Sepulchres of the Lydian Princes.—The princes of the Lydians had their sepulchres beyond the Hernms, on a rocky plateau about five miles to the north of Sardis, between the and the southern shore of the great Gygrean lake. On this field of the dead, which the Osmans call Bin Tepe—i. e. the thousand hills—there rise to this clay from sixty to eighty tombs, among which three huge round tumuli stand pre-eminent. The smallest of these is 2000 feet in circuit and Ito feet in height; the largest is more than 3500 feet iu circuit, and rises about 23o feet above the plain directly opposite the acropolis of Sardis. King Alyattes rested under this mound, concerning which Herodotus tells us, " Lydia possessed a work which is the greatest of all, except the work of the Egyptians and Baby lonians, and it is the monument of Alyattes." The Lydians preferred to bury their dead in chambers of rock; where these were not to be had, they buried them in chambers of strong masonry, over which were placed layers of stone in a circle, to be finally crowned with the sepulchral tumu lus. In the same manner, only on a larger scale, the tombs of the kings were prepared. (Duncker.) Eastern Asia ..lfinor.—While the civilization of the western half of Asia Minor, though not so substantial as that of Europe, had become so refined as to be attractive to the Greeks and Romans, the eastern portion remained in its original barbarity. We have already presumably met its inhabitants, the later Cappadocians, among the Egyptians (p. r5S), and but little more than community of race can be affirmed of these peoples. Homer men tions a number of tribes belonging to that region, from which Xerxes recruited his immense army. Barbarous tribes from the North, probably of Sarmatico-Scythian origin, settled along the southern coast of the Euxine and laid the foundations for the kingdom of Pontus.
The well-known historical invasion of the Gauls (about 277 B. c.) drove the native inhabitants farther into the interior, without, however, leaving any noticeable traces of the state of civilization of the Galatian tetrarchics which the invaders there established. Herodotus and Xenophon speak of hairy garments and bag-like coverings for the legs, which were still further protected among some tribes by leather leggings reaching to the knees—a form of dress which corresponds fully with that worn by the Scythians in Southern Russia as early as 40o B. c., and also with that which, though
less rude, was worn in the western part of the peninsula.
Dzcellings.—According to Xenophon, the dwellings of the natives were block-houses, which preserved their primitive simplicity even in proximity to Greek centres of culture. Their settlements were sometimes securely located in the mountains, or if situated on the plain they were fortified by wooden towers or surrounded by palisades, ramparts, and trenches.
binstries.—The abundance of minerals in the mountains developed one industry to a surprising extent. iEschylus speaks of the "wild and barbarous smiths" of that country, and Virgil praises its manufacture of steel. The Cappadocians proper occupied themselves above all with the breeding of horses, and they constituted the flower of the Persian cavalry.
Their costume is so described as scarcely to allow us to doubt their relationship to the Scythians. This conclusion is strengthened by the character of their occupations. A very ancient rock-sculpture in North ern Cappadocia—the exact nature of which, however, has not yet been fully determined—contains figures in long flowing robes (fil. 2S, fig. I), and seems to indicate a connection with Asia proper. It is certain that the religion of Asia Minor was influenced from that quarter, for, though in the West it was Greek in character, its general texture was an unedify ing mixture of Babylonian, Syrian, and Hellenic elements.
Grecian silent influence of Greek civilization on those vast regions would have succumbed to the sensuality of Asia (besides fail ing to make any impreEsion on the barbarism of the remote and ruder tribes) had not the sword of Alexander and the care of his successors protected it. That germs of a higher civilization existed in that land is shown by an after-glow of Greek culture, even in the domain of its art and poetry, which appeared in various places; as, for example, in the kingdom of Pergamus. That those germs were preserved is evident from the fact that the apostles chose Asia Minor as the principal scene of their activity, and that Paul organized Christian churches even in Galatia (Acts xvi. 5, 6; xviii. 23). To develop these germs more powerful means were necessary than any at the command of the Macedonian empire. The accomplishment of this task, not only in the regions just described, but in many others, fell to another people, whom we shall now proceed to consider.