The discovery of a 2,800-year-old royal tomb linked to the Midas Dynasty

At the archaeological site of Gordion, where the Penn Museum has led excavations since 1950, a collaborative team led by C. Brian Rose, James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology and a professor of classical studies in the School of Arts & Sciences, discovered a remarkably well-preserved tomb chamber from 8th century BCE.

“Gordion was the capital of the Phrygian kingdom, which controlled much of Asia Minor in the early first millennium BCE,” says Rose, also the Gordion Excavation Director and Ferry Curator-in-Charge of the Penn Museum’s Mediterranean Section. He adds that the kingdom was once ruled by King Midas—famous for his mythical “golden touch”—and archaeological evidence suggests that the recently excavated burial chamber may belong to the same storied Midas dynasty.

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While excavations typically lasted over a period of three months each summer, a program developed in 2024 by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism extended the scope of excavations at Türkiye’s historic sites, allowing fieldwork to continue all year through partnerships with Turkish archaeologists.

At Gordion, Penn researchers worked with Yücel Şenyurt of Ankara's Haci Bayram Veli University, who used remote sensing (magnetic prospection) technology and determined the likely location of a wooden chamber—hidden beneath the 21-ft. tall (6.5 meters) and 196-ft. (60 meters) in diameter monumental burial mound identified as Tumulus T-26.

Following four months of excavations, they found the burial chamber. Although its roof had collapsed, the objects deposited in the tomb at the time of burial (ca. 740 BCE) remained in place—with no evidence of tomb robbing. The artifacts included a variety of well-preserved bronze vessels used during banquets, along with iron tools.

The most incredible find is a pair of large bronze cauldrons, together with smaller bronze cauldrons, jugs, and bowls which were all used to serve food and drink at a funeral feast. The vessels’ outer surfaces preserve traces of adhering textiles—offering further insight into the array of elite craft products left in the tomb. Surprisingly, the burial was a cremation, which otherwise first appears at Gordion more than 100 years later.

“The excavation of these tumuli has yielded a wealth of information about the lives of Gordion's rulers and their associates,” says Rose, who has been the director of fieldwork at Gordion since 2013.

The newly excavated tumulus is located near and is roughly contemporary with the Midas Mound tomb, which housed the body of a man who was likely King Midas’s father. The new burial may be connected in some way with Midas’s family or his associates, Rose adds.

Read more at Penn Museum.