Archaeologists discover lost city that may have conquered the kingdom of Midas

FEBRUARY 21, 2020
by Louise Lerner, University of Chicago



A tip from a local Turkish farmer led archaeologists to this stone half-submerged in an irrigation canal. Inscriptions from the 8th century B.C. are still visible. Credit: James Osborne

Archaeologists from the Oriental Institute have discovered a lost ancient kingdom dating to 1400 B.C. to 600 B.C., which may have defeated Phrygia, the kingdom ruled by King Midas, in battle.

University of Chicago scholars and students were surveying a site with Turkish and British colleagues last summer in southern Turkey called Türkmen-Karahöyük, when a local farmer told them he'd seen a big stone with strange inscriptions while dredging a nearby irrigation canal the previous winter.

"We rushed straight there, and we could see it still sticking out of the water, so we jumped right down into the canal—up to our waists wading around," said Asst. Prof. James Osborne of the OI, one of the foremost centers of research on the ancient world. "Right away it was clear it was ancient, and we recognized the script it was written in: Luwian, the language used in the Bronze and Iron ages in the area."

Translated by OI scholars, the pronouncement boasted of defeating Phrygia, the kingdom ruled by King Midas, legendary ancient ruler said to have a golden touch.

More:
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-archaeologists-lost-city-conquered-kingdom.html