Alyattes

This paper will reconsider the archaeological excavations of the Artemision and the City of Ephesus. Uncovered fragments of Greek and Lydian inscriptions indicate that Croesus made offerings to the sanctuary. Considering the Lydian inscription, we can suggest a new interpretation in light of the works dealing with the Lydian kings' onomastic. This paper will also reconsider the results of excavations of the Archaic City, for which no defensive wall has ever been uncovered so far. Thus, the comments of Herodotus and even Polyaenus cannot find any archaeological confirmation. Moreover, it appears that the story of the rope linking the Artemision to the City of Ephesus has probably been a fictional tale written by Herodotus in his Histories (then repeated by Polyaenus). Eventually , it seems that Croesus never besieged the city, because Ephesus surrendered to the Lydian king without any conflict.

In his Book I, Herodotus relates the war between Lydia of Alyattes and Media of Cyaxares. This war ended with the well-known occurrence of the total solar eclipse, which astronomical researchers propose to date to 585 BC. After these hostilities, a treaty between the two kingdoms was concluded, and was sealed by a royal wedding. This paper analyzes this event, better known as the " battle of the eclipse ". It will revisit the problem of the location of the battle and that of the identity of the Lydian and Median kings who reigned during this conflict. The paper will study the role that the eclipse played on the conclusion of hostilities and its impact on the minds of the Greeks; it will also examine the nature of the treaty concluded between the Lydians and the Medes. Finally, the paper will examine the problem of the Halys border that separated the Lydian and the Median kingdoms, modern scholars asserting that this border was chosen during the Lydo-Median treaty. This examination will allow us to study the view of the ethnic, geographical and political space that the river played in Herodotus's mind.

This is the original Powerpoint of the lecture presented in the grand auditorium Springer of the Israel Museum on Tuesday 26th June 2012, as a general introduction before the opening of the exhibition « White Gold » (see now the paper published in the Magazine of the American Numismatic Society.

Some call it an evolution since ancient societies were accustomed to settling transactions in precious metals for many centuries, even for millennia in some parts of Mesopotamia. But what happened in Asia Minor in the last third of the 7th c. BC (the date is debated) is best called a revolution, one which shaped the world of money forever. It was a revolution if the current view holds on: an issuing authority was powerful enough to impose a forced currency to standardized stamped lumps of metal priced well above their intrinsic value. Compared with the ingots or nuggets which were traded before, the main difference is very simple: coins were no more weighted within the limit of the issuing power. This is, in fact, the very definition of what a coin is: a small blank of metal whose alloy and weight are guaranteed by the impression of an official stamp or seal. Implicit but at the very heart of this revolution is the principle of fiduciary money, opposed to simple commodity money. People were convinced to accept a means of exchange whose intrinsic value was legally determined. And white gold Greek coins are likely to have been priced considerably above their intrinsic value.
We know where it happened: ancient Asia Minor, now Western modern Turkey. The distribution map of recorded finds, isolated or not, does not go beyond what was then controlled by the Mermnad rulers, the kingdom of Lydia which ended with its last king Croesus. It mainly covers the areas of Lydia with its capital Sardis, and Ionia with the city of Ephesus; it also extends to some parts of Mysia going North and Caria going South. This pattern strongly limits any explanation linking these first coins with long trade commercial purpose. 
What we don’t know for sure is: 1) when it first happened? 2) Who were the issuing powers? And, critically: 3) for what purpose these white gold coins were issued?
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This dissertation analyzes the internal organization and the foreign policy of the Lydian Kingdom under Alyattes’ and Croesus’ reigns. It is under those two sovereigns’ authority that the Lydian Kingdom will reach its peak. At that time, the Kingdom was divided into several regions ruled by a governor who was to provide military contingents to Sardis when the king expressed the need. Croesus was sent by his father to rule the district of Adramytteion, a strategic sector, because he was probably not intended to be his father’ successor. This is only after the death of his half brother Pantaleon that Croesus managed to be appointed as the legitimate successor. The two last Mermnads have mainly made agreements with the Eastern Greeks. Alyattes had bounded hospitality links with the different coastal cities. On its side, Croesus imposed them a payment of a tribute, and a shipment of military forces to Sardis. Only Miletos managed to save face extending the links of ξενία concluded with ...

Seit 1890 wird vermutet, dass die Aufschriften, die auf lydischen Münzen sporadisch zu finden sind, mit lydischen Königen zu verbinden sind. Seit wenigen Jahren sind diese Aufschriften zur Gänze lesbar, und die alte Vermutung scheint sich zu bestätigen. Allerdings stimmt die Abfolge der Prägungen mit der herkömmlichen Abfolge der Könige nicht überein. Eine Revision der lydischen Königsliste – und damit der Ereignisgeschichte im Kleinasien des 7. und frühen 6. Jhs. – steht also an.

Dans son logos lydien du Livre I, et plus particulièrement dans le cadre de son histoire de Crésus, Hérodote mentionne la campagne du roi lydien contre les troupes du roi des Perses Cyrus II. Lorsque Crésus s’apprête à entrer en Cappadoce et à envahir la cité de Ptérie, le père de l’Histoire précise que la frontière qui séparait la Médie de la Lydie était le fleuve Halys. Pour l’historien des guerres médiques, les raisons qui entraînèrent Crésus à franchir l’Halys étaient doubles : confiant dans l’oracle rendu par Apollon, le roi de Lydie désirait annexer un nouveau territoire à ses possessions personnelles mais surtout, il entendait venger son beau-frère Astyage que Cyrus venait de détrôner.
L’occasion est ainsi fournie à Hérodote d’expliquer les origines de ce lien associant le roi lydien à Astyage. Il précise en effet qu’un conflit avait opposé les Lydiens d’Alyatte (le père de Crésus) aux Mèdes de Kyaxare (le père d’Astyage). Cette guerre se serait terminée sur un épisode célèbre qui est fixé en 585 av. J.-C. : l’éclipse totale du soleil qu’aurait prédite Thalès de Milet. C’est à la suite de ces hostilités, qu’un traité aurait été conclu entre les Lydiens et les Mèdes, scellé par un mariage royal. C’est du moins ce que la tradition fixée par l’historien des guerres médiques a retenu.
Dans notre exposé, nous reviendrons sur cet événement plus connu sous le nom de la « bataille de l’éclipse ». Nous analyserons le problème de la localisation de la bataille, toujours inconnu, ainsi que de l’identité des rois lydiens et mèdes qui régnaient durant ce conflit. Nous étudierons surtout le rôle que l’éclipse totale du soleil joua dans la conclusion des hostilités, de même que l’impact de cet épisode sur les mentalités des Grecs. Cet exposé se penchera également sur l’utilisation que fait Hérodote de ce genre de phénomène pour dater des événements historiques. Enfin, nous examinerons la nature du traité conclu entre les Lydiens et les Mèdes scellé par un mariage royal en présence de Labynète de Babylone et de Syennésis de Cilicie.