Lydia was a prosperous state and a great political power since the reign of King Gyges (687-652 B.C.). The capital was at Sardis on the Pactalos River. The stream bore silver, gold and electrum. Under King Ardys (652-615 B.C.) the Lydian developed trade and banking and for the first time in history minted and used coins made for exchanging goods. Under King Crosus (569-546 B.C.) the minting improved and a new monetary system that bore an official seal on the gold and silver coins was created. The acropolis hovers a thousand feet higher to the south of the Tumulus range.

The ruins of Sardis include the ancient Lydian Citadel which had monumental buildings, the temple of Artemis and the bath-gymnasium complex. From its high cliffs it was a stronghold watching over the lower city to its north, the plain of the Hermos and the road through the valley.

To the north of Sardis across the Hermos River lie the royal tombs at Bin Tempe. Here are the conical shaped graves of the Lydian kings, princes an nobility. The Lydian tomb of Alyattes is covered by a tumulus 1180 ft. in diameter and 200 ft. high and being the largest it was constructed in his own lifetime, before 560 B.C. inside the tumulus of Gyges, about 1/3 of the way into the mound there is a partially finished marble curtain wall.

Three miles to the south, above Sardis in the Tmolus mountains marble was quarried and used for local buildings and temples.  To supplement the gray marble from these quarries, other marbles were also imported.  The quarries were used during the Greek, Persian and Roman Ages.

The rock cut tombs at monuments at Aslantas near Afyon along with the ruins and tombs of Midas, near Eskisehir, are some of the most important of the Phrygian period. Here in the highlands the Phrygians worshipped the deity Cybele and her lover Attis.

Both the Greeks and Romans had many oracles.  At the Temple to Apollo at Claros, divine communication was delivered in response to a petitioner's request.  After bathing in the spring, the woman oracle would descend into a basement cell.  Priests then interpreted her response.  the word Clairvoyant come from this sites name.

As an important archaeological site of the Greek an Roman periods in Anatolia, Aphrodisias lies southeast of the modern port Izmir. With its sanctuary of Aphrodite, the patron goddess, Aphrodisias had a long and prosperous existence from the first century B.C. through the sixth century A.D. Many of the city’s monuments are still standing; numerous fine marble statues and other artefacts remain visible.