Lydia
Lydia is the name of an ancient region and kingdom in western Anatolia, along the Hermus River, with Sardis as its capital. The Lydian kingdom endured from the late Bronze Age into the 6th century BCE and was absorbed into the Achaemenid Persian Empire after Cyrus the Great conquered it in 546 BCE. The region stood as a crossroads between Aegean trade networks and inland routes across Asia Minor.
Lydia is often credited with early coinage, with Lydian coins dating to the 7th century BCE helping
The Lydian language, spoken in the kingdom, is part of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language
In the New Testament, Lydia is a woman from Thyatira who was a seller of purple cloth
Lydia is also a feminine given name derived from the ancient region. It has been used since