Phrygians

rdf:langString Phrygians

rdf:langString The Phrygians (Greek: Φρύγες, Phruges or Phryges) were an ancient Indo-European speaking people, who inhabited central-western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in antiquity. They were related to the Greeks. Ancient Greek authors used "Phrygian" as an umbrella term to describe a vast ethno-cultural complex located mainly in the central areas of Anatolia rather than a name of a single "tribe" or "people", and its ethno-linguistic homogeneity is debatable. Phrygians were initially dwelling in the southern Balkans – according to Herodotus – under the name of Bryges (Briges), changing it to Phryges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the Hellespont. However, the Balkan origins of the Phrygians are debated by modern scholars. Phrygia developed an advanced Bronze Age culture. The earliest traditions of Greek music are in part connected to Phrygian music, transmitted through the Greek colonies in Anatolia, especially the Phrygian mode, which was considered to be the warlike mode in ancient Greek music. Phrygian Midas, the king of the "golden touch", was tutored in music by Orpheus himself, according to the myth. Another musical invention that came from Phrygia was the aulos, a reed instrument with two pipes. In classical Greek iconography Paris, a Trojan, is represented as non-Greek by his Phrygian cap, which was also worn by Mithras and survived into modern imagery as the "Liberty cap" of the American and French revolutionaries. Phrygians spoke the Phrygian language, a member of the Indo-European linguistic family. Modern consensus regards Greek as its closest relative.