LYD'IA (Lat., from Gk. Aucba). An ancient country of Asia Minor. bounded on the west by Ionia, on the south by Calla, on the east by Phry gia, and on the north by Mysia. The earliest Greek name for the country is said to have been nronia. The inhabitants are said to have been closely akin to the Phrygians and Mysians, and in that case were probably Indo-Europeans, though the names of the kings suggest Semitic origin. The country was mountainous in the south and west, the principal range being that of Tmolus. It was celebrated for its fruitful soil and for its mineral wealth, particularly for the gold of the river Pactolus and of the neighboring mines. The people were active traders, and early devel oped considerable wealth and luxury. Coined money seems to be their invention, and in religion and music they strongly influenced the Greeks, from whom in turn they received their alphabet, and of whose customs and gods, and especially of the oracle at Delphi, their kings were great ad mirers. The earliest dynasties, according to Herodotus, were the Atyathe and Heraclithe. Of these the first seems purely mythical, and the second is perhaps a reminiscence of the rule of Hittite conquerors.
Lydia attained its highest prosperity under the third dynasty of the Mernmathe (c.689-546 B.c.), which was founded by Gyges (q.v.), a member of a noble Lydian family, around whom has gathered a mass of myth. It seems clear that he was an energetic ruler, who extended his power in Asia Minor, and especially sought to open a way to the coast by establishing his suzerainty over the Greek colonies on the ..;Egean. His progress was checked by the Cimmerian invasion, which so seriously imperiled his safety that lie sought the help of the Assyrian King. Assurbanipal, to whom he paid tribute. Later he fell before the
invaders, but his son Ardys finally threw off their yoke and resumed the attacks on the Greek cities. The policy was continued by Sadyattes and Alyattes, under whom the conquest of Asia Minor seems to have been completed. The latter's war with the Medes was settled in B.C. 595, by a treaty fixing the river Halys as the eastern boundary of his realm. Lydian government of the Greek cities seems to have been merely nominal, and the Ionians were willing to pay tribute in return for the large advantages in trade. This friendly policy was continued by the last king of this race, the famous Creesus (q.v.). until his overthrow by Cyrus in n.e. 546. The subsequent history of Lydia as a Persian province and as subject to Greeks and Romans is unimportant.
The only important remains of native Lydian art are the great tumuli, near the Orygfean Lake, which mark the graves of the kings. The reli gion was that common in Phrygia and through out Asia Minor: the worship of a great nature goddess, the 'mother of the gods ;' a nature god, Sahazios, honored bywild orgies; a god of heaven, identified by the Greeks with Zeus; a moon-god, Alen; and in some places a sun-god. The cult was, in general, orgiastic, and the worshipers often mutilated themselves. Consult: Radet, La Lydie ct le monde grcc au temps des ilerninades (l'ari,, 1S93) ; Ramsay, Historical Geography of A.sia Minor (London, 1890) ; Perrot and Chipiez, Ilis loire de rart done rantiquite, vol. v. (Paris, 1890; English translation. New York. I s9•)) ; Bureseh, .4 es Lydien (Leipzig. Is0s1 ; in 'Head, Catalogue of the Greek Coins Of (London. 1901), vol. xxii. of the British Museum Catalogue.