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Gordion Archaeological Project

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Curatorial Section

Mediterranean

Research Discipline

  • Archaeology
  • Cultural Heritage

Dates

1950 - Present

Project Phase

Active Fieldwork

Gordion was the capital city of the powerful ancient kingdom of Phrygia around 3,000 years ago. The site has fascinated archaeologists and travelers since the 19th century, primarily because King Midas, ruler of Phrygia in the late 8th century BCE, reportedly had a “golden touch.” In 1957, Penn archaeologists discovered the tomb that Midas built for his father, which is still the oldest standing wooden building in the world. Containing the remains of a royal feast, including traces of ancient wine, the tomb represents just one of the finds that have been uncovered at Gordion. Penn archaeologists continue to use groundbreaking scientific techniques to explore and conserve the site today.

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Gordion was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It is located at the site of modern Yassıhöyük, about 70–80 km (43–50 mi) southwest of Ankara (the capital of Turkey), in the immediate vicinity of the Polatlı district. Gordion's location at the confluence of the Sakarya and Porsuk rivers gave it a strategic location with control over fertile land. Gordion lies where the ancient road between Lydia and Assyria/Babylonia crossed the Sangarius river.

The ancient city of Gordion has been occupied from the Early Bronze Age (c. 2300 BCE) continuously until the 4th century CE and again in the 13th and 14th centuries CE. During the Iron Age (ca. 900-600 BCE), it served as the royal capital of the powerful Phrygian civilization, and its diplomatic and geographic position brought it into contact with the Hittites, Neo-Hittites, Assyrians, Urartians, Lydians, Greeks, Persians, and Romans.

The site is dominated by the Citadel Mound, approximately 13.5 hectares in size, surrounded by a wall marked with several gates. Inside the walls, elite houses and administrative buildings mix with storehouses and workshops, providing an excellent record of Early Phrygian material culture and architecture. Evidence of widespread burning in the eastern portion of the Citadel Mound, called the Destruction Level, has been radio-carbon dated to ca. 800 BCE, after which Gordion’s inhabitants quickly rebuilt the mound even larger than before.

In addition to the monumental Citadel Mound, Gordion is surrounded by over one hundred tumuli, or burial mounds, dating from ca. 850 BCE to the end of the 6th century BCE. The largest of these, called the “Midas Mound”, contained the remains of King Midas’s father, Gordias, who was surrounded by fine textiles, bronze and wooden objects, and other riches. A reconstruction of the tomb chamber, along with objects loaned by the Turkish government, appeared in the 2016 special exhibition, “The Golden Age of King Midas”.

The site was “discovered” in 1893 by German Classicist Alfred Körte, who conducted a single season of excavation in 1900. Fifty years later, Penn Museum’s Rodney S. Young began 17 years of fieldwork at the site, concentrating on the eastern half of the Citadel Mound. His work revealed early and later Phrygian citadels, Hellenistic towns, and dozens of burial tumuli dating from the ninth century BCE into the Hellenistic period. In the decades since, Gordion has been excavated by a succession of Penn Museum archaeologists, who have employed remote sensing, survey, archaeobotanical, and digital techniques to better understand the site and its regional context. Site conservation and public education and outreach are key priorities of the project, and Gordion became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023.

Researchers

This project is open to student participation, email gordion@pennmuseum.org for more information.

Research Access to the Collections

The Penn Museum welcomes and encourages researchers to make use of its collections, including objects from all over the world, as well as extensive photographic, film, and document archives.

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