| Alyattes | |
|---|---|
 Coin of Alyattes, c. 620/10 – 564/53 BC.[1] | |
| King of Lydia | |
| Reign | c. 635 – c. 585 BC |
| Predecessor | Sadyattes |
| Successor | Croesus |
| Died | 585 BCE Sardis |
| Burial | 585 BCE Plain of Sardis (now Bin Tepe) |
| Issue | Aryenis Croesus Pantaleon |
| Lydian | 𐤥𐤠𐤩𐤥𐤤𐤯𐤤𐤮 (Walweteś) |
| Dynasty | Mermnad dynasty |
| Father | Sadyattes |
| Mother | Lyde |
Alyattes (Lydian language: 𐤥𐤠𐤩𐤥𐤤𐤯𐤤𐤮 Walweteś;[2] Ancient Greek: Ἀλυάττης Aluáttēs; reigned c. 635 – c. 585 BC[3]), sometimes described as Alyattes I, was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Sadyattes, grandson of Ardys, and great-grandson of Gyges. He died after a reign of 57 years and was succeeded by his son Croesus.[4][5]
Alyattes was the first monarch who issued coins, made from electrum (and his successor Croesus was the first to issue gold coins). Alyattes is therefore sometimes mentioned as the originator of coinage, or of currency.[6]
- ^ Weidauer Group XVII, 108 var. Triton XXI (2018) no. 497, auctioned for USD 2750. This particular coin does not bear an inscription, but it is from the same punch as contemporary coins which have the inscription WALWEL. (Classical Numismatics Group).
- ^ Browne, Gerald Michael (1996). "Notes on Two Lydian Texts". Kadmos. 35 (1): 49–52. doi:10.1515/kadm.1996.35.1.49. S2CID 162312829. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ Dale, Alexander (2015). "WALWET and KUKALIM: Lydian coin legends, dynastic succession, and the chronology of Mermnad kings". Kadmos. 54: 151–166. doi:10.1515/kadmos-2015-0008. S2CID 165043567. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ Herodotus 1975, p. 46
- ^ "Summary of Herodotus | First Floor Tarpley". Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ A. Ramage, "Golden Sardis", King Croesus' Gold: Excavations at Sardis and the History of Gold Refining, edited by A. Ramage and P. Craddock, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2000, p. 18.