The
Iron Age (c. 1300–600 BC) was characterised by the widespread use of
iron and
steel. It is also an age known for the development of various
alphabets and early literature. It formed the last phase of
Pre-history, spanning the period between the
collapse of the Bronze Age and the rise of classical civilisation. In Anatolia, the dissolution of the
Hittite Empire was replaced by regional
Neo-Hittite powers including Troad, Ionia, Lydia, Caria and Lycia in the west; Phrygia, centrally and Cimmeria and Urartu in the northeast, while the
Assyrians occupied much of the southeast. settlements italicised
Western Anatolia Troad The Troad, on the
Biga peninsula, was settled before 3000 BC. The site of
Troy was occupied for more than three millennia, its
archaeological layers numbered I-IX. Legends of the
Trojan War may have a basis in historical events concerning
Late Bronze Age Troy.
Aeolis Aeolis was an area of the northwestern Aegean coast, between
Troad and Ionia, from the
Hellespont to the
Hermus River (Gediz), west of
Mysia and Lydia. By the 8th century BC the twelve most important cities formed a league. In the 6th century the cities were progressively conquered by Lydia, and then Persia.
Ionia Ionia was part of a group of settlements on the central Aegean coast bounded by Lydia to the east, and
Caria to the south, known as the
Ionian league. Ionians had been expelled from the
Peloponnesus by the Dorians, and were resettled on the Aegean coastline of Anatolia by the Athenians to whose land they had fled. By the time of the last Lydian king, Croesus (560–545 BC) Ionia fell under Lydian, and then Persian rule. With the defeat of Persia by the Greeks, Ionia again became independent until absorbed into the Roman
province of Asia.
Lydia (Maeonia) Lydia, or Maeonia as it was called before 687 BC, was a major part of the history of western Anatolia, beginning with the Atyad dynasty, who first appeared around 1300 BC. Lydia was situated to the west of Phrygia and east of the
Aegean Sea settlement of Ionia. The Lydians were
Indo-European, speaking an
Anatolian language related to
Luwian and
Hittite. The
Heraclids, managed to rule successively from 1185 to 687 BC despite a growing presence of
Greek influences along the Mediterranean coast. As Greek cities such as
Smyrna,
Colophon, and
Ephesus rose, the
Heraclids became weaker and weaker. The last king,
Candaules, was murdered by his friend and lance-bearer named Gyges, and he took over as ruler. Gyges waged war against the intruding Greeks, and soon faced by a grave problem as the Cimmerians began to pillage outlying cities within the kingdom. It was this wave of attacks that led to the incorporation of the formerly independent Phrygia and its capital
Gordium into the Lydian domain. It was not until the successive rules of
Sadyattes and
Alyattes, ending in 560 BC, that the attacks of the Cimmerians ended for good. Under the reign of the last Lydian king Croesus, Lydia reached its greatest expansion. Persia was invaded first at the
Battle of Pteria ending without a victor. Progressing deeper into Persia,
Croesus was thoroughly defeated in the
Battle of Thymbra at the hands of the
Persian Cyrus II in 546 BC. Following Croesus' defeat, Lydia fell under the hegemony of Persia, Greece, Rome and Byzantium until finally being absorbed into the Turkish lands.
Caria . Caria forms a region in Western Anatolia, south of
Lydia, east of Ionia and north of Lycia. Partially Greek (
Ionian and Dorian), and possibly partially
Minoan. Caria became subject to
Persia, Greece and
Rome before being absorbed into Byzantium. Remnants of the Carian civilisation form a rich legacy in the southwestern Aegean. Caria managed to maintain a relative degree of independence during successive occupation, and its symbol, the double headed axe is seen as a mark of defiance and can be seen inscribed on many buildings. The
mausoleum at
Halicarnassus (modern
Bodrum), the tomb of the Persian
Satrap Mausolus, was considered one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Other important relics include that of
Mylasa (Milas) at one time capital of Caria and administrative seat of Mausolus,
Labranda in the mountains high above Mylasa and
Euromos (Herakleia) near
Lake Bafa.
Lycia Lycia formed the southernmost settlement in Western Anatolia on what is now the
Teke peninsula on the western Mediterranean coast. There many historic Lycian sites include
Xanthos,
Patara,
Myra,
Pinara,
Tlos,
Olympos and
Phaselis. Emerging at the end of the Bronze Age as a Neo-Hittite league of city states whose governance model still influences political systems today. Alternating between Persian and Greek rule it eventually was incorporated into Rome, Byzantium and the Turkish lands.
Central Anatolia Phrygia The west-central area of Anatolia became the domain of the Phrygian Kingdom following the fragmentation of the
Hittite Empire during the 12th century BC, existing independently until the 7th century BC, and strongly featured in
Greek mythology. Although their origin is disputed, their language more resembled
Greek (
Dorian) than the Hittites whom they succeeded. Possibly from the region of Thrace, the
Phrygians eventually established their capital at
Gordium (now
Yassıhüyük) and an important religious center at
Yazılıkaya. Known as the
Mushki to the Assyrians, the Phrygian people lacked central control in their style of government, and yet established an extensive network of roads. They also held tightly onto a lot of the Hittite facets of culture and adapted them over time. Well known from ancient Greek and Roman writers is
King Midas, the last king of the Phrygian Kingdom. The mythology of Midas revolves around his ability to turn objects to gold by mere touch, as granted by
Dionysos, and his unfortunate encounter with
Apollo from which his ears are turned into the ears of a donkey. The historical record of Midas shows that he lived approximately between 740 and 696 BC, and represented
Phrygia as a great king. Most historians now consider him to be King Mita of the Mushki as noted in Assyrian accounts. The
Assyrians thought of Mita as a dangerous foe, for
Sargon II, their ruler at the time, was quite happy to negotiate a peace treaty in 709 BC. This treaty had no effect on the advancing Cimmerians in the East, who streamed into Phrygia and led to the downfall and suicide of King Midas in 696 BC. After Midas's death, Phrygia lost its independence, becoming respectively a vassal state of its western neighbour, Lydia, Persia,
Greece, Rome and
Byzantium, disappearing in the
Turkish era.
Eastern Anatolia Cimmeria Cimmeria was a region of northeastern Anatolia, appearing in the 8th century BC from the north and east, in the face of the eastern Scythian advance. They continued to move west, invading and subjugating Phrygia (696–695 BC), penetrating as far south as Cilicia, and west into Ionia after pillaging Lydia. Lydian campaigns between 637 and 626 BC effectively halted this advance. The Cimmerian influence progressively weakened and the last recorded mention is in 515 BC.
Urartu 860–840 BC Urartu (Nairi, or the Kingdom of Van) existed in north-east Anatolia, centered around
Lake Van (Nairi Sea), to the south of the
Cimmerians and North of Assyria. Its prominence ran from its appearance in the 9th century until it was overrun by the Medes in the 6th century. Urartu is first mentioned as a loose confederation of smaller entities in the
Armenian Highlands in the 13th to 11th centuries BC, but was subject to recurrent Assyrian incursions before emerging as a powerful neighbour by the 9th century BC. This was facilitated by Assyria's weak position in the 8th century BC. Urartu continued to resist Assyrian attacks and reached it greatest extent under
Argishti I (c. 785–760 BC). At that time it included present day Armenia, southern
Georgia reaching almost to the
Black Sea, west to the sources of the
Euphrates and south to the sources of the
Tigris. Following this Urartu suffered a number of setbacks. King
Tiglath Pileser III of Assyria conquered it in 745 BC. By 714 BC it was being ravaged by both Cimmerian and Assyrian raids. After 645 BC
Scythian attacks provided further problems for Urartu forcing it to become dependent on Assyria. However Assyria itself fell to a combined attack of
Scythians,
Medes and
Babylonians in 612 BC. While the details of Urartu's demise are debated, it effectively disappeared to be replaced by Armenia. It was a
Persian Satrapy for a while from the 6th century BC before becoming an independent Armenia. To this day Urartu forms an important part of
Armenian nationalist sentiment.
Assyria In the Iron Age Assyria extended to include southeastern Anatolia. Assyria, one of the great powers of the Mesopotamia region, had a long history from the 25th century BC (Bronze Age) until it final collapse in 612 BC at the end of the Iron Age. Assyria's Iron Age corresponds to the Middle Period (resurgence) and the
Neo-Assyrian Empire in its last 300 years, and its territory centered on what is modern day
Iraq. Assyria influenced Anatolian politics and culture from when its traders first came into contact with Hattians in the late Bronze Age. By the 13th century BC Assyria was expanding to its northwest at the expense of the Hittites, and to the north at the expense of Urartu. Assyrian expansion reached its height under
Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244–1208 BC), following which it was weakened by internal dissent. The collapse of the Hittie Empire at the end of the Bronze Age coincided with an era of renewed Assyrian expansion under
Ashur-resh-ishi I (1133–1116 BC) and soon Assyria had added the Anatolian lands in what is now Syria to its empire.
Tiglath-Pileser I (1115–1077 BC) then commenced incursions against the Neo-Hittite Phrygians, followed by the
Luwian kingdoms of
Commagene, Cilicia and Cappadocia. With the death of Tiglath-Pileser I Assyria entered a period of decline during what is referred to as the Ancient Dark Ages (1075–912 BC) in the region that corresponded to the
collapse of the Bronze Age. The last 300 years of the Assyrian Empire (Neo-Assyrian Empire) from 911 to 627 BC saw a renewed expansion including attacks on the Neo-Hittite states to its north and west.
Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) extracted tribute from Phrygia while his successor
Shalmaneser III (858–823 BC) also attacked Urartu forcing his Anatolian neighbours to pay tribute. After his death the land was torn by civil war. Assyrian power continued to wax and wane with periodic incursions into the Anatolian lands.
Sennacherib (705–681 BC) encountered and drove back a new force in the region, the
Greeks who attempted to settle Cilicia. His successor
Esarhaddon (680–669 BC) was responsible for the final destruction of
Urartu. Ashurbanipal (669-627 BC) then extended Assyrian influence still further placing Caria, Cilicia, Lydia and
Cappadocia into
vassalage. Assyria found its resources stretched to maintain the integrity of its vast empire and civil war again erupted following the death of Ashurbanipal. Vassal states stopped paying tribute, regaining independence. The weakened Assyrian state was now faced by a new threat, a coalition of Iranian peoples to its east and north, including Medes,
Persians, Scythians and the Anatolian Cimmerians, who attacked Assyria in 616 BC.
Ninevah, the capital, fell in 612 BC and the Assyrian Empire was finally swept away in 605 BC. With the collapse of Assyria, ended not only the Iron Age, but also the era referred to as
Pre-History, to make way for what has been variously described as
Recorded History, or more specifically late
Ancient History or
Classical Civilisation. These terms are not precise or universal and overlap. == See also ==