Editing Lydia (section)

=== 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 BC) 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 BC to 550 BC, 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
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| 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=9780199372188 |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 BC), 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 BC, 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 BC, 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=9781444337341 |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=9780191016752 |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=978-8878145337 |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=9788843022618 |edition=III |location=Rome |language=it |orig-year=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=0842523340 |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=9780521562560 |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 |pages=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 |pages=eabi7673 |bibcode=2021SciA....7.7673P |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abi7673 |pmc=8462907 |pmid=34559560}}</ref>