Search Results: Lydia

Lydia was a region of western Asia Minor which prospered due to its natural resources and position on trading routes between the Mediterranean and Asia. The Kingdom of Lydia flourished in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE and expanded to its...

Herodotus’ narrative on Lydia takes up almost one half of Book I of his Histories and the section dealing with King Croesus is among the best-known and often anthologized. The last section, in which he discusses Lydian women as prostitutes...

Money may take many forms, from the digital code of cryptocurrency to the woodpecker scalps favoured in early California. People have also used cattle, cacao beans, cowrie shells, chewing gum, grain, and giant stones as money. Early cultures...

Electrum coin depicting an uncertain king of Lydia, early 6th century BCE. Obverse: Head of a roaring lion with multiple rays of the sun on its forehead. Reverse: Double incuse punch.

Map of Lydia in the middle of the 6th century BCE. The red line shows an alternative interpretation of Lydia's ancient borders.

These are some of the earliest coins in the World. Made from electrum, a naturally occurring mixture of gold and silver, they were issued in Lydia. Although irregular in size and shape, these early coins were produced according to a strict...

This clay tablet is inscribed in a cuneiform script. It is an account of the Egyptian campaigns of Ashurbanipal II, king of Assyria (reigned 668-627 BCE) and his reception of an embassy from Gyges, the first king of Lydia. From the library...

Ionia was a territory in western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) populated by the Ionians (Greeks who spoke the Ionian dialect) in c. 1150 BCE. It is best known as the birthplace of Greek philosophy (at Miletus) and the site of the Ionian Revolt...

Croesus (r. 560-546 BCE) was the King of Lydia, a region in western Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and was so wealthy that the expression "as rich as Croesus" originates in reference to him. Best known for his wealth, he is also famous for...

The Battle of Thymbra (547 BCE) was the decisive engagement between Cyrus II (the Great, r. c. 550-530 BCE) of Persia and Croesus (r. 560-546 BCE), King of Lydia. The Persian victory ended the Kingdom of Lydia, which was then absorbed into...