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Cyprus Archaeological History
This covers most of Prof. Toumazou's lecture notes on the history of Cyprus from 8500 BC to 1600 AD. It also lists salient points from Footprints in Cyprus, which happens to be out-of-print right now. Super props goes out to David Massey (AAP '02), without whom this text would not be possible. Paul Oakenfold never dies, baby!
PALEOLITHIC BRONZE AGE (8500 - 1600 BC)
- First man on Akrotiri at 8500 BC
- First major community at Khirokitia (Aceramic Neolithhic)
- Unusual site (no agriculture)
- Khirokitia and other 8000 BC sites disappear
- Early communities are near hilltop
- Communities homes were 2 stories
- Villages had almost no external contact
- Intradomic Burial
- Sotira (Ceramic Neolithic)
- square building plan located underground
- inhabitants traded with others for picrolite
- trade also shown through movement of pottery
- unlike Khirokitia, Sotira did not have large village centers
- extradomic burials
- 3500 BC
- Lemba community
- wattled (not stone) houses not permanent, now circular again
- metalwork
- first evidence of rituals
- 2500 BC
- MAJOR CHANGES
- immigrants from Turkey (Anatolia) show up
- guys bring lots of new customs
- new pottery (see Vounous tombs)
- chamber tombs, urn burial
- copper starts to get exploited
- bull cult starts
- foreign goods shows up in tombs
- Cyprus mentioned in Ugarit (not Middle Egypt) trade network
- 1750 BC
- term "ALASIA" shows up
- signs of violent destruction at Nitovikla
THE LATE BRONZE AGE (1600 - 1050 BC)
- Cyprus entered Late Bronze Age with unrest
- Cyprus had free communication, free trade
- trade especially through transport of copper ore
- Bichrome Wheelmade ware shows up (pottery) in Palaepaphos
- trade with Aegean shows up
- cities in Cyprus are fortified
- Religion is based on fertility
- people lived well lots of luxury items
- site of Kalavassos
- ashlar wall facings
- showed administrative buildings
- tied to Kalavassos copper mine nearby
- Kalavassos may have been a Mycenaen commercial center with luxury good trade
- during time period, art flourished
- lots of Near Eastern and Aegean elements in jewelry
- Cypro-Minoan script developed
- writing was poems, not inventory lists
- language related to Arcadia (Arcadians from Pellopenisia brought language)
- Cypro-Minoan script found at Ugarit
- Cyprus was mentioned in Near Eastern texts
- Cyprus mentioned in Hittite tab lets too
- PEOPLE OF THE SEA come [major badasses]
- mostly soldiers of fortune
- ravaged cities
- near the sea, can see well-fortified military outpost (near Paphos)
- 1200 BC
- heralded a new age immigrants called Achaeans come
- bring cultural and artistic skills
- Achaeans fix up Enkomi
- Enkomi's public town grid is redesigned (90 degree streets)
- new public square in middle
- new sanctuary to Horned god
- new sanctuary to male and female Ingot god
- Cypriots make relationship between metallurgy and religion
- Achaeans contribute greatly to Cyprus art
- make ajore (cut-out technique)
- bring 'Barbarian' pottery from Greece
- jewelry develops
- Greece fashions come into style
- 1100 BC
- huge earthquake takes place
- Salamis replaces Enkomi
EARLY IRON AGE (1100 - 700 BC)
- 1100 BC is Iron Age
- in Palaepephos, find syllabic Greek inscription
- proves that immigrants came from Greece
- Cypriots used Greek script for letters
- first writing, called ***CYPRO-CLASSICAL***
- art of writing was never forgotten in Cyprus
- Bichrome ware is hip
- Amathus becomes a route on Greek shipping routes
- Kition is settled by colonists from Phoenition city called Tyre
- colonists build 3-part temple to Astarte
- colonists change Cypriot art fast
- make Black-on-Red pottery fashionable
- Assyrian influence shows up
- Cyprus is prosperous
- Cypriots don't change syllable language from Cypro-Classical to Phoenician
- Cypriots don't use Greek polis system
- Cypriots have author called **Stasinos**
- guy wrote prequel to Illiad
- Cyprus related to Sardinia (w/ imports)
- tombs of Salamis
- really impressive (was in Nicosia museum)
- shows oriental luxuries
- ivory bed, thrones
- tombs at Salamis copied nearly everything from Homer's Odyessy
ARCHAIC PERIOD (750 - 475 BC)
- Assyria becomes sick of being a wuss
- Cyprus is invaded by Assyrians in 709
- Cypriots start using Persian coins
- Cypriot syllabic script
- used to write Greek AND Eteo-Cypriot
- Greek alphabet only is used way later by **Evagoras 1**
- 663 BC
- Cyprus busts out and becomes free for 100 years
- during 100 years, kickass art is made
- tombs with rectangular chambers and trap. roofs
- chamber tomb painted like a Egyptian sarphagous (!)
- 526 BC
- Persia busts out and takes control of Cyprus
- not super-tight control, Cyprus has some freedom
- Cyprus is opened to lots of East Greek influence
- 498 BC : IONIAN REVOLT
- every Cyprus kingdom except for Amathus revolts
- Cyprus gets ass kicked by Persians
- during Archaic period, see cities being fortified
- normal buildings made of mudbrick, rubble, and mud mortar
- religion, as always is important
- sanctuary architecture is open court w/ small buildings
- see Aphrodite/Astarte/Mother Goddess in Cyprus
- Phoenicians add own deities
- Egyptian add own deities
- Cypriots believe that god sits in own temple
- thus use small look-a-like statues in lieu of self (continuous offering)
- Religious leaders at time controlled copper industry
- during time, people made terracotta figures with moulds
- see lots of Assyrian influence (square beards)
- see lots of Egyptian and East Greek influence
- vases have great pictoral style (from East Greek)
CLASSICAL PERIOD (475 - 325 BC)
- Persians finished crushing Ionian revolt
- kings of Cyprus still were kind-of independent
- kings still had to pay tribute and contribute ships to Persian fleet
- in Classical period, power in city-kingdom was with kings only
- in Idalion, King = High Priest
- 411 BC
- **EVAGORAS 1 takes Salamis from Phoenician rule to Teucrid rule
- wants to make Salamis rule over Cyprus
- Athenians like Evagoras
- By 391, Evagoras rules over most of Cyprus, thanks to help from Athens (hailed by Isocrates)
- In 386, Persia tells Athens to lay off helping Evagoras
- In 380, Evagoras gets whupped and is told by Persians to stick to Salamis, not whole of Cyprus
- In 374, Evagoras gets killed
- soon whole Cyprus is back with Persians
- 333 BC
- Alexander the Great beats Persians
- Cypriot towns become super-fortified
- walls are rubble with ashlar faces
- Cypriot houses start using materials like gypsum and fine concrete (floors only)
- Cypriots start worshipping Aphrodite specifically
- Cypriots are buried in sarcophagi
- Athenian pottery becomes cool
- Athenian style sculpture is cool too
HELLENISTIC PERIOD (325 - 30 BC)
- Under Alexander the Great, Cyprus kings lost semi-independency
- after death of Alexander, 3 **DIADAKOY*(generals of Alexander) break up Greek empire
- 3 kingdoms are Antigonid, Selucid, Ptolemies
- Cyprus falls with Ptolemic Empire and stays there until 80 BC
- 168 BC, Antiochus, king of Syria, conquers Cyprus but is told to lay off by Rome
- 80 BC, Ptolemies leave Cyprus kind-of, due to Roman pressure
- 58 BC, Cyprus is annexed by Rome
- 22 BC, Cyprus becomes a Roman province (after Antony & Cleopatra dilly-dally)
- Cyprus until 80 BC
- Ptolemies used Cyprus for copper, corn, timber, and ships
- Ptolemies moved capital from Salamis to Nea Paphos
- Paphos is more accessible to Egypt
- Ptolemies organized Cyprus under a ***STRATEGOS***
- strategos reported to King of Egypt
- strategos became a High priest (s-man gets to loot sanctuaries)
- strategos becomes admiral (s-man gets own army + called King's kinsman)
- strategos controlled coin minting (with silver)
- Ptolemies controlled Cypriots using the gymnasium (public education)
- Cypriots liked Greek gods under Ptolemies (still Aphrodite + Mother Goddess/Astarte)
- wife of Ptolemy II was deified
- some Egyptian gods were introduced (Ammon = Zeus)
- art prospered now
- mosaics
- Kourion theatre
- roofs with columns
- portraits become cool **
- Black Glaze pottery
- jewelry with inlaid glass
- Zeno, founder of Stoics born in Kition, died in 264 BC
ROMAN PERIOD (30 BC - 330 BC)
- Cyprus was a well-behaved province under Roman rule
- thus isn't featured much in ancient sources
- Rome always had her eye on Cyprus
- 100 BC, senatus consultum told Cyprus not to harbor pirates
- Cyprus didn't listen, got annexed by Rome in 58 BC
- Cyprus was governed by Cicero once
- Cyprus only ran into trouble once
- Jewish Insurrection of 116 AD
- guy called **ARTEMION* led Jewish people in revolt
- revolt killed lots of non-Jews
- proconsul
- ruler for 1 year (made it hard to rip off island a lot)
- maintained internal security
- official rep of State + Emperor
- made public buildings
- Rome re-instated 4 districts
- most big towns were coastal (peace was big)
- Romans made good water supply and good road system
- Cypriots became big into emperor-worship again
- Cypriot mines were exploited a lot
- Cypriot wines were big
- Paphos was still the capital
- Emperors rebuilt this city lotsa times
- Cyprus was prosperous until 3rd century
- Cyprus went to the East side under Diocletian's splitting of the Empire
- 332 BC, Cyprus has major earthquakes
- lots of Roman art and myths
- mosaics
- frescos
- Roman legends
- Christianity
- really big in 4th century by Constantine
- proconsol of Cyprus is converted by St. Paul in AD 45
BYZANTINE PERIOD (330 - 1191 AD)
- starts with rule of Constantine
- Roman empire splits into two parts
- Christianity becomes big in Cyprus
- major founder is **St. Barnabas
- returned to Cyprus after Tarsus
- murdered at Salamis
- Church of Cyprus
- initially coordinated by Syrians
- in 488, Cypriots rebelled and made own church (AUTOCEPHALUS)
- Church is important, as seen by representation in Ecumenical Council
- Prominant Bishops
- St. Spyriodon
- St. Epiphanos
- Church is boosted by monasteries built by Helena, Constantine's mom
- Cyprus was wealthy
- Cyprus silk is big
- 647 AD
- Arab raids
- destroy Constantia
- Arabs control Cyprus [CONDONIMIAN]
- 965 AD
- Byzantines control Cyprus now (Arab rule declines)
- Byzantine taxed hell out of island
- artists came to Cyprus from Constin anople, bringing church-dome architechture
- 1156 AD
- peace in Cyprus busted by Armenian raids
- lots of raids until time of **ISSAC DUCAS
- 1191 AD
- ships from King Richard's fleet of 3rd crusade run off course
- Issac, despot ruler at time, tries hold King Richard's sister and bethrothed as a hostage
- When King Richard comes, Issac runs away, negotiates, and then betrays deal
- King Richard beats Issac and pursues him to Kyrenia
FRANKISH PERIOD (1191 - 1571 AD)
- By 1191, Richard Lionheart controlled Cyprus
- Richard found that Cypriots liked to revolt and thus handed power to the ***TEMPLARS
- Templars couldn't control Greeks and gave Cyprus back to Richard
- Richard sold Cyprus to ***GUY OF LUSIGNAN
- Guy restored order and died soon after
- before dying established Lusignan rule
- feudal system
- barons have allegience to a king
- people are either pariahko [serf] or freeman
- Cypriot Lusignan rulers are Catholic, not Greek Orthodox
- Catholics didn't like Orthodox
- reduce # of bishops
- took land of Orthodox away
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