Excavation of the four monumental burial tumuli at the site of Gordion, the ancient capital of the Phrygian kingdom in central Anatolia, yielded the remains of more than fifty pieces of wooden furniture. In tumulus MM—once thought to have contained the remains of the late eighth century B.C.E. king Mita (king Midas of Greek legend)—was found a three-legged boxwood banquet table, constructed from forty major components, all joined with mortise and tenon. The walnut top was inlaid with pieces of juniper cut in a wide variety of geometric patterns.

Phrygian furniture design and craftsmanship were still highly regarded in the fifth century B.C.E., when Herodotus of Halicarnassus mentioned a throne donated by Midas and still on display in the sanctuary at the shrine in Delphi in Greece. Of the throne, Herodotus remarked, "Midas...