THE NOBLE KARDOUCHOI AND THE BARBAROUS MOSSYNOIKOI: Remembering and Forgetting Ancient Anatolian Peoples

Abstract

For several hundred years from the mid-first millennium B.C.E. the Mossynoikoi and the Kardouchoi were dominant peoples in their respective regions of Anatolia. While the historical record indicates they were strong militarily and successful at commerce, they were apparently not inclined to express their power or wealth in terms of monumental architecture or durable artwork. In the absence of a material legacy our knowledge of these peoples derives primarily from ancient literary sources, the most important of which is the firsthand account given by the Greek writer Xenophon the Athenian in his Anabasis. The aims of this paper are, firstly, to highlight the importance of ancient accounts in so far as they preserve knowledge of peoples who we may otherwise know nothing about and, secondly, to explore how these same texts have a decisive bearing in the process of remembering ancient peoples.