmos-2019-0007 | pages=125–156}}</ref>
*The Lydian equivalent of the Greek god [[Zeus]] ({{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Ζεύς}}}}) and the Phrygian god Tiws was Lews ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤩𐤤𐤥𐤮}}}}) or Lefs ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤩𐤤𐤱𐤮}}}}):{{sfn|Neumann|1990|p=186}}{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=138}} Unlike the Anatolian storm-god [[Tarḫunna|Tarḫuntas]], Lews held a less prominent role in the Lydian religion,{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=138}} although his role as the bringer of rain followed the tradition surrounding the Anatolian Tarḫuntas;{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=243}}
*the goddess Lamẽtrus ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤩𐤠𐤪𐤶𐤯𐤭𐤰𐤮}}}}) was the Lydian reflex of an earlier Aegean-Balkan goddess whose Greek iteration was [[Demeter|Dēmētēr]] ({{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Δημήτηρ}}}});{{sfn|Neumann|1990|p=186}}{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=138}}
*the frenzy god Pakiš ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤡𐤠𐤨𐤦𐤳}}}}) to whom was performed an [[orgia|orgiastic cult]] was also a Lydian variant of an older Aegean-Balkan god whose Greek reflex was [[Dionysus|Bakkhos]] ({{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Βάκχος}}}});{{sfn|Neumann|1990|p=186}}{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=138}}
*the goddess Kufaws ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤨𐤰𐤱𐤠𐤥𐤮}}}}) or Kuwaws ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤨𐤰𐤥𐤠𐤥𐤮}}}}), referred by the Greeks as {{Transliteration|grc|Kubēbē}} ({{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Κυβήβη}}}}),{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=139}}{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=158}} was a young{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=155-156}} goddess of [[Divine madness|divine frenzy]],{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=158-159}} as well as a prominent Lydian deity possessing an important temple in Sardis;{{sfn|Neumann|1990|p=185}}{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=153-154}}
*the existence of the goddess Korē ({{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Κόρη}}}}) is attested only during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, when the festival of Khrysanthina ({{lang|grc|{{script|Grek|Χρυσάνθινα}}}}) was celebrated at Sardis in her honour,{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=236}} and she appears to have had some vegetative aspects;{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=236}}
*the god Sãntas ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤮𐤵𐤫𐤯𐤠𐤮}}}}), whose name corresponds to that of the Luwian [[Šanta|Šandas]] ({{lang|hlu|{{script|Hluw|𔖶𔖖𔗎𔗏𔑶𔑯𔗔𔖶}}}}),{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=138-139}} might have been the consort of Kufaws;{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=154}}
**accompanying Sãntas were several lesser demon-like figures called the Mariwdas ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤪𐤠𐤭𐤦𐤥𐤣𐤠𐤮}}}}),{{sfn|Neumann|1990|p=186}}{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=138}} who were the Lydian equivalent of the deities attested in Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions as the [[Dark Gods (Anatolian)|Marwainzi]] ({{lang|hlu|{{script|Hluw|𔖖𔗎𔗏𔘅𔖱𔗬𔓯𔖩𔓯𔖶}}}});{{sfn|Hutter|2017|p=118}}
*the goddess Maλiš ({{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤪𐤠𐤷𐤦𐤳}}}}), who corresponded to the Anatolian goddess [[Maliya]], attested in [[Hittite language|Hittite]] as {{Transliteration|hit|[[Dingir|ᴰ]]Māliya}} ({{lang|hit|{{cuneiform|ana|𒀭𒈠𒀀𒇷𒅀}}}}) and Lycian as {{Transliteration|xlc|Maliya}} ({{lang|xlc|𐊎𐊀𐊍𐊆𐊊𐊀}}),{{sfn|Oreshko|2021|p=133}}{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=242}} possessed a vegetative aspect,{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=236}} being a goddess of vegetation, especially of wine and corn.{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=242}}

Because of a lack of evidence, little is known on the organisation of Lydian cults.{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=244}}

Due to the meagre evidence for Lydian religious spaces, little is known about their shapes, sizes, administration, and location:{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=244}} Lydian cultic spaces ranged from small places of worship to prestigious temples of the state cult which also had a political role,{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=244}} although the evidence for them dates from after the end of Lydian independence,{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=231}} while those from the Lydian empire are primarily known from Greek literature rather than from archaeological evidence.{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=232}}

The early Lydian religion possessed at least three cultic officiants, consisting of:{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=235}}
*{{Transliteration|xld|kawes}} ({{lang|xld|𐤨𐤠𐤥𐤤𐤮}}), who were priests and priestesses;
*{{Transliteration|xld|šiwraλmi-}} ({{lang|xld|𐤳𐤦𐤥𐤭𐤠𐤷𐤪𐤦-}}), who were involved in the cult of Artimus;
*{{Transliteration|xld|armτas}} ({{lang|xld|𐤠𐤭𐤪𐤴𐤠𐤮}}), who might have been prophets.

In addition to these clerical offices, the religious role of the kings among other Anatolian peoples suggests that Lydian [[king]]s were also [[Sacred king|religious high functionaries]] who participated in the cult as a representative of divine power on earth and claimed their legitimacy to rule from the gods. Anatolian and Hellenistic Greek parallels also suggest that Lydian kings might have been deified after their deaths.{{sfn|Payne|2019|p=237}}

==== Christianity ====
Lydia later had numerous Christian communities and, after [[Christianity]] became the [[State religion|official religion]] of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, Lydia became one of the provinces of the diocese of Asia in the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]]. 
 
The ecclesiastical province of Lydia had a metropolitan diocese at [[Sardis]] and suffragan dioceses for [[Alaşehir|Philadelphia]], [[Thyatira]], [[Tripolis (Phrygia)|Tripolis]], [[Settae]], [[Gordus (Lydia)|Gordus]], [[Tralles]], [[Silandus]], [[Maeonia (city)|Maeonia]], [[Apollonos Hierum]], [[Mostene]], [[Apollonias]], [[Attalia]], [[Hyrcanis (Lydia)|Hyrcania]], Bage, [[Balandus]], [[Hermocapella]], [[Hierocaesarea]], [[Acrassus]], [[Dalda]], [[Stratonicia]], [[Cerasa]], [[Jabala|Gabala]], [[Satala]], [[Aureliopolis]] and [[Hellenopolis]]. Bishops from the various dioceses of Lydia were well represented at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and at the later ecumenical councils.<ref>Le Quien, ''Oriens Christianus'', i. 859–98</ref>

==== Judaism ====
The first [[Jews]] in Lydia were set up by [[Antiochus III the Great|Antiochus III]] in the wake of a revolt in Lydia and Phrygia from 209-204 BC and consisted of 2000 Jewish families who lived in military settlements in Lydia and Phrygia. Each of these families was given land where they would build a house the cultivate the rest as farmland, they would also be given a 10 year tax exemption and have their basic needs provided for them by the government to help them establish themselves.  One they were established the Jews of Lydia were given special autonomy to practice [[Judaism]] and the Lydian settlements became the epicenter of Judaism across Asia Minor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Encyclopaedia Judaica |edition=2nd |volume=13 |pages=295–296 |language=en}}</ref>

Lydia remained under the control of the [[Seleucid Empire|Selucids]] until the [[Battle of Magnesia]] in 190 BC when it was given to king [[Eumenes]] of Pergamum. in 133 BC [[Attalus III]] bequeathed the kingdom to the Romans. With most information about Lydian Jews coming from the Roman Era, with many documents about the Jewish community in Sardis having been found. During this time the Jews still had the right to live according to Jewish law and be judged under [[Halakha|Halachic Law]]. During this time every Jew in Lydia was expected to give 1/2 a [[shekel]] to the [[Second Temple]], and this was controversial among the general population who resented the Jews sending money to a foreign power.<ref name=":0" />

In the 1960s the ancient synagogue in Sardis was discovered.<ref name=":0" />

== See also ==
* [[Ancient regions of Anatolia]]
* [[Digda]]
* [[List of Kings of Lydia]]
* [[List of satraps of Lydia]]
* [[Ludim]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
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* {{cite book |editor-last=Bianconi |editor-first=Michele |last=Oreshko |first=Rostyslav |date=2021 |title=Linguistic and Cultural Interactions between Greece and Anatolia: In Search of the Golden Fleece |chapter=In Search of the Holy Cube Roots: Kubaba—Kubeleya—Κύβεβος—Kufaws and the Problem of Ethnocultural Contact in Early Iron Age Anatolia |location=[[Leiden]], [[Netherlands]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=131–166 |isbn=978-9-004-46159-8 }} 
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* [http://rg.ancients.info/lion/article.html Reid Goldsborough. "World's First Coin".]

[https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/croesus Iranicaonline.org]
*[https://www.britannica.com/place/Lydia-ancient-region-Anatolia Encyclopedia Britannica]
*[https://www.livius.org/articles/place/sardes/ Sardes - Livius.org]
*[https://www.livius.org/articles/people/phrygians/ [Phrygians - Livius.org]
*[https://www.livius.org/articles/misc/the-end-of-lydia-547/ 547 BC - Livius.org]
*[https://www.livius.org/articles/person/gyges/ Gyges - Livius.org]

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.livius.org/articles/place/lydia/ Livius.org: Lydia]

{{Ancient Greece topics}}
{{Historical regions of Anatolia}}
{{History of Anatolia}}
{{Late Roman Provinces}}
{{Ancient kingdoms in Anatolia}}
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