Phrygia, ancient region, central Asia Minor (now central Turkey). The Phrygians, who settled here c.1200 B.C., came from the Balkans and apparently spoke an Indo-European language. A kingdom, associated in Greek legend with the names of Midas and Gordius, flourished from the 8th to the 6th cent. B.C., when it fell with the Cimmerian invasion (676-585 B.C.) and became dominated by Lydia. Phrygia was best known to the Greeks as a source of slaves and as a center of the cult of Cybele. N Phrygia became part of Galatia with the invasion of the Gauls (3d cent. B.C.). The kings of Pergamum ruled much of Phrygia until it passed to the Romans. There has been much archaeological excavation in the area.

Ancient district, west-central Anatolia. It was named for a people whom the Greeks called Phryges and who dominated Anatolia between the Hittite collapse (12th century BC) and ascent of Lydia (7th century BC). The Phrygians were possibly of Thracian origin (see Thrace) and had their capital at Gordium. The kingdom of their legendary ruler, Midas, ended circa 700 BC with the invasion of the Cimmerians, who burned the capital. The Phrygians excelled in metalwork, wood carving, carpet making, and embroidery. Their religious cult of the Great Mother of the Gods was passed on to the Greeks. Excavations conducted since 1945 have uncovered carved stone tombs and shrines there.

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