Phrygian Inscriptions of Gordion

The Phrygian capital city Gordion yielded the richest finds in terms of Old Phrygian inscriptions thanks to the excavations conducted here. Although there are no rock inscriptions due to the unsuitable nature of the site, many inscriptions were found on stone blocks and sherds. 11 stone inscriptions are shared below.

Inscription G-01
It is a votive tile found in 1950 under a Persian period building. There are only 7 pieces of a very fragmented stone. There are Old Phrygian inscriptions on its upper face and two on the vertical side. The 4 lines on the upper face is written boustrophedon. Dated to the 6th century BCE. It is currently in the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara.

Inscription G-02
The limestone slab was found reused in a Persian period canal wall at the west of the city gate in 1952. Although no exact dating can be made, it is thought to be from not later than the 6th century BCE. Only the upper face of the stone is inscribed, and it bears both a text and a pair of engraved pointy-toed shoe prints. The dextroverse written text consists of three parts. It is currently in the Gordion Museum.

‘Devoted foot of/for Adoikavos. Whoever … harms it, …’

Inscription G-03
The limestone block was found among the rubble pack under the wall of a Persian period building. There is a single line of dextroverse Old Phrygian inscription on the block.

[-?-]kakrayun ni[-?-]

Inscription G-04
It was found in 1967 as reused in the wall of a Hellenistic period building. The limestone block fragment has a partially visible three-line boustrophedon writing that starts with sinistroverse. It is currently in the Gordion Museum.

Inscription G-05
It is a limestone fragment found reused above the early period east gate. On it, only a sinistroverse letter ‘g’ is visible. It is currently in the Gordion Museum.

[‑‑‑]g[‑‑‑]

Inscription G-06
It is a limestone fragment found on the surface of the Tumulus J in Gordion. There is a one-line Old Phrygian writing on the stone that is broken on all sides. It is currently in the Gordion Museum.

[‑‑‑] ḅạḅạṣ? [‑‑‑]

Inscription G-07
It is a limestone fragment found reused for the repair of the east gate. There is a one-line sinistroverse Old Phrygian writing on the stone that is broken on all sides. It is currently in the Gordion Museum.

[‑‑‑]m^?ạesi.[‑‑‑]

Inscription G-08
It is a limestone fragment found near the Tumulus H in Gordion. There is a one-line sinistroverse Old Phrygian writing on the stone. It is currently in the Gordion Museum.

[‑‑‑]ọsve[‑‑‑]

Inscription G-09
It is a limestone fragment (possibly from the same stone as G-08) found near the Tumulus H in Gordion. There is a one-line sinistroverse Old Phrygian writing on the stone. It is currently in the Gordion Museum.

[‑‑‑]ṛ^?emẹ^?[‑‑‑]

Inscription G-10
It is a small limestone block, of which the location and date of discovery are unknown. There is a two-line Old Phrygian boustrophedon inscription on the front face of the stone. The brake at the top section has damaged the sinistroverse first line.

Inscription G-11
It is a trapezoidal limestone block found in 1995 during a survey 5 km south-southeast of Gordion, northwest of Çekirdeksiz Village. The single-line sinistroverse Old Phrygian writing on the upper part of the stone starts from the right side, continues along the front face, and ends on the left side. The surface of the stone, especially at the inscribed section, is badly damaged.

Inscription G-12
The inscription is the first and, so far, the only inscription known to mention the name of the city of Gordion. The inscribed stone slab was discovered by a local farmworker only 250 m northwest of Gordion’s Citadel Mound in 2021. The right side of the roughly rectangular stone slab is broken. There is a 7-line Phrygian inscription. All the lines are sinistroverse. So, the beginning parts of the lines that should be on the broken piece are partly missing. Oreshko proposes that the inscription belongs to the tomb monument of a Persian commander named Parsaparnas. He was probably commanding a Pergamonian military unit stationed in Gordion during the reign of Seleucid king Antiochus I. Considering the alphabet, linguistic features (including Lydian words), and the two names found in the text, Oreshko suggests a date between 276-270 BCE for the inscription. In the translation by Oreshko below, the Phrygian text is rendered in English, and the Lydian and supposedly ‘Lydianizing’ words are given in italicized French.

1 …] (under) Antiochus and Seleucus.
2 …] monument funeraire this
3 …] he …-ed. And the mortals/dead
4 …] Parsaparnas. Et cette stèle for his Pergamenes
5 …] to the wayfarer [he]re to Gordion – good fortune!
6 …] and … perdition/safety. And the work here
7 …] … to the monuments/in the memory.

Inscription C-01
It is a limestone block fragment found during the excavations in Hacıtuğrul Höyük (Külhöyük) approximately 20 km east of Gordion. There is a single-line dextroverse Old Phrygian inscription together with an engraving of a half-visible left footprint.

[‑‑‑]e[…]alaḅịọṣ[‑‑‑]

References:
Brixhe, C. & M. Lejeune. 1984. Corpus des inscriptions paléo-phrygiennes, Paris.
Brixhe, C. 2002. ‘Corpus des inscriptions paléo-phrygiennes: Supplément I’, Kadmos 41, 1-102.
Obrador-Cursach, B. 2018. Lexicon of the Phrygian Inscriptions, Thesis, Barcelona.
Oreshko, R. & U. Alagöz. 2023. ‘A New Phrygian Inscription from Gordion: A Pergamene Contingent in Phrygia in the early Reign of Antiochus I’, Belleten 87/310, 793-831.
Young, R. S. 1969. ‘Old Phrygian Inscriptions from Gordion: Toward a History of the Phrygian Alphabet’, Hesperia 38/2, 252-296.

Image Sources:
R. S. Young, 1969
C. Brixhe & M. Lejeune, 1984
C. Brixhe, 2002
R. Oreshko & U. Alagöz, 2023
Bora Bilgin, 2020, 2024