Gordium was the capital of ancient Phrygia, modern Yassihüyük. It is situated on the place where the ancient Royal road between Lydia and Assyria/Babylonia crosses the river Sangarius, which flows from central Anatolia to the Black Sea. Remains of the road are still visible. In the ninth century BCE, the city became the capital of the Phrygians, a Thracian tribe that had invaded and settled in Asia. They created a large kingdom that occupied the greater part of Turkey west of the river Halys.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 1150 BCEGordium is settled by Thracians.
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c. 850 BCEGordium becomes the capital of the Phrygians.
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696 BCEGordium is sacked by the Cimmerians.
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c. 600 BCEGordium becomes part of Lydia.
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c. 547 BCEGordium becomes part of the Persian satrapy of Greater Phrygia.
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334 BCEAlexander the Great cuts the "Gordian Knot" in the city.
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189 BCEThe citadel and lower town of Gordium are abandoned after the Roman conquest.
