Pactolus River
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Pactolus River
Pactolus ( el, Πακτωλός), now named Sart Çayı, is a river near the Aegean coast of Turkey. The river rises from Mount Tmolus, flows through the ruins of the ancient city of Sardis, and empties into the Gediz River, the ancient Hermus. The Pactolus once contained electrum that was the basis of the economy of the ancient state of Lydia which used the naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver to forge the first coins under Alyattes of Lydia. Legend According to legend, King Midas divested himself of the golden touch by washing himself in the river. The historian Herodotus claimed that the gold contained in the sediments carried by the river was the source of the wealth of King Croesus Croesus ( ; Lydian: ; Phrygian: ; grc, Κροισος, Kroisos; Latin: ; reigned: c. 585 – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. Croesus was ..., son of Alyattes. Propertius 1.6 T ...
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Πακτωλός
Pactolus ( el, Πακτωλός), now named Sart Çayı, is a river near the Aegean coast of Turkey. The river rises from Mount Tmolus, flows through the ruins of the ancient city of Sardis, and empties into the Gediz River, the ancient Hermus. The Pactolus once contained electrum that was the basis of the economy of the ancient state of Lydia which used the naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver to forge the first coins under Alyattes of Lydia. Legend According to legend, King Midas divested himself of the golden touch by washing himself in the river. The historian Herodotus claimed that the gold contained in the sediments carried by the river was the source of the wealth of King Croesus Croesus ( ; Lydian: ; Phrygian: ; grc, Κροισος, Kroisos; Latin: ; reigned: c. 585 – c. 546 BC) was the king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. Croesus was ..., son of Alyattes. Propertius 1.6 T ...
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Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a East Thrace, small portion on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It shares borders with the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Cyprus is located off the south coast. Turkish people, Turks form the vast majority of the nation's population and Kurds are the largest minority. Ankara is Turkey's capital, while Istanbul is its list of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city and financial centre. One of the world's earliest permanently Settler, settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neol ...
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Mount Tmolus
Mount Tmolus (Ancient Greek: Τμῶλος, modern Bozdağ; highest point: 2,157 m), named after Tmolus, King of Lydia, is in "a mountain range on the south of Sardis, forming the watershed between the basins of the Hermus in the north and the Cayster in the south, and being connected in the east with Mount Messogis." It is situated in Lydia in western Turkey with the ancient Lydian capital Sardis at its foot and Hypaepa on its southern slope. The mountain was "celebrated for its excellent wine-growing slopes. It was equally rich in metals; and the river Pactolus, which had its source in Mount Tmolus, at one time carried from its interior a rich supply of gold." The geography of Tmolus and the contest between Pan and Apollo, associated with the mythical Tmolus, son of Ares, are mentioned in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid ...
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Sardis
Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, in Turkey's Manisa Province. Sardis was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, an important city of the Persian Empire, the seat of a Seleucid satrap, the seat of a proconsul under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine times. It is mentioned in the New Testament. Its importance was due first to its military strength, secondly to it being situated on an important highway leading from the interior to the Aegean coast, and thirdly to its commanding the wide and fertile plain of the Hermus. Geography Sardis was situated in the middle of Hermus valley, at the foot of Mount Tmolus, a steep and lofty spur which formed the citadel. It was about south of that Hermus. Today, the site is loca ...
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Gediz River
The Gediz River ( tr, Gediz Nehri, ) is the second-longest river in Anatolia flowing into the Aegean Sea. From its source of Mount Murat in Kütahya Province, it flows generally west for to the Gediz River Delta in the Gulf of İzmir. Name The ancient Greek name of the river was Hermos (Ἕρμος), Latinized as Hermus. The name of the river Gediz may be related to the Lydian proper name Cadys; Gediz is also the name of a town near the river's sources. The name "Gediz" may also be encountered as a male given name in Turkey. Ancient geography The Gediz is one of the two candidates for the Hittite placename Seha River, the other being the Bakırçay. The Hermos separated Aeolia from Ionia, except for Ionic Phocaea, which was north of the Hermos. The valley of the Hermos was the heartland of the ancient Lydian Empire and overlooking the valley was the Lydian capital Sardis. Location In Turkey's Aegean Region, Gediz River's length is second only to Büyük Menderes River wh ...
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Hermus
In Greek mythology, Hermus or Hermos (Ancient Greek: Ἕρμος) is a name attributed to multiple characters: * Hermus, god of the river Hermus (modern Gediz river) located in the Aegean region of Lydia (modern Turkey). Like most of the river-gods, he was the son of Oceanus and Tethys. Hermus was the father of the Lydian nymphs. * Hermus, an Egyptian prince as one of the sons of King Aegyptus.Apollodorus, 2.1.5 His mother was the naiad Caliadne and thus full brother of Eurylochus, Phantes, Peristhenes, Dryas, Potamon, Cisseus, Lixus, Imbrus, Bromius, Polyctor and Chthonius. In some accounts, he could be a son of Aegyptus either by Eurryroe, daughter of the river-god Nilus, or Isaie, daughter of King Agenor of Tyre. Hermus suffered the same fate as his other brothers, save Lynceus, when they were slain on their wedding night by their wives who obeyed the command of their father King Danaus of Libya. He married the Danaid Cleopatra, daughter of Danaus and the naiad Pol ...
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Electrum
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially, and is also known as "green gold".Emsley, John (2003Nature's building blocks: an A–Z guide to the elements Oxford University Press. . p. 168 Electrum was used as early as the third millennium BC in Old Kingdom of Egypt, sometimes as an exterior coating to the pyramidions atop ancient Egyptian pyramids and obelisks. It was also used in the making of ancient drinking vessels. The first known metal coins made were of electrum, dating back to the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 6th century BC. For several decades, the medals awarded with the Nobel Prize have been made of gold-plated green gold. Etymology The name "electrum" is the Latinized form of the Greek word ἤλεκτρον (''ḗlektron''), mentioned in the ''Odyssey' ...
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Lydia
Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkey, Turkish provinces of Uşak Province, Uşak, Manisa Province, Manisa and inland Izmir Province, Izmir. The ethnic group inhabiting this kingdom are known as the Lydians, and their language, known as Lydian language, Lydian, was a member of the Anatolian languages, Anatolian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. The capital of Lydia was Sardis.Rhodes, P.J. ''A History of the Classical Greek World 478–323 BC''. 2nd edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 6. The Kingdom of Lydia existed from about 1200 BC to 546 BC. At its greatest extent, during the 7th century BC, it covered all of western Anatolia. In 546 BC, it became a province of the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire ...
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History Of Coins
The history of coins stretches back to the first millennium BC/BCE. Notable examples of coins include the Lydian Lion coins, Persian daric and siglos, Tong Bei, the dirham and gold dinar. Coins are the major archaeological source of history. These small coins have a lot to portray. Coins help in knowing the information about the kingdom, language, administration, religion and economic condition and also the title of the ruler who minted those coins. Coins were first made of scraps of metal by hitting a hammer positioned over an anvil. The Chinese produced primarily cast coinage, and this spread to South-East Asia and Japan. Although few non-Chinese cast coins were produced by governments, it was a common practice amongst counterfeiters. Early coins Ephesus' great temple of Artemis has provided evidence for the earliest coins yet known from the ancient world. The first structures in the sanctuary, buried deep under the later temples, date back to the eighth century BCE, and ...
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Alyattes
Alyattes (Lydian language: ; grc, Ἀλυάττης ; reigned c. 635-585 BC), sometimes described as Alyattes I, was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Sadyattes, grandson of Ardys, and great-grandson of Gyges. He died after a reign of 57 years and was succeeded by his son Croesus. Alyattes was the first monarch who issued coins, made from electrum (and his successor Croesus was the first to issue gold coins). Alyattes is therefore sometimes mentioned as the originator of coinage, or of currency. Name The most likely etymology for the name derives it, via a form with initial digamma (), itself originally from a Lydian (Lydian alphabet: ). The name meant "lion-ness" (i.e. the state of being a lion), and was composed of the Lydian term (), meaning "lion", to which was added an abstract suffix (). Chronology Dates for the Mermnad kings are uncertain and are based on a computation by J. B. Bury and Russell Meiggs (1975) who estimated c.687– ...
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Midas
Midas (; grc-gre, Μίδας) was the name of a king in Phrygia with whom several myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold. This came to be called the ''golden touch'', or the ''Midas touch''. The legends told about this Midas and his father Gordias, credited with founding the Phrygian capital city Gordium and tying the Gordian Knot, indicate that they were believed to have lived sometime in the 2nd millennium BC, well before the Trojan War. However, Homer does not mention Midas or Gordias, while instead mentioning two other Phrygian kings, Mygdon and Otreus. The Phrygian city Midaeum was presumably named after him, and this is probably also the Midas that according to Pausanias founded Ancyra (today known as Ankara). Another King Midas ruled Phrygia in the late 8th century BC. Most historians believe this M ...
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Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for having written the '' Histories'' – a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus was the first writer to perform systematic investigation of historical events. He is referred to as " The Father of History", a title conferred on him by the ancient Roman orator Cicero. The ''Histories'' primarily cover the lives of prominent kings and famous battles such as Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale. His work deviates from the main topics to provide a cultural, ethnographical, geographical, and historiographical background that forms an essential part of the narrative and provides readers with a wellspring of additional information. Herodotus has been criticized for his inclusion of "legends and f ...
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