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See also:HISTORY AND See also:ARCHAEOLOGY DOWN TO THE See also:ROMAN OCCUPATION
The See also: The See also:island owes its importance, therefore, mainly to its copious See also:supply of a few raw materials, notably copper and See also:timber. See also:Objects of Cypriote manufacture are found but rarely on sites abroad; in the later Bronze Age, however, they occur in Egypt and See also:South See also:Palestine, and as far afield as See also:Thera (See also:Santorin), See also:Athens and See also:Troy (Hissarlik). The Bronze Age culture of Cyprus falls into three See also:main stages. In the first, the implements are rather of copper than of bronze, See also:tin being absent or in small quantities (2 to 3%); the types are See also:common to Syria and See also:Asia See also:Minor as far as the See also:Hellespont, and resemble also the earliest forms in the See also:Aegean and in central See also:Europe; the pottery is all hand-made, with a red burnished See also:surface, See also:gourd-like and often fantastic forms, and See also:simple geometrical patterns incised; zoomorphic art is very rare, and imported objects are unknown. In the second See also:stage, implements of true bronze (9 to To;o tin) become common; painted pottery of See also:buff See also:clay with dull See also:black geometrical patterns appears along-See also:side the red-See also:ware; and foreign imports occur, such as See also:Egyptian See also:blue-glazed beads (XIIth-XIIIth See also:Dynasty, 2500—2000 B.C.),' and cylindrical See also:Asiatic See also:seals (one of See also:Sargon I., 2000 B.c.) 2 In the third stage, Aegean colonists introduced the Mycenaean (See also:late Minoan) culture and See also:industries; with new types of weapons, See also:wheel-made pottery, and a naturalistic art which rapidly becomes conventional; See also:gold and See also:ivory are abundant, and See also:glass and enamels are known. Extended intercourse with Syria, Palestine and Egypt brought other types of pottery, See also:jewelry, &c. (especially scarabs of XVIIIth and XIXth Dynasties, 1600-12oo B.C.), which were freely copied on the spot. There is, however, nothing in this period which can be ascribed to specifically " Phoenician " See also:influence; the only traces of See also:writing are in a variety of the Aegean script. The magnificent tombs from Enkomi and Episkopi illustrate the See also:wealth and See also:advancement of Cyprus at this See also:time.3 It is in this third stage that Cyprus first appears in history, under the name Asi, as a See also:conquest of Tethmosis (Thothmes) III. of Egypt (XVIIIth Dynasty, c. 1500 B.c.),4 yielding, See also:tribute of chariots, horses, copper, blue-stone and other products. It was still in Egyptian hands under Seti I., and under See also:Rameses III. a See also:list of Cypriote towns seems to include among others the names of See also:Salamis, See also:Citium, See also:Soli, Idalium, Cerynia (Kyrenia), and Curium, Another Egyptian dependency, Alasia, has by some been identified with Cyprus or a See also:part of it (but may perhaps be in See also:North Syria). It sent copper, oil, horses and See also:cattle, ivory and timber; under Amenophis (Amenhotep) III. it exported timber and imported See also:silver; it included a See also:town Stn., traded with Byblus in North Syria, and was exposed to piratical raids of Lykki (? Lycians). The decline of Egypt under the XXth Dynasty, and the contemporary fall of the Aegean See also:sea-See also:power, left Cyprus isolated and defenceless, and the Early See also:Iron Age which succeeds is a period of obscurity and relapse. Iron, which occurs rarely, and almost exclusively for ornaments, in a few .tombs at Enkomi, suddenly superseded bronze for tools and weapons, and its introduction was accompanied, as in the Aegean, by economic, and probably by See also:political changes, which See also:broke up the high See also:civilization of the Mycenaean colonies, and reduced them to poverty, 1 Myres, Journ. Hellenic Studies, xvii. p. 146. s See also:Sayce, Trans. See also:Soc. Bibl. Arch. v. pp. 441-444. The exact provenance of these cylinders is not known, but there is every See also:reason to believe that they were found in Cyprus. ' See also:British Museum, Excavations in Cyprus (See also:London, 1900). The See also:official publication stands alone in referring these tombs to the Hellenic period (800—600 B.C.). ' E. Oberhummer, See also:Die Insel Cypern (See also:Munich, 1903), i. pp. 1-3 (all the Egyptian See also:evidence).See also:isolation and See also:comparative barbarism. It is significant that the first iron swords in Cyprus are of a- type characteristic of the lands bordering the Adriatic. Gold and even silver become rare; 5 foreign imports almost cease; engraved cylinders and scarabs are replaced by conical and pyramidal seals like those of Asia Minor, and See also:dress-pins by brooches (fibulae) like those of south-eastern Europe. Representative art languishes, except a few childish terra-cottas; decorative art becomes once more purely geometrical, but shows only slight See also:affinity with the See also:con-temporary geometrical art of the Aegean. Lingering thus in Cyprus (as also in some islands of the Aegean) Mycenaean traditions came into contact with new See also:oriental influences from the Syrian See also:coast; and these were See also:felt in Cyprus somewhat earlier than in the See also:West. But there is at See also:present no clear See also:proof of Phoenician or other Semitic activity in Cyprus until the last years of the 8th See also:century. No reference to Cyprus has been found in Babylonian or See also:Assyrian records before the reign of Sargon II. (end of 8th century B.C.), and the occasional See also:discovery of Mesopotamian cylinders of early date in Cyprus is no proof of See also:direct intercourse. See also:Isaiah (See also:xxiii. 1, 12), writing about this time, describes Kittim (a name derived from Citium, q.v.) as a See also:port of See also:call for merchantmen homeward See also:bound for See also:Tyre, and as a shelter for Tyrian refugees; but the See also:Hebrew geographers of this and the next century classify Kittim, together with other coast-lands and islands, under the heading Javan, " Ionian " (q.v.), and consequently reckoned it as pre-dominantly See also:Greek. Sargon's See also:campaigns in north Syria, Cilicia and south-See also:east Asia Minor (721—711) provoked first attacks, then an See also:embassy and submission in 709, from seven See also:kings of Yatnana (the Assyrian name for Cyprus); and an inscription of Sargon himself, found at Citium, proves an Assyrian See also:protectorate, and records tribute of gold, silver and various timbers. These kings probably represent that " sea-power of Cyprus " which precedes that of See also:Phoenicia in the Greek " List of Thalassocracies " preserved by See also:Eusebius. Under See also:Sennacherib's See also:rule, Yatnana figures (as in Isaiah) as the See also:refuge of a disloyal Sidonian in 702; but in 668 ten kings of Cypriote cities joined See also:Assur-bani-See also:pal's expedition to Egypt; most of them See also:bear recognizable Greek names, e.g. Pylagoras of Chytroi, Eteandros of See also:Paphos, Onasagoras of Ledroi. They are gazetted with twelve other " kings of the Hatti (S.E. Asia Minor). Citium, the principal Phoenician See also:state, does not appear by name; but is usually recognized in the list under its Phoenician See also:title Karti-hadasti, " new town." Thus before the See also:middle of the 7th century Cyprus reappears in history divided among at least ten cities,. of which some are certainly Greek, and one at least certainly Phoenician: with this,' Greek tradition agrees.' The Greek colonists traced their descent, at Curium, from See also:Argos; at Lapathus, from See also:Laconia; at Paphos,. from See also:Arcadia; at Salamis, from the See also:Attic island of that name; and at Soli, also from See also:Attica. The settlements at Paphos and. Salamis, and 'probably at Curium, were believed to date from, the period of the Trojan See also:War, i.e. from the.' 13th century, and the latter part of the Mycenaean age; the name of Teucer, the legendary founder of Salamis, probably is a See also:reminiscence 'of the piratical Tikkara who harried the Egyptian coast under Rameses III... (c. 1200 B.C.), and the discovery of late Mycenaean settlements on these sites, and also at Lapathus, suggests that . these legends See also:rest upon history. The Greek See also:dialect of Cyprus points in the same direction; it shows marked resemblances with that of Arcadia, and forms with it a " South Achaean " or " South Aeolic " See also:group, related to the "See also:Northern Aeolic " of See also:Thessaly and other parts of north See also:Greece .s Further e A. J. See also:Evans, Journ. Anthrop. Inst. See also:xxx. p. 199 ff.; J.Naue, Die vorromischen Schwerter (Munich, 1903), p. 25. e E. Oberhummer, Lc. p. 5 if. (all the Assyrian and biblical evidence). 7 W. H. See also:Engel, Kypros (See also:Berlin, 1841) (all the Greek traditions).
8 Moriz See also:Schmidt, Z. f. vergl. Sprachw.(186o), p. 290 if., 361 ff.; H. W. See also: See also:Hoffmann, Die griechischen Dialekte, i. (See also:Gottingen, 1891) ; C. D. See also:Cobham, Bibliography of Cyprus, pp. 40-45.. evidence of continuity comes from the peculiar Cypriote script, a syllabary related to the linear scripts of See also:Crete and the south Aegean, and traceable in Cyprus to the Mycenaean age.' It remained in See also:regular use until the 4th century; before that time the Greek See also:alphabet occurs in Cyprus only in a few See also:inscriptions erected for visitors.2 In Citium and Idalium, on the other hand, a Phoenician dialect and alphabet were in use from the time of Sargon onward.3 Sargon's inscription at Citium is See also:cuneiform.' The culture and art of Cyprus in this Graeco-Phoenician period are well represented by remains from Citium, Idalium, Tamassus, See also:Amathus and Curium; the earlier phases are best represented See also:round Lapathus, Soli, Paphos and Citium; the later 'Hellenization, at Amathus and See also:Marion-See also:Arsinoe. Three distinct foreign influences may be distinguished: they originate in Egypt, in See also:Assyria, and in the Aegean. The first two pre-dominate earlier, and gradually recede before the last-named. Their effects are best seen in See also:sculpture and in See also:metal See also:work, though it remains doubtful whether the best examples of the latter were made in Cyprus or on the mainland. Among a See also:great See also:series of engraved silver See also:bowls,' found mostly in Cyprus, but also as far off as See also:Nineveh, See also:Olympia, See also:Caere and See also:Praeneste, some examples show almost unmixed See also:imitation of Egyptian scenes and devices; in others, Assyrian types are introduced among the Egyptian in senseless confusion; in others, both traditions are merged in a mixed art, which betrays a return to See also:naturalism and a new sense of See also:style, like that of the Idaean bronzes in Crete.' From its intermediate position between the art of ,Phoenicia and its western colonies (so far as this is known) and the earliest Hellenic art in the Aegean, this style has been called Graeco-Phoenician. The same sequence of phases is represented in sculpture by the votive statues from the sanctuaries of See also:Aphrodite at Dali and of See also:Apollo at VSni and Fra gissa; and by examples from other sites in the See also:Cesnola collection; in See also:painting by a rare class of naively polychromic vases; and in both by the elaborately coloured terra-See also:cotta figures from the " Toumba " site at Salamis. See also:Gem-See also:engraving and jewelry follow similar lines; pottery-painting for the most part remains geometrical throughout, with crude survivals of Mycenaean See also:curvilinear forms. Those Aegean influences, however, which had been predominant in the later Bronze Age, and had never wholly ceased, revived, as See also:Hellenism matured and spread, and slowly repelled the mixed Phoenician orientalism. Imported vases from the Aegean, of the " Dipylon," " proto-Corinthian " and " Rhodian " fabrics, occur rarely, and were imitated by the native potters; and early in the 6th century appears the specific influence of See also:Ionia, and still more of See also:Naucratis in the Egyptian See also:delta. For the failure of Assyria in Egypt in 668—664, and the revival of Egypt as a phil-Hellene state under the XXVIth Dynasty, admitted strong Graeco-Egyptian influences in See also:industry and art, and led about 56o B.C. to the political conquest of Cyprus by See also:Amasis (Ahmosi) II.; 7 once again Cypriote timber maintained a foreign sea-power in the See also:Levant. The See also:annexation of Egypt by See also:Cambyses of See also:Persia in 525 B.C. ' G. Smith, Tr. Soc. Bibl. Arch. i. 129 ff. ; See also:Moritz Schmidt, Monatsb. k. Ak. Wiss. (Berlin, 1874), pp. 614-615; Sammlung kypr. Inschriften (See also:Jena, 1876); W. Deecke, Ursprung der kypr. Sylbenschrift (See also:Strassburg, 1877) ; cf. Deecke-Collitz, Samml. d. gr. Dialektinschrif ten, i. (Gottingen, 1884) ; cf. C. D. Cobham, l.c. On its Aegean origin, A. J. Evans, " Cretan Pictographs " (1895), Journ. See also:Hell. Studies, xiv., cf. xvii.; British Museum, Exc. in Cypr. (London, 1900), p. 27. 2 British Museum, Exc. in Cypr. (London, 1900), p. 95 (Ionic inscriptions of 5th century from Amathus). M. de See also:Vogue, Melanges d'archeologie orientale (See also:Paris, 1869) ; J: Eating, Sitzb. k. preuss. Ak. Wiss. (1887), pp. 115 ff.; Ph. Berger, C. R. Acad. Inscr. (1887), pp. 155 if., 187 if., 203 if. Cf. Corpus Inscr. Serail. (Paris, 1881), ii. 35 if. '"E. See also:Schrader, Abh. d. k. preuss. Ak. Wiss. (1881). ' G. See also:Perrot and C. Chipiez, Histoire de l'art See also:duns l'antiquite, iii. (Paris, 1885), interpret these and most other Cypriote materials without reserve as " Phoenician." 6 F. Halbherr and P. Orsi, Antichitd dell' antro di See also:Zeus Ideo in Creta (See also:Rome, 1888). Cf. H. See also:Brunn, Griechische Kunstgeschichte (Munich, 1893), i. 90 if.
See also:Herod. ii. 182; see also EGYPT: History (Dyn. See also:XXVI.).699
was preceded by the voluntary surrender of Cyprus, which formed part of See also:Darius's " fifth satrapy." 3 The Greek cities, faring See also:ill under Persia, and organized by Onesilaus of Salamis, joined the Ionic revolt in Soo B.C.; 9 but the Phoenician states, Citium and Amathus, remained loyal to Persia; the rising was soon put down; in 48o Cyprus furnished no less than 15o See also:ships to the See also:fleet of See also:Xerxes;10 and in spite of the repeated attempts of the Delian See also:League to " liberate " the island, it remained subject to Persia during the 5th century." The occasion of the See also:siege of Idalium by Persians (which is commemorated in an important Cypriote inscription) is unknown." Throughout this period, however, Athens and other Greek states maintained a brisk See also:trade in copper, sending vases and other manufactures in return, and bringing Cyprus at last into full contact with Hellenism. But the Greek cities retained monarchical See also:government throughout, and both the domestic art and the principal religious cults remained almost unaltered. The coins of the Greek dynasts and autonomous towns are struck on a variable See also:standard with a stater of 170 to 18o grs.13 The principal Greek cities were now Salamis, Curium, Paphos, Marion, Soli, Kyrenia and Khytri. Phoenicians held Citium and Amathus on the south coast between Salamis and Curium, also Tamassus and Idalium in the interior; but the last named was little more than a See also:sanctuary town, like Paphos. At the end of the 5th century a fresh Salaminian League was formed by See also:Evagoras (q.v.), who became See also: After the victory of See also: Porcius See also:Cato to annex the island, nominally because its king had connived at piracy, really because its revenues and the treasures of Paphos were coveted to See also:finance a See also:corn See also:law of P. See also:Clodius.'6 Under Rome Cyprus was at first appended to the See also:province of Cilicia; after See also:Actium (31 B.C.) it became a See also:separate province, which remained in the hands of See also:Augustus and was governed by a legatus Caesaris See also:pro praetore as See also:long as danger was feared from the East." No monuments 8 Herod. iii. 19. 91;-see also PERSIA: History. 9 Herod. v. 108, 113, 115. 10 Herod. vii. 90. 11 Thuc. i. 94, 112. 12 M. Schmidt, Die Inschrift von Idalion (Jena, 1874). 1s G. F. See also: Bibl. Arch. v. 447 if. (See also:translation). For Evagoras and the See also:place of Cyprus in later Greek history, see G. See also:Grote, History of Greece (See also:Index, s.v.), and W. H. Engel, Kypros (Berlin, 1841). 15 See also:Mace. xv. 23. 16 See also:Livy, Epit. 104; Cie. pro Sestio, 26, 57. 17 Dio See also:Cass. liii. 12 ; See also:Strabo 683, 840. remain of this period. In 22 B.C., however, it was transferred to the See also:senate,' so that See also:Sergius See also:Paulus, who was See also:governor in A.D. 46, is rightly called avBinraros (proconsul)? Of Paulus no coins are known, but an inscription exists. ° Other proconsuls are See also:Julius See also:Cordus and L. Annius See also:Bassus who succeeded him in A.D. 52.4 The copper mines, which were still of great importance, were farmed at one time by Herod the Great.5 The persecution of Christians on the mainland after the death of See also:Stephen drove converts as far as Cyprus; and soon after converted Cypriote See also:Jews, such as Mnason (an " See also:original convert ") and Joses the Levite (better known as See also:Barnabas), were See also:preaching in See also:Antioch. The latter revisited Cyprus twice, first with See also:Paul on his " first See also:journey " in A.D. 46, and later with See also:Mark.° In 116-117 the Jews of Cyprus, with those of Egypt and See also:Cyrene, revolted, massacred 240,QOO persons, and destroyed a large part of Salamis. See also:Hadrian, afterwards See also:emperor, suppressed them, and expelled all Jews from Cyprus. For the culture of the Roman period there is abundant evidence from Salamis and Paphos, and from tombs everywhere, for the glass vessels which almost wholly supersede pottery are much sought for their (quite accidental) iridescence; not much else is found that is either characteristic or noteworthy; and little See also:attention has been paid to the sequence of style.
The See also:Christian See also: Idalium)' in 1851; and of a bronze tablet with Phoenician and Cypriote bilingual inscriptions, 8 also at Dali, and about the same time, had raised questions of great See also:interest as to the art and the See also:language of the See also:ancient inhabitants. T. B. Sandwith, British See also:consul 1865-1869, had laid the See also:foundations of a See also:sound knowledge of Cypriote pottery; 9 his successor R. H. See also:Lang (1870—1872) had excavated a sanctuary of Aphrodite at Dali; '° and at the time of the publication of the 9th ed. of the Ency. Brit.," See also:General See also: See also:Hogarth, Devia Cypria, pp. 114 if. and app. 4 Corp. Inscr. See also:Lat. 2631-2632. 6 Jos. See also:Ant. 16. 4, 5; 19. 26, 28. 6 Acts iv. 36, xi. 19, 20, xiii. 4-13, xv. 39, xxi. 16. 7 De Longperier, Atheneum fransais (1853), pp. 413 ff.;Musie Napole'on, pls. x. xi. 8 De See also:Luynes, Numismatique et inscriptions chypriotes (1852). 9 Archaeologia, xlv. (1877), pp. 127-142. '° Trans. See also:Roy. Soc. Literature, and See also:ser: xi. (1878), pp. 30 if. 11 See also:Article " Cyprus " ad. fin. 12 Cyprus: its Cities, Tombs and Temples ( London, 1877).in the See also:Metropolitan Museum of New See also:York, remains the largest series of Cypriote antiquities in the See also:world, the accounts which have been given of its origin are so inadequate, and have provoked so much controversy,13 that its scientific value is small, and a large part of subsequent excavation has necessarily been directed to solving the problems suggested by its practically isolated specimens. From 1876 to 1878 See also:Major Alexander P. di Cesnola continued his brother's work, but the large collection which he exhibited in London in 188o was dispersed soon afterwards.14 On the British occupation of Cyprus in 1878, the See also:Ottoman law of 1874 in regard to antiquities was retained in force. Excavation is permitted under government supervision, and the finds are apportioned in thirds, between the excavator, the landowner (who is usually bought out by the former), and the government. The government thirds See also:lie neglected in a " Cyprus Museum " maintained at Nicosia by voluntary subscription. There is no See also:staff, and no effective supervision of ancient sites or monuments. A catalogue of the collections was published by the Oxford University See also:Press in 1899.15 Since 1878 more than seventy distinct excavations have been made in Cyprus, of which the following are the most important. In 1879 the British government used the See also:acropolis of Citium (Larnaca) to fill up the ancient See also:harbour; and from the destruction a few Phoenician inscriptions and a proto-Ionic See also:capital were saved. In 1882 tombs were opened by G. See also:Hake at Salamis and Curium for the South See also:Kensington Museum, but no scientific See also:record was made. In 1883 the Cyprus Museum was founded by .private enterprise, and on its behalf Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, who had already made trial diggings for See also:Sir See also: Hogarth and R. Elsey Smith; 21 (2) in 1889-1890 more tombs were opened at P61i by Messrs J. A. R. See also:Munro and H. A. Tubbs; 22 (3) in 189o-1891 extensive trials were made at Salamis, by the same; 23 (4) minor sites were examined at Leondari Vouno (1888), 24 Amargetti (1888), 25 and Limniti (1889);26 (5) in 1888 Hogarth made a surface-survey of the Karpass promontory; 27 and finally, (6) in 1894 the See also:balance was expended by J. L. Myres in a series of trials, to See also:settle See also:special " See Cobham, An Attempt at a Bibliography of Cyprus (4th ed., Nicosia, 1900), Appendix, "Cesnola Controversy," p. 54. " 4 The See also:Lawrence-Cesnola Collection (London, 1881); Salaminia, id. 1882. 's Myres and Ohnefalsch-Richter, A Catalogue of the Cyprus Museum, with a See also:Chronicle of Excavations since the British Occupation, and See also:Introductory Notes on Cypriote Archaeology (Oxford, 1899). 16 Mitt. d. arch. Inst. ii. (Athens, 1881). " Mitt. d. arch. Inst. vi. (Athens, 1886) ; Bemerkungen z. lilt. Kunsthandwerk, &c., ii. " Der kypr. geometrische Stil " (See also:Halle, 1888). '6 Summarized in Cyprus, the See also:Bible and See also:Homer (London and Berlin, 1893). '9 Das Grdberfeld von Marion (Berlin, 1888). 2° Archives See also:des See also:missions scientifiques, xvii. (Paris, 1891). 21 See also:Journal of Hellenic Studies, ix. (London, 1888). 22 Id. xi. (1890); xii. (1891). 22 Id. xii. (1891). 24 Id. ix. (1888), 26 Id. ix. (1888). 2° Id. xi. (189o). 22 Devia Cypria (Oxford, 1889). points, at Agia Paraskevi, Kalopsfda and Larnaca.' In 1894 also Dr Richter excavated round Idalium and Tamassus for the Prussian government: the results, unpublished up to 1902, are in the Berlin Museum? Finally, a See also:legacy from See also:Miss Emma T. See also:Turner enabled the British Museum to open numerous tombs, by See also:contract, of the Graeco-Phoenician age, in 1894, at Palaeo-Lemessd (Amathus); and of the Mycenaean age, in 1894-1895 at Episkopi, in 1895-1896 at Enkomi (near Salamis), and in 1897-1899 on small sites between Larnaca and Limasol.3 For ancient Oriental references to Cyprus see E. Oberhummer, Die Inset Cypern, i. (Munich, 1903); for classical references, W. H. Engel, Kypros (2 vols., Berlin, 1841); for culture and art, G. Perrot and C. Chipiez, Histoire de l'art dons l'antiquiti, vol. iii. Phenicie et Cypre " (Paris, 1885) ; L. P. di Cesnola, A Descriptive See also:Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypr. Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (3 vols., See also:Boston, U.S.A., 1884–1886) ; M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, the Bible and Homer (2 vols., London and Berlin, 1893); J. L. Myres and M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Cyprus Museum Catalogue (Oxford, 1899). The principal publications on special topics are given in the footnotes. For Cypriote coins see also See also:NuMISMATICS. See further the general bibliography below. U. L. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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