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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

PHRYGIA

Area in western Turkey on the Anatolian plateau, the boundaries of which cannot be defined precisely. The Phrygians were originally Europeans, called Phryges by the Greeks, who crossed the Hellespont from Macedonia and Thrace and settled here. This migration followed the general pattern of invasions from Europe into this section of Asia Minor. The Phrygians formed a powerful confederacy that flourished between the downfall of the Hittite Empire and the rise of the Lydian Empire, that is, between the 7th and the 13th centuries before Christ.

Their religious capital was at “Midas City,” modern Yazilikaya, about 150 miles (241.4 kilometers) southwest of Ankara. This “city of Midas” consisted of an acropolis, defended by a wall with towers, and a lower city. Within a large cave was a spring, approached by steps cut in the rock, which supplied water for the upper and lower cities. The famous tomb or monument of King Midas has a Phrygian inscription that mentions the goddess “Mida,” identified with Cybele the mother goddess, considered to be the mythical mother of the king. French archaeologists in 1948–49 discovered remains that indicate the city was destroyed in the sixth century BC, rebuilt about a century later, and finally destroyed in the third century BC.

Their chief goddess was Cybele. She later became the fertility goddess of all Anatolia. Orgiastic rites were performed in her honor, leading to sensuality intended to facilitate reproduction among humans, animals, and crops. When the Ionians and the Greeks settled in Miletus and Ephesus, Cybele was transformed into Artemis the Greek goddess of fertility, whose temple in Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world. Her image originally was a black meteorite stone (cf. Acts 19:35). She became the consort of Adonis, a vegetation god, and their fertility rites were common throughout the Middle East. This goddess was imported into Rome; a temple in her honor was built on the Capitoline Hill soon after the organization of the empire.

Gallic tribes invaded the region some three centuries prior to Paul. This changed the demographic situation, with the result that the political, geographical, and ethnic divisions did not always coincide. What was formerly Phrygia became known as Galatia because of the new inhabitants. Yet the old names persisted.

Jews were encouraged to settle in this area by the Syrian kings. They were an important part of society, and their synagogues were to be found in every major city. Paul passed through this area on his way from Lycaonia to Troas (Acts 16:6) after having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word of God in Asia. The gospel probably came to this area from the pilgrims who went to Jerusalem and heard Peter preach. There, in astonishment, they heard the early believers proclaiming the works of God in their own native language (2:8-11). Some were converted and went home to spread the Good News.

That Christianity made early inroads and received a wide following here is indicated by the fact that in the middle of the second century Montanus, a zealous leader of the church, arose and called the church back to the primitive dynamism that characterized Pentecost. Thus arose the sect of Montanism, in which the leader was sometimes viewed as the incarnation of the Holy Spirit or the oracle of God. In better light, the movement is seen as a return to primitive Christianity and a protest against the increasing formalism among the churches. By the third century, the entire region was almost entirely Christian, according to Eusebius.