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AMATHUS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Amathus (Amathous, -ountos: Amathousios, Adj. Amathusiacus, Ov. Met.
x. 227: nr. Old Limasol), an ancient town on the S. coast of Cyprus, celebrated
for its worship of Aphrodite - who was hence called Amathusia - and of Adonis.
(Scylax, p. 41; Strab. p. 683; Pans. ix. 41. § 2; Steph. B. s. v.; Tac. Ann. iii.
62; Catull. lviii. 51; Ov. Am. iii. 15 15.) It was originally a settlement of
the Phoenicians, and was probably the most ancient of the Phoenician colonies
in the island. Stephanus calls Amathus the most ancient city in the island, and
Scylax describes its inhabitants as autochthones. Its name is of Phoenician origin,
for we find a town of the same name in Palestine. Amathus appears to have preserved
its Oriental customs and character, long after the other Phoenician cities in
Cyprus had become hellenized. Here the Tyrian god Melkart, whom the Greeks identified
with Heracles, was worshipped under his Tyrian name. (Hesych. s. v. Malika, ton
Heraklea, Amathousioi. The Phoenician priesthood of the Cinyradae appears to have
long continued to exercise its authority at Amathus. Hence we find that Amathus,
as an Oriental town, remained firm to the Persians in the time of Dareins I.,
while all the other towns in Cyprus revolted. (Herod. v. 104, seq.) The territory
of Amathus was celebrated for its wheat (Hipponax, ap. Strab. p. 340), and also
for its mineral productions (fecundam Amathunta metalli, Ov. Met. x. 220, comp.
531.)
Amathus appears to have consisted of two distinct parts: one upon
the coast, where Old Limasol now stands, and the other upon a hill inland, about
1 1/2 mile from Old Limasol, at the village of Agios Tychonos, where Hammer discovered
the ruins of the temple of Aphrodite. (Hammer, Reise, p. 129; Engel, Kypros, vol.
i. p. 109, seq.; Movers, Die Phonizier, vol. ii. pt. ii. pp. 221, 240, seq.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
APHRODISION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Aphrodisium (Aphrodision, Strab. p. 682; Ptol. v. 14; Aphrodisias,
Steph. B. s. v.: Eth. Aphrodisieus), a city of Cyprus, situated at the narrowest
part of the island, only 70 stadia from Salamis. (D'Anville, in Mem. de Litt.
vol. xxxii. p. 541.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ARSINOE (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Arsinoe. A town in the E. of Cyprus, near the promontory of Acamas
(Strab. xiv. p. 682; Ptol. v. 14. § 4), formerly called Marion (Marion Steph.
B. s. v.; comp. Scylax, s. v. Cyprus). Ptolemy Soter destroyed this town, and
removed the inhabitants to Paphos (Diod. xix. 89). For coins of Marion see Eckhel,
vol. iii. p. 86. The name of Arsinoe was given to it in honour of the Aegyptian
princess of that name, the wife and sister of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Hierocles
and Const. Porphyr. (Them. i. 15) place it between Paphos and Soloi. The modern
name is Polikrusoko or Xrisopeou, from the gold mines in the neighbourhood. According
to Strabo there was a grove sacred to Zeus. Cyprus, from its subjection to the
kings of the Lagid family, had more than one city of this name, which was common
to several princesses of that house.
Another Arsinoe is placed near Ammochostus to the N. of the island
(Strab. p. 683). A third city of the same name appears in Strabo, with a harbour,
temple, and grove, and lies between Old and New Paphos. The ancient name survives
in the present Arschelia (D'Anville, Mem. de l' Acad. des Inscrip. vol. xxxii.
pp. 537, 545, 551, 554; Engel, Kypros, vol. i. pp. 73, 97, 137; Marati, Viaggi
vol. i. p. 200).
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CYPRUS (Country) EUROPE
Cyprus (Kupros: Eth. and Adj. Kuprios, Kupriakos, Kuprieus, Kuprites,
Cyprius, Cypriacus: Kibris), an island lying off the coast of Phoenicia and Cilicia.
The physical features and the legends connected with this chosen seat
of Aphrodite, have given rise to a multitude of names. 1. Acamantis (Akamantis).
2. Amathusia (Amathousia). 3. Aspelia. 4. Colinia. 5. Cerastis (Kerasrtis). 6.
Cryptos (Kruptos). 7. Macaria (Makaria). 8. Meionis (Meionis). 9. Ophiusa (Ophiusia
arva, Ov. Met x. 229). 10. Spheceia (Ophekeia).
According to ancient admeasurements the circuit of this island amounted
to 3420 stadia. (Strab. xiv. p. 682.) Its greatest length from W. to E., between
Cape Acamas and the islands called the Keys of Cyprus (Kleides), was reckoned
at 1400 stadia. (Strab. l. c.; Plin. v. 35; Agathem. i. 5.) The principal or SW.
part of the island has the form of an irregular parallelogram, and terminates
with a long narrow peninsula, running in a NE. direction. Its shape was compared
fancifully by the old writers to a fleece (Agathem. l. c.), or to a Gallic shield
(Hygin. Fab. 276). The surface of the country is almost entirely occupied by the
elevated range of Mt. Olympus, whose culminating points reach the height of 7000
feet. The slopes descend both on the N. and S. shores: on the former side the
chain is bold and rugged; on the S. side the scenery is still bolder, presenting
a deeply serrated outline with thickly wooded steeps, which are broken by masses
of limestone, or furrowed by deep picturesque valleys, in which grow the narcissus,
the anemone, and ranunculus.
The mountains contained: copper (chalkos Kuprios, aes Cyprium), the
most famous mines of which were to be found at Tamassus, Amathus, Soli, and Curion
(Plin. xii. 60, xxxiv. 20), as well as the nobler metals, gold and silver. The
precious stones of Cyprus were famous in antiquity. They were: the adamas vergens
in aerium colorem (Plin. xxxvii. 15), whether this was the diamond seems doubtful,
as it has been thought that Pliny was unacquainted with the real diamond (Dana,
Mineralogy, p. 401); the smaragdos (xxxvii. 17), emerald; the chalcosmaragdos
turbida aereis venis (xxxvii. 19), malachite (?), or more probably red jasper;
paederos (xxxvii. 22), opal; achates (xxxvii. 54), agate; and asbestos (Dioscor.
v. 156). The land is described as flowing with wine, oil (Strab. p. 684), and
honey (Plin. xi. 14); and the fragrance of its flowers gave it the epithet of
euodes - the plaything (athurma) of the goddess of Love. (Eustath. ad Dionys.
Per. 508.)
Cyprus lies between Asia and Africa, and the flora and fauna of the
island partake of the characteristics of both continents. A list of the plants,
birds, quadrupeds, and fishes, found in Cyprus, is given in Walpole (Turkey and
Greece, vol. i. p. 253, foll.). The Ferula Graeca - or nartheka, as it is now
called, with a slight alteration from the ancient name - is one of the most important
plants of the island in respect to its economical uses. The stalks furnish the
poor Cyprian with a great part of his household furniture; and the pith is used
instead of tinder for conveying fire from one place to another, as taught by Prometheus
of old. (Aesch. Prom. 109.)
The level tracts were in the neighbourhood of Salamis and Citium,
the former was watered by the river Pediaeus, and the latter by the Tretus; but,
as these streams are occasionally dry, marshes have in consequence been formed.
Strabo (xiv. p. 682) begins his description of the island with Cape Acamas (Akamas),
at the W. extremity of the island, which he describes as a thickly wooded headland,
divided into two summits rising towards the N. (Comp. Ptol. v. 14 § 1; Plin. v.
31; Stadiasm. § § 282, 292, 293.) The modern name, after the celebrated metropolitan
of Cyprus, is Haghios Epiphanios, which is shortened into St. Pifano. The next
point, in a S. direction, is Drepanon (Drepanon, Ptol. v. 14. § 1: Trepano). Then
the roadstead and harbour of Paphos (Paphos). The cape which closes the bay of
Baffo to the W. is the Zephyrium Promontorium (Zephurion, Ptol. v. 14. § 1; Zephuria
akra, Strab. p. 683). To the S. is another headland, Arsinoe (Arsinoe), followed
by Phrurium (Phrourion, Ptol. v. 14. § 1: Capo Blanco). At a little distance further
inland was Hierocepia (Hierokepia, Strab. p. 684). Then follow Palaepaphos (Palaipaphos:
Kukla or Konuklia), Boosura (Boosoura: Bisur), Treta (Treta: Tera), and Curium
(Kourion) with a port built by the Argives. Near this was the point of Curias
(Kourias: Capo delle Gatte), at a little distance from which are some salt marshes
which receive an arm of the river Lycus (Lukos, Ptol. v. 14. § 2). Amathus (Amathous:
Old Limasol), which next followed, was a Phoenician colony. Beyond was the little
town of Palaea (Palaia, Strab. p. 683), at the foot of a mountain shaped like
a breast (mastoeides), Olympus (Olumpos: Monte Sta. Croce). Citium (Kition) was
a large town with a harbour that could be closed; to the W. of it was the little
river Tetius (Tetios, Ptol. v. 14. § 2: Tesis), and to the E. the promontory Dades
(Daides, Ptol. l. c.: Kiti). A rugged line of coast follows for several miles
along a bay which lies between this headland and that of Throni (Thronoi: Pila).
Above Pedalium (Pedalion: Capo della Grega), the next point on the E. coast, rose
a hill with a temple consecrated to Aphrodite. The harbour Leucolla (Leukolla:
Porta Arnio dia e Lucola). Ammochostus (Ammochostos, Ptol. v. 14. § 3; Stadiasm.
§ 287), near the river Pediaeus (Pediaios), a name which has been transmitted
by corruption to the Venetian Famagosta. Further N. was Salamis (Salamis), Elaea
(Elaia, Ptol. l. c.: Chaulu-bernau), Urania (Ouranies pedon hedres, Nonn. Dionys.
xiii. 450), Carpasia (Karpasia), and the promontory called Dinaretum, with the
islands called the Keys of Cyprus (hai Kleides). The ironbound shore to the NE.
was called the shore of the Greeks (Achaion akte: Jalousa), from the story that
Teucer and his colonists had landed here. (Strab.) On this coast, 70 stadia from
Salamis, was Aphrodisium (Aphrodision, Ptol. v. 14. § 4; Strab.), Macaria (Makaria,
Ptol. l. c.), Cerynia (Keruneia), and Lapethus (Lapethos: Lapitho or Lapta). Cape
Crommyon (Krommuon akra) was the most N. point of the island; near this were the
towns of Cerbia (Kerbeia) and Soli (Soloi). The promontory of Callinusa (Kallinonsa)
completes the circuit of the island. In the interior were the towns of Aepeia
(Aipeia), Limenia (Limenia), Tamassus (Tamassos), Tremithus (Tremithous), Leucosia
(Leukosia), Chytrus (Chutros), and Marium (Marion). An account of these places
will be found under their several heads: most of the towns have now disappeared.
Cyprus seems to have been colonized by the Phoenicians at a very early
period, and if we may trust the Syrian annals consulted by the historian Menander
(Joseph. Ant. viii. 5. § 3, c. Apion. 1. 18; comp. Virg. Aen. 1, 643), was subject
to the Syrians, even in the time of Solomon. We do not know the dates of the establishment
of the Greek cities in this island; but there can be no doubt but that they were
later than this period, and that a considerable portion of the soil and trade
of Cyprus passed from the Phoenicians to the Greeks. Under Amasis the island became
subject to the Aegyptian throne (Herod. ii. 182); he probably sent over African
colonists. (Comp. Herod. vii. 90.) On the invasion of Aegypt by Cambysses Cyprus
surrendered to the Persians, and furnished a squadron for the expedition. (Herod.
iii. 19.) It continued to form a part of the Persian empire, and was with Phoenicia
and Palestine the fifth satrapy in the arrangement made by Dareius (Herod. iii.
91.) During the Ionian revolt the whole island, except Amathus, threw off the
Persian yoke. The Cyprians were attacked by the Persians by land and sea, and
after varying success, were defeated, and their leader Onesilus slain. After this
the island was again subject to Dareius (Herod. v. 104-116), and in the expedition
of Xerxes furnished 150 ships. (Herod. vii. 90.) After the overthrow of the Persians
at Salamis, a Grecian fleet was despatched to Cyprus and reduced the greater part
of it. (Thuc. i. 94.) The Athenians sent out another expedition against it, but
in consequence of a plague and the death of Cimon, the attempt was relinquished.
(Thuc. i. 112.) The brilliant period of its history belongs to the times of Evagoras,
king of Salamis, when Hellenic customs and civilization received a new impulse.
He was succeeded by his son Nicocles; another Evagoras, son of Nicocles, was joined
with Phocion, to recover Cyprus for the king of Persia, from whom it had revolted.
(Diod. xvi. 42, 46.) Cyprus again became a tributary to the Persians, and remained
such till the battle of Issus, when the several states declared for Alexander,
and joined the Macedonian fleet with 120 ships at the siege of Tyre. (Arrian.
ii. 20.) They were afterwards ordered to cruise off the Peloponnesus with 100
ships along with the Phoenicians. (Arrian. iii. 6.) When the empire of Alexander
was broken up, Cyprus fell with Aegypt to the lot of Ptolemy. Demetrius invaded
the island with a powerful fleet and army, defeated Ptolemy's brother Menelaus,
and shut him up in Salamis, which he besieged both by sea and land. Ptolemy hastened
to his relief with 140 ships; and after a sea-fight, one of the most memorable
in ancient history, B.C. 306, the whole island fell into the hands of Demetrius.
(Diod. xx. 47-53; Plut. Demetr. 15-18; Polyaen. iv. 7. § 7; Justin. xv. 2.) In
B.C. 295, Ptolemy recovered the island, and it became from this time an integral
portion of the Aegyptian monarchy. (Plut. Demetr. 35, 38.) It formed the brightest
jewel in the Alexandrian diadem; the timber of Olympus was used for the navy of
Aegypt, and its metallic and other riches contributed to the revenue. Independently
of its importance as a military position, the Ptolemies had a personal interest
in securing it as a place of refuge for themselves or their treasures, in case
of invasion or internal revolutions. Under the Lagid dynasty, the government of
the island was committed to some one belonging to the highest class of the Alexandrian
court, called the kinsmen of the king. This viceroy had full powers, as it would
appear from the inscriptions in which he is entitled strategos kai nauarchos kai
archiereus ho kata ten neson. Ptolemy Philadelphus founded the Cyprian cities
which bore the name of his wife, Arsinoe. On the decline and fall of Aegypt, Cyprus
with Cyrenaica was the only foreign possession remaining to the crown. Polycrates,
an Argive, about B.C. 217, was governor of Cyprus, and secured, by his faithfulness
and integrity, the island for Ptolemy Epiphanes, the infant son and successor
of Philopator. On the division of the monarchy between the brothers Ptolemy Philometor
and Euergetes, Euergetes,in contravention of the arrangement was anxious to take
Cyprus to his share. In B.C. 154, Euergetes went to Rome, to seek assistance from
the senate. Five legates, but no Roman army, were despatched to aid him; but Philometor,
anticipating him, had already occupied Cyprus with a large force, so that when
his brother landed at the head of his mercenary troops, he was soon defeated and
shut up in Lapethus, where he was compelled to surrender, on condition that he
should content himself with the kingdom of Cyrene. The Romans did not again interfere
to disturb the arrangement thus concluded. During the dissensions of the brothers,
Demetrius Soter, king of Syria, had endeavoured to make himself master of Cyprus,
but unsuccessfully. On the accession of Ptolemy Lathyrus to the throne of Aegypt,
his younger brother, Ptolemy Alexander, went to Cyprus. Afterwards, when by the
intrigues of Cleopatra, the queen.mother, Alexander became king of Aegypt, Lathyrus
retired to Cyprus, and held it as an independent kingdom for the 18 years during
which Cleopatra and Alexander reigned in Aegypt, B.C. 107-89. When Lathyrus was
recalled by the Alexandrians to Aegypt, Alexander, his brother, in the hope of
becoming master of Cyprus, invaded the island; but was defeated in a naval action
by Chaereas, and fell in the battle. While Ptolemy Auletes occupied the throne
of Aegypt, another Ptolemy, a younger brother, was king of Cyprus. This prince
had obtained from the Roman people the complimentary title of their friend. (Cic.
pro Sest. 26; Schol. Bob. p. 301, ed. Orell.) On the pretence that he had abetted
the pirates (Schol. Bob. l. c.), he was commanded to descend from the throne.
In B.C. 58, Clodius, who had a personal enmity against the king (Appian. B.C.
ii. 23; Dion Cass. xxxviii. 30), proposed to deprive him of his kingdom, and confiscate
his large treasures to the service of the state. A rogation was brought forward
by the tribune, that Cato should be appointed to carry into execution this act
of frightful injustice. Cato accepted this disgraceful commission; but half ashamed
of the transaction, despatched a friend from Rhodes to deliver the decree, and
to hold out to the injured king the promise of an honourable compensation in the
priesthood of the Paphian Aphrodite. Ptolemy preferred to submit to a voluntary
death. (Plut. Cat. Min. 34, 39.) Cyprus became a Roman province, and the fatal
treasures amassed by the king, were poured into the coffers of the state. (Pat.
Vell. ii. 45.) The island was annexed to Cilicia (Cic. ad Fam. i. 7; ad Att. vi.
2), but had a quaestor of its own (ad Fam. xiii. 48), and its own courts for the
administration of justice (ad Att. v. 21). In B.C. 47, it was given by Caesar
to Arsinoe and Ptolemy, the sister and brother of Cleopatra. (Dion Cass. xlii.
95.) M. Antonius afterwards presented it to the children of Cleopatra. (Dion Cass.
xlix. 32, 41; comp. Strab. p. 685.) After the battle of Actium, at the division
of the provinces between the emperor and the senate, B.C. 27, it was made an imperial
province. (Dion Cass. liii. 12.) In B.C. 22, it was given up to the senate (Dion
Cass. liv. 4), and was from that time governed by proprietors, with the title
of Proconsul, with a legatus and a quaestor. (Marquardt, Becker's Rom. Alt. vol.
iii. pt. 1. p. 172; Orell. Inscr. 3102.) The proconsul resided at Paphos. (Act.
Apost. xiii. 6, 7.) From the narrative in the Acts of the Apostles (xiii. 4-12),
it would seem that a considerable part of the population was of Jewish extraction;
and in the fatal insurrection during the reign of Hadrian, they are said to have
massacred 240,000 of the Grecian inhabitants, and obtained temporary possession
of the island. (Milman, Hist. of Jews, vol. ii. p. 112.) Under the Byzantine emperors
it was governed by a Consularis, and the capital was transferred from Paphos to
Salamis or Constantia (Hierocl.). In A.D. 648, Moawiyah, the general of Othman,
invaded the island, which capitulated, the Saracen general agreeing to share the
revenues with the Greek emperor, In A.D. 803-806, it fell into the hands of Harun
el Rashid, but was afterwards restored to the empire by the conquests of Nicephorus
II. Isaac Angelus lost the island where Alexis Commenus had made himself independent;
but was deprived of his conquest by Richard Coeur de Lion, A.D. 1191, who ceded
it to the Templars, but afterwards resumed the sovereignty, and in A.D. 1192,
gave it to King Guido of Jerusalem. Cyprus was never again united to the Byzantine
empire.
Cyprus, lying in that sea which was the extreme nurse of the Grecian
race, never developed the nobler features of Hellenic culture and civilization.
The oriental character entirely predominated; the worship had but little connection
with the graceful anthropomorphism of Hellas, but was rather a deification of
the generative powers of nature as common to the Phoenicians, mixed up with orgiastic
rites from Phrygia. The goddess, who was evidently the same as the Semitic Astarte,
was worshipped under the form of a rude conical stone. (Tac. Hist. ii. 3.) The
exuberance of nature served to stifle every higher feeling in sensual enjoyment.
(Comp. Athen. vi. p. 257, xii. p. 516.) A description of the constitution was
given in the lost work of Aristotle on the Polities, and Theophrastus had composed
a treatise upon the same subject. (Suid. s. v. Tiara.) That such men should have
thought it worth their while to investigate this matter shows that it possessed
considerable interest; as far as the scanty notices that have come down go, it
appears to have been governed by petty princes of an oriental character. (Comp.
Herod. vii. 90.) For coins of Cyprus, see Eckhel, vol. iii. p. 84; H. P. Borrell,
Notice surquelq. Med. gr. des Rois de Chypre. Paris, 1836; Meursius, Creta, Cyprus,
&c., Amst. 1675; D'Anville, Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscr. vol. xxxii. p. 548; Mariti,
Viaggi, vol. i.; Von Hammer, Topogr. Ansicht. aus der Levante: Turner's Levant:
vol. ii. pp. 40, 528; Engel, Kypros; Ross, Reisen nach Kos, Halikarnassos, Rhodos,
und der Inseln Cypern, Halle, 1852; Luynes, Numismatique et Inscriptions Cypriotes,
Paris, 1852.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
GOLGOI (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Golgi (Golgoi: Eth. Golgios, Golgia, Gol<*>eis, Steph. B.), a town
of Cyprus, famous for the worship of Aphrodite (Theocr. xv. 100; Lycophr. 589;
Catull. xxxvi. 15, Nupt. Pel. et Thet. 96), which, according to legend, had existed
here even before its introduction at Paphos by Agapenor. (Pausan viii. 5. § 2.)
The town is mentioned by Pliny (v. 35); but its position is not known. (Engel,
Kypros, vol. i. p. 145, vol. ii. p. 81.)
IDALION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Idalia, Idalium (Idalion: Eth. Idaleus, Steph. B.; Plin. v. 31), a
town in Cyprus, adjoining to which was a forest sacred to Aphrodite; the poets
who connect this place with her worship, give no indications of the precise locality.
(Theocr. Id. xv. 100; Virg. Aen. i. 681, 692, x. 51; Catull. Pel. et Thet. 96;
Propert. ii. 13; Lucan viii.17.) Engel (Kypros, vol. i. p. 153) identifies it
with Dalin, described by Mariti (Viaggi, vol. i. p. 204), situated to the south
of Leucosia, at the foot of Mount Olympus.
KARPASIA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Carpasia (Karpasia, Strab., Ptol., Diod., Steph. B.; Karpaseia, Stadiasm.;
karpasion, Hierocl.; Plin. v. 31. s. 35; Karpasos, Const. Porph.: Eth. Karpaseotes,
Karpaseus, Steph. B.: Carpas), a town and port of Cyprus, to the NE. of the island,
facing the promontory of Sarpedon on the Cilician coast. (Strab. xiv. p. 682;
Ptol. v. 14. § 4; Scylax.) According to legend, it was founded by Pygmalion. (Steph.
B. s. v.) It was taken by Demetrius Poliorcetes, together with a neighbouring
place called Urania. (Diod. xx. 48.) Pococke (Trav. vol. ii. p. 219) speaks of
remains at Carpas, especially of a wall nearly half a mile in circumference, with
a pier running into the sea. (Engel, Kypros, vol. i. pp. 83, 174; Mem. de l'Acad.
des Inscrip. vol. xxxii. p. 543; Mariti, Viaggi, vol. i. p. 163.)
KERYNIA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Ceryneia (Keruneia, Scyl.; Kerunia, Keronia, Keraunia, Ptol. v. 14.
§ 4; Diod. xiv. 59; Koroneia, Korone, Steph.B.; Kurenia, Hierocl.; Kureneia, Const.
Porph.; Kinureia, Nonnus; Corineum, Plin.; Cerinea, Peut. Tab.: Eth. Kerunites,
Keronites), a town and port on the N. coast of Cyprus 8 M.P. from Lapethus (Peut.
Tab.). The harbour, bad and small as it is, must upon so iron a bound coast
as that of the E. part of the N. side of Cyprus, have always insured to the position
a certain degree of importance. Though little is known of it in antiquity it became
famous in the middle ages. (Wilken, die Kreuzz, vol. vi. p. 542.) It is now called
by the Italians Cerine, and by the Turks Ghirne. On the W. side of the town are
some catacombs, the only remains of ancient Cerynia. (Leake, Asia Minor,
p. 118; Mariti, Viaggi, vol. i. p. 116; Engel, Kypros, vol.
i. p. 80.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KITION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Citium (Kition, Ketion, Kution: Eth. Kitieis, Kittiaioi, Kittaioi,
Citieus, Citiensis), a town situated on the S. coast of Cyprus. In the Peutinger
Tables it is called Cito, and is placed 24 M. P to the E. of Amathus. Diodorus
(xx. 49) is in error when he states its distance from Salamis as 200 stadia, for
it is more remote. The ruins of ancient Citium are found between Larnika and the
port now called Salines: to the E. there was a large basin now almost filled up,
and defended by a fort the foundations of which remain; this is probably the kleistos
limen of Strabo (xiv. p. 682). The walls were strong, and in the foundations Phoenician
inscriptions upon them have been discovered. A number of ancient tombs are still
to be seen in and about Larnika, as well as the remains of an ancient theatre.
(Mariti, Viaggi, vol. i. p. 51 Pococke, Trav. vol. ii. p. 213; Muller, Archaol.
§ 255.) The salt lakes of which Pliny (xxxi. 7 s. 39; Antig. Caryst. Hist. Mirab.
c. 173) speaks, are still worked. The date of this, probably the most ancient
city in the island, is not known, but there can be no doubt that it was originally
Phoenician, and connected with the Chittim of the Scriptures. (Gen. x. 4; comp.
Joseph. Antiq. i. 6 § 1; Cic. de Fin. iv. 20; Diog. Laert. Zen. 8, Winer, Bibl.
Realworterbuch, s. v. Chittim.) From this and other places in the island the Greeks
partially embraced and diffused the cruel and voluptuous rites of the Phoenician
worship. It was besieged by Cimon at the close of the Persian war (Thuc. i. 12),
and surrendered to him (Diod. xii. 3); he was afterwards taken ill and died on
board his ship in the harbour (Plut. Cim. 18). It was a place of no great importance
(polichnion, Suid.), and we have no evidence that it coined money; though it could
boast of the philosophers Zeno, Persaeus, and Philolaus, and the physicians Apollodorus
and Apollonius. (Engel, Kypros, vol. i. pp. 12, 100.)
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KOURION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Curium (Kourion, Ptol. v. 14. § 2; Steph. B.; Hierocl.; Curias, Plin.
v. 13: Eth. Kourieus: Piscopia), a city of Cyprus, situated to the W. of the river
Lycus, 16 M. P. from Amathus. (Peut. Tab.) It was said to have been founded by
the Argives. (Herod. v. 113; Strab. xiv. p. 683.) Stesenor, its sovereign, betrayed
the cause of his country during the war against the Persians. (Herod. l. c.) Near
the town was a Cape (Phrourion, Ptol. v. 14. § 2: Capo Bianco), from which sacrilegious
offenders who had dared to touch the altar of Apollo were thrown into the sea.
(Strab. l. c.) The ruins of a town supposed to represent this have been found,
near Piscopia, one of the most fertile spots in the island. (Pococke, Trav. vol.
ii. p. 329; Engel, Kypros, vol. i. p. 118.)
LAMPOUSA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Lapathus, Lapethus (Lapathos, Strab. xiv. p. 682; Lapethos, Ptol.
v. 14. § 4; Plin. v. 31; Lepethis, Scyl. p.41; ,Lapithos Hierocl.: Eth. Lapetheus,
Lapethios: Lapitho, Lapta), a town of Cyprus, the foundation of which was assigned
to the Phoenicians (Steph. B. s. v.), and which, according to Nonnus (Dionys.
xiii. 447), owed its name to the legendary Lapathus, a follower of Dionysus. Strabo
says that it received a Spartan colony, headed by Praxander. He adds, that it
was situated opposite to the town of Nagidus, in Cilicia, and possessed a harbour
and docks. It was situated in the N. of the island, on a river of the same name,
with a district called Lapethia. (Lapethia, Ptol. v. 14. § 5). In the war between
Ptolemy and Antigonus, Lapathus, with its king Praxippus, sided with the latter.
(Diod. xix. 59.) The name of this place was synonymous with stupidity. (Suid.
s. v. Lapathioi.) Pococke (Trav. in the East, vol. ii. pt. l. p. 223) saw at Lapitho
several walls that were cut out of the rock, and one entire room, over the sea:
there were also remains of some towers and walls. (Mariti, Viaggi, vol. i. p.
125; Engel, Kypros, vol. i. pp. 37, 78, 174, 224, 364, 507.)
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LIMENIA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
A town of Cyprus, which Strabo (x. p. 683) places S. of Soli. It appears from
some ecclesiastical documents cited by Wesseling (ap. Hierocl.) to have been 4
M. P. from Soli. Now Limna.
NICOSIA (Town) CYPRUS
Leucosia (Leukosia, Leukousia), a city of Cyprus, which is mentioned only by Hierocles
and the ecclesiastical historian Sozomen (H. E. i. 3, 10). The name is preserved
in the modern Lefkosia or Nikosia, the capital of the island. (Engel, Kypros,
vol. i. p. 150; Mariti, Viaggi, vol. i. p. 89; Pococke, Trav. in the East, vol.
ii. pt. 1. p. 221.)
PAPHOS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Paphus (Ptol. viii. 20. § 3, &c.: Eth. and Adj. Paphios, Paphius,
and Paphiacus), the name of two towns seated on the SW. extremity of the coast
of Cyprus, viz., Old Paphos (Paphos palaia, Ptol. v. 14. § 1; or, in one word,
Palaipaphos, Strab. xiv. p. 683; Palaepaphos, Plin. v. 31. s. 35) and New Paphos
(Paphos Nea, Ptol. l. c.; Nea Paphos, Plin. l. c.). The name of Paphos, without
any adjunct, is used by poets and by writers of prose to denote both Old and New
Paphos, but with this distinction, that in prose writers it commonly means New
Paphos, whilst in the poets, on the contrary, - for whom the name of Palaepaphos
would have - been unwieldy, - it generally signifies Old Paphos, the more peculiar
seat of the worship of Aphrodite. In inscriptions, also, both towns are called
Paphos. This indiscriminate use is sometimes productive of ambiguity, especially
in the Latin prose authors.
Old Paphos, now Kukla or Konuklia (Engel, Kypros, vol. i. p. 125),
was said to have been founded by Cinyras, the father of Adonis (Apollod. iii.
14); though according to another legend preserved by Strabo (xi. p. 505),- whose
text, however, varies, - it was founded by the Amazons. It was seated on an eminence
( celsa Paphos, Virg. Aen. x. 51), at the distance of about 10 stadia, or 1 mile,
from the sea, on which, however, it had a roadstead. it was not far distant from
the promontory of Zephyrium (Strab. xiv. p. 683) and the mouth of the little river
Bocarus. (Hesych. s. v. Bokaros.) The fable ran that Venus had landed there when
she rose from out the sea. (Tac. Hist. ii. 3; Mela, ii. 7; Lucan viii.456.) According
to Pausanias (i. 14), her worship was introduced at Paphos from Assyria; but it
is much more probable that it was of Phoenician origin. It had been very anciently
established, and before the time of Homer, as the grove and altar of Aphrodite
at Paphos are mentioned in the Odyssey (viii. 362). Here the worship of the goddess
centred, not for Cyprus alone, but for the whole earth. The Cinyradae, or descendants
of Cinyras, - Greek by name, but of Phoenician origin, - were the chief priests.
Their power and authority were very great; but it may be inferred from certain
inscriptions that they were controlled by a senate and an assembly of the people.
There was also an oracle here. (Engel, i.p. 483.) Few cities have ever been so
much sung and glorified by the poets. (Cf. Aesch. Suppl. 525; Virg. Aen. i. 415;
Hor. Od. i. 19, 30, iii. 26; Stat. Silv. i. 2. 101; Aristoph. Lysis. 833, &c.
&c.) The remains of the vast temple of Aphrodite are still discernible, its circumference
being marked by huge foundation walls. After its overthrow by an earthquake, it
was rebuilt by Vespasian, on whose coins it is represented, as well as on earlier
and later ones, and especially in, the most perfect style on those of Septimius
Severus. (Engel, vol. i. p. 130.) From these representations, and from the existing
remains, Hetsch, an architect of Copenhagen, has attempted to restore the building.
(Muller's Archaol. § 239, p. 261; Eckhel, vol. iii. p. 86.)
New Paphos, now Baffa, was seated on the sea, near the western extremity
of the island, and possessed a good harbour. It lay about 60 stadia, or between
7 and 8 miles NW. of the ancient city. (Strab. xiv. p. 683.) It was said to have
been founded by Agapenor, chief of the Arcadians at the siege of Troy (Horn. II.
ii. 609), who, after the the capture of that town, was driven by the storm, which
separated the Grecian fleet, on the coast of Cyprus. (Paus. viii. 5. § 3.) We
find Agapenor mentioned as king of the Paphians in a Greek distich preserved in
the Analecta (i. p. 181, Brunk); and Herodotus (vii. 90) alludes to an Arcadian
colony in Cyprus. Like its ancient namesake, Nea Paphos was also distinguished
for the worship of Venus, and contained several magnificent temples dedicated
to that-goddess. Yet in this respect the old city seems to have always retained
the preeminence; and Strabo tells us, in the passage before cited, that the road
leading to it from Nea Paphos was annually crowded with male and female votaries
resorting to the more ancient shrine, and coming not only from the latter place
itself, but also from the other towns of Cyprus. When Seneca says (N. Q. vi. 26,
Ep. 91) that Paphos was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, it is difficult to
say to which of the towns he refers. Dion Cassius (liv. 23) relates that it was
restored by Augustus, and called Augusta in his honour ; but though this name
has been preserved in inscriptions, it never supplanted the ancient one in popular
use. Paphos is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (xiii. 6) as having been
visited by St. Paul, when it appears to have been the residence of the Roman governor.
Tacitus (Hist. ii. 2, 3) records a visit of the youthful Titus to Paphos before
he acceded to the empire, who inquired with much curiosity into its history and
antiquities. (Cf. Suet. Tit. c. 5.) Under this name the historian doubtless included
the ancient as well as the more modern city: and among other traits of the worship
of the temple he records, with something like surprise, that the only image of
the goddess was a pyramidal stone,--a relic, doubtless of Phoenician origin. There
are still considerable, ruins of New Paphos a mile or two from the sea; among
which are particularly remarkable the remains of three temples which had been
erected on artificial eminences. (Engel, Kypros, 2 vols. Berlin, 1841.)
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SALAMIS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Salamin, Salamias, Malala, Eth. Salaminios. A city on the E. coast
of Cyprus, 18 M. P. from Tremithus, and 24 M. P. from Chytri. (Peut. Tab.) Legend
assigned its foundation to the Aeacid Teucer, whose fortunes formed the subject
of a tragedy by Sophocles, called Teukros, and of one with a similar title by
Pacuvius. (Cic. de Orat. i. 58, ii. 46.) The people of Salamis showed the tomb
of the archer Teucer (Aristot. Anthologia, i. 8, 112), and the reigning princes
at the time of the Ionic revolt were Greeks of the Teucrid Gens, although one
of them bore the Phoenician name of Siromus (Hiram). (Herod. v. 104.) In the 6th
century B.C. Salamis was already an important town, and in alliance with the Battiad
princes of Cyrene, though the king Evelthon refused to assist in reinstating Arcesilaus
III. upon the throne. (Herod. iv. 162.) The descendant of this Evelthon -the despot
Gorgus- was unwilling to join in the Ionic revolt, but his brother Onesilus shut
him out of the gates, and taking the command of the united forces of Salamis and
the other cities, flew to arms. The battle which crushed the independence of Cyprus
was fought under the walls of Salamis, which was compelled to submit to its former
lord, Gorgus. (Herod. v. 103, 104, 108, 110.) Afterwards it was besieged by Anaxicrates,
the successor of Cimon, but when the convention was made with the Persians the
Athenians did not press the siege. (Diod. xii. 13.) After the peace of Antalcidas
the Persians had to struggle for ten years with all their forces against the indefatigable
and gentle Evagoras. Isocrates composed a panegyric of this prince addressed to
his son Nicocles, which, with every allowance for its partiality, gives an interesting
picture of the struggle which the Hellenic Evagoras waged against the Phoenician
and Oriental influence under which Salamis and Cyprus had languished. (Comp. Grote,
Hist. of Greece, vol. x. c. lxxvi.) Evagoras with his son Pnytagoras was assassinated
by a eunuch, slave of Nicocreon (Aristot. Pol. v. 8. § 10; Diodor. xv. 47; Theopomp.
Fr. iii. ed. Didot), and was succeeded by another son of the name of Nicocles.
The Graeco-Aegyptian fleet under Menelaus and his brother Ptolemy Soter was utterly
defeated off the harbour of Salamis in a seafight, the greatest in all antiquity,
by Demetrius Poliorcetes, B.C. 306. (Diodor. xx. 45-53.) The famous courtezan
Lamia formed a part of the booty of Demetrius, over whom she soon obtained unbounded
influence. Finally, Salamis came into the hands of Ptolemy. (Plut. Demetr. 35;
Polyaen. Strateg. 5.) Under the Roman Empire the Jews were numerous in Salamis
(Acts, xiii. 6), where they had more than one synagogue. The farming of the copper
mines of the island to Herod (Joseph, Antiq. xv. 14. § 5) may have swelled the
numbers who were attracted by the advantages of its harbour and trade, especially
its manufactures of embroidered stuffs. (Athen. ii. p. 48.) In the memorable revolt
of the Jews in the reign of Trajan this populous city became a desert. (Milman,
Hist. of the Jews, vol. iii. pp. 111, 112.) Its demolition was completed by an
earthquake; but it was rebuilt by a Christian emperor, from whom it was named
CONSTANTIA It was then the metropolitan see of the island. Epiphanius, the chronicler
of the heretical sects, was bishop of Constantia in A.D. 367. In thle reign of
Heraclius the new town was destroyed by the Saracens.
The ground lies low in the neighbourhood of Salamis, and the town
was situated on a bight of the coast to the N. of the river Pediaeus. This low
land is the largest plain--SALAMINIA--in Cyprus, stretching inward between the
two mountain ranges to the very heart of the country where the modern Turkish
capital--Nicosia--is situated. In the Life and Epistles of St. Paul, by Coneybeare
and Howson (vol. i. p. 169), will be found a plan of the harbour and ruins of
Salamis, from the survey made by Captain Graves. For coins of Salamis, see Eckhel,
vol. iii. p. 87.
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SOLOI (Ancient city) CYPRUS
A town in Cyprus, situated on a mountain, the ruler of which is said to have removed to the plain, upon the advice of Solon, and to have named the new town Soli in honour of the Athenian. There is still a place, called Epe, upon the mountain above the ruins of Soli. (Plut. Sol. 26; Steph. B. s. v.; Engel, Kypros, vol. i. p. 75.)
Soli or Soloe (Soloi, Ptol. v. 14. § 4), an important seaport town in the W. part of the N. coast of Cyprus, situated on a small river. (Strab. xiv. p. 683.) According to Plutarch (Sol. 26) it was founded by a native prince at the suggestion of Solon and named in honour of that legislator. The sojourn of Solon in Cyprus is mentioned by Herodotus (v. 113). Other accounts, however, make it an Athenian settlement, founded under the auspices of Phalerus and Acamas (Strab. l. c.), or of Demophon, the son of Theseus (Plut. l. c). We learn from Strabo (l. c.) that it had a temple of Aphrodite and one of Isis; and from Galen (de Simp. Med. ix. 3, 8) that there were mines in its neighbourhood. The inhabitants were called Solii (Solioi), to distinguish them from the citizens of Soli in Cilicia, who were called Soleis (Diog. Laert. V. Solon, 4). According to Pococke (ii. p. 323), the valley which surrounded the city is still called Solea; and the ruins of the town itself may be traced in the village of A Aligora. (Comp. Aesch. Pers. 889; Scyl. p. 41; Stadiasm. M. Magni, § 295, seq.; Const. Porphyr. de Them. i. p. 39, Lips.; Hierocl. p. 707, &c.).
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TAMASSOS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Tamassus (Tamassos, Ptol. v. 14. § 6; called also Tamaseus by Pliny,
v. 31. s. 35, Tamasos by Constantine Porphyr. de Them. i. p. 39, and Tamesa by
Statius, Achill. i. 413; cf. coins in Eckhel, i. 3. p. 88), a town in the interior
of the island of Cyprus, 29 miles SW. of Soloe, and on the road from that place
to Tremithus. It lay in a fruitful neighbourhood (Ovid, M. x. 644), and in the
vicinity of some extensive copper mines, which yielded a kind of rust used in
medicine (Strab. xiv. p. 864). It is very probably the Temese of Homer (Od. i.
184; Nitzch, ad loc; cf. Mannert, vi. 1. p. 452), in which case it would appear
to have been the principal market for the copper trade of the island in those
early times. Hence some derive its name from the Phoenician word themaes, signifying
smelting.
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TREMITHOUS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Tremithus (Tremithous, Steph. B. s. v.; Tremethous, Ptol. v. 14. §
6; Trimuthos, Constant. de Them. i. 15, p. 39, ed. Bonn; Treuithounton, Hierocl.
p. 707: Eth. Toeuithousios, Toeuithopolites), a town in the interior of Cyprus,
was the seat of a bishopic and a place of some importance in the Byzantine times.
According to the Peutinger Table it was 18 miles from Salamis, 24 from Citium,
and 24 from Tamassus. Stephanus B. calls it a village of Cyprus, and derives its
name from the turpentine trees (terebinthoi) which grew in its neighbourhood.
(Engel, Kypros, vol. i. p. 148.)
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AKAMAS (Cape) CYPRUS
A promontory of Cyprus, northwest of Paphos. It is surmounted by two sugar-loaf summits, and the remarkable appearance which it thus presents to navigators as they approach the island on this side, caused them to give the name of Acamantis to the whole island.
AMATHUS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
A town on the southern coast of Cyprus, with a celebrated temple of Aphrodite, who was hence called Amathusia. There were copper-mines in the neighbourhood of the town.
CYPRUS (Country) EUROPE
A large island of the Mediterranean, south of Cilicia and west
of Syria, identical, at least in part, with the Hebrew Kittim, which seems to
be its oldest known name; but it appears to be sometimes included in the name
Caphtor, a title that properly belongs to Crete with other islands and coast lands
settled by the Caphtorim. Other ancient names of Cyprus, most of them poetical,
are Aeria, Aerosa, Acamantis, Amathusia, Aphrodisia, Aphelia, Collinia, Cerastis,
Cryptos, Meinis, Ophiusa, Macaria, Paphos, Sphekeia. The derivation of the name
is uncertain, but the principal authorities, ancient and modern, refer it to the
Hebrew kopher or gopher, the name of a tree; sometimes, without adequate reason,
connecting it with cupressus. Another derivation is from cuprum, "copper,"
formerly found in the island; but the chalkos kuprios or aes cyprium probably
took its name from the island, not the island from the metal.
Cyprus is reckoned by Strabo (or Timaeus, whom he follows)
to be the third in extent of the Mediterranean isles. Its shape was aptly compared
by the ancients to the outspread skin of an ox, or to the fleece of a sheep. Its
extreme length, from Cape Acamas (now Cape Arnaouti or Epiphanio) on the west
to the promontory Dinaretum (now St. Andrea) on the east, is about 140 miles;
its greatest breadth, from Crommyon (now Cormaciti) on the north to Cape Curias
(now Cape Gatto), on the south, about 60; its width varying greatly, the long
strip that ends at Dinaretum being very narrow and scarcely more than 10 miles
across at any point. Off Dinaretum are several small islands called Kleides (Keys).
The coast is provided with numerous bays; but the harbors are now mere roadsteads,
though the remains of ancient artificial harbor moles are to be seen at several
places (as New Paphos, Soli, etc.).
From Crommyon to Dinaretum, along and quite near the coast,
extends a mountainous chain, of which the highest peaks are Buffavento (3240 ft.),
Pentedactylon (2480 ft.), and Elias (2810 ft.). The principal ranges, however,
are in the west and southwest, the highest point being Mount Olympus (Trodos or
Troodos, 6590 ft.), nearly midway between Curium on the south coast and Soli on
the north, from the top of which a view of the whole island can be obtained. Next
in height is Mount Adelphi (Maschera, 5380 ft.), a few miles to the east; still
farther east, a hill (4370 ft.) whose ancient name is unknown; and still farther
east again, Mount Santa Croce (Stavros, 2300 ft.). The chain extends nearly to
Famagousta (Ammochostos, Constantia-Salamis), with frequent spurs to the shore;
and spurs also extend from Olympus radially to the north, west, and south. Between
the two ranges is a vast plain, now called the Messouria, whose principal river
is the Pidias (Pidaeas), emptying into the sea near Salamis. The Messouria to-day
is one vast grain-field, interspersed with insignificant villages. The island
formerly abounded in trees and timber, of which it is now mostly denuded, though
the kharub, olive, fig, orange, date-palm, lemon, nectarines, apricots, etc.,
and others suited to the climate flourish. Wild grape-vines still grow to an immense
size. Wine, of various sorts, is abundant; the best and most famous being the
Commanderia wine, so named from its original producers, the Knights of St. John,
at Colossi. Formerly Cyprus yielded to no region in fertility, producing an abundance
of grain, wine, oil, and fruits. At the proper season the hills and uncultivated
plains are carpeted with anemones, ranunculuses, crocuses, hyacinths, squills,
and a great variety of other flowers, especially those with bulbous roots. One
ancient epithet of Cyprus is euodes. But agriculture, along with irrigation and
drainage, is much neglected. Salt lakes, or “Salines,” exist near Larnaca, the
ancient Citium, furnishing now, as in the times of Pliny, vast supplies of salt
for home consumption and exportation, the salt coating the surface as the summer
heat evaporates the water. The climate is still that of the ancient nimio calore.
Although the names of special historians have come down to
us, we possess no ancient special treatise or history of the island, but are dependent
for information anciently current upon the frequent mention in the Greek and Roman
classics, with brief notices in the later historians. These are best collected
in Engel's monograph Kypros.
The earliest inhabitants have generally been supposed to be
Phoenicians, and it is true that the Phoenician language retained its hold in
certain parts of Cyprus as late as anywhere, contemporarily, of course, with the
Greek, the Lycian (locally), and later with the Latin. The Cypriotes, however,
spoke a language peculiar to themselves, as was long ago evident from the scattered
glosses preserved by the grammarians and lexicographers, and as has lately been
further and most conclusively shown by the recent discovery and decipherment of
inscriptions in the peculiar Cypriote character. This language was essentially
Greek; and the Greek of Cyprus to-day embraces many peculiarities of its own.
The legendary hero of Cyprus was Cinyras, who is said to have come to the island
at the time of the beginning of the Trojan War. Without going into the matter
of the legend, it may be said that Greek inscriptions of the "Cinyradae"
(the priestly caste of Old Paphos, etc.) have been found in the island within
the last twenty years. The chief religion of the island was notoriously the worship
of Venus; but with few exceptions (as e. g. Zeus Labranios, introduced near Amathus
from Caria) the religion and deities were introduced from Phoenicia, and thus
indirectly from the farther East--with, however, some Greek modification. Aphrodite,
Apollo, Hercules, and other deities usually called Greek or Roman were thus introduced,
the Greek and Phoenician names of some of them appearing now and then on the same
bilingual inscription. Aphrodite had her epithet of "Paphian" not only
at Paphos, where her rites included all the extravagancies of Mylitta at Babylon,
but at the other seats of her worship--Golgos, Dali, Cerynia, etc. Apollo Hylates,
who had a temple at Curium, is called by that name and also by his Phoenician
name of Resheph Mical on a bilingual inscription found at Dali. A temple to Eshmunmelqarth
(=Aesculapius-Hercules), a Phoenician deity much like the Greek Palaemon and the
Roman Portumnus, near the Salines at Larnaca, has furnished a number of Phoenician
inscriptions of the fourth century b.c.; while a temple to Artemis Paralia, close
at hand, has furnished a few Greek inscriptions and an immense number of valuable
terra-cotta remains.
Aside from the mythical reign of Cinyras over the whole island,
the territory, so far as we know, was broken up into a number of kingdoms, whose
detailed history has well-nigh perished. A dynasty of Phoenician kings ruled over
Citium, Idalium, and Tamassus in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. Salamis,
said to have been founded by Teucer, and by him named after his native city, had
its own Greek kings at the same period. Paphos had its dynasty of the Cinyradae,
who seem also to have extended their power over Amathus and certain other parts.
Soli and Cythrea traced their origin to the Athenians; Lapethus and Cerynia to
a Lacedaemonian colony under Praxander and an Achaean one under Cepheus; Curium
to the Argives. A town Asine, whose site is not known, is said to have been colonized
by the Dryopians; Neo-Paphos by Agapenor. The promontory Acamas is said to have
its name from the hero of the Trojan War. Old Paphos, Amathus, and Citium were
founded by the Ph?nicians; and of these, Citium (with Dali and Tamassus) seems
to have retained its Ph?nician character with less modification than the others.
Carpassia seems also to have had a Ph?nician origin. Articles of Phoenician manufacture--bronze,
gold, silver, pottery, etc.--have been found in abundance all over the island.
Aside from these scattered data, we know that Thothmes III.
of Egypt (cir. B.C. 1500) conquered Cyprus; Belus of Tyre was at one time its
master; ten kingdoms, including Soli, Chytri, Curium, Lapethus, Cerynia, Neo Paphos,
Marium, Idalium, Citium, and Amathus, sent their submission to the Assyrian Esarhaddon
(cir. B.C. 890); Sargon put the island to tribute (cir. B.C. 707); Apries (Pharaoh
Hophra) of Egypt defeated some Cyprian monarchs near Citium, and returned home
laden with their spoils; Amasis of Egypt overran the island and put it to tribute,
but the Cyprian rulers joined Cambyses the Persian against the son of Amasis.
The king of Amathus revolted from the Persians in the time of Darius, and the
longest record extant in the Cypriote character commemorates one of the side issues
of this struggle. In B.C. 477, the Athenians and Lacedaemonians conquered part
of Cyprus from the Persians; and a war resulted in which the Greeks, with the
Tyrians and Egyptians as allies, were on one side, and the Persians on the other.
The power of Alexander the Great was both felt and helped in Cyprus, after which,
under the Ptolemies, followed wars and doubtful sovereignty, till Demetrius Poliorcetes
conquered the island (cir. B.C. 306). About B.C. 296, Ptolemy Soter took the island,
after which it remained under Egypt till conquered by the Romans.
Literature and the arts flourished in Cyprus even from a very
early period, as witness the "Cypria Carmina," by some attributed to
Homer. Citium was the birthplace of Zeno. It is foreign to the present article
to trace the history of the island during the Roman rule, the Arabs, the dukedoms
of the Crusades, Richard of England, the Lusignans, the Turks, and the recent
occupation by the English. Its geographical position made it the field for the
exhibition of the arts, deeds, and cults of various nations; and its remains,
as brought to light in the explorations of the last twenty-five Vase, with Ph?nician
Inscription Burnt on the Clay. [p. 458] years, have given a deeper insight into
the ancient life and occupations and attainments of its successive peoples and
masters than it had been thought possible hitherto to attain, and necessitated
the rewriting of the principal chapters in the history of ancient art. From the
time of Pococke, who, nearly three centuries ago, made his famous discoveries
of Ph?nician inscriptions (chiefly about Citium), down to the English occupation,
scattered and partial explorations have been made. The discovery, in the first
half of this century, of inscriptions in a character hitherto unknown, and their
decipherment, from 1873 onward, has furnished most valuable clues to the history
of religions in Cyprus and the transference of deities thither from the East,
besides many minor historical matters and a vast addition to the knowledge of
Greek dialects. The characters are syllabic, with peculiar laws of writing, and
the language Greek. Some hundreds of these inscriptions are now known (the most
of them found by Di Cesnola)--some bilingual (Phoenician and Cypriote) and some
digraphic (Greek and Cypriote). The decipherment is a brilliant record--George
Smith, of England, discovering the key in a bilingual inscription now in the British
Museum; R. H. Lang simultaneously and independently proving the incorrectness
of certain previous attempts by others; after which Samuel Birch made additional
progress; and complete inscriptions were first read simultaneously and independently
by Justus Siegismund and W. Deecke of Strassburg, M. Schmidt of Jena, and I. H.
Hall of New York, since which time many writers have contributed lexicographic
and dialectic additions.
The discoveries by exploration and excavation have been chiefly
made (though the work of others is not inconsiderable) by L. P. di Cesnola, while
U. S. Consul at Cyprus, from 1866 to 1877. His work covered nearly all parts of
the island, discovering the sites of many ancient cities, and ruins of others
whose ancient identity is not yet known, besides many temples, necropoles, ancient
aqueducts, and other remains, including over 200 inscriptions, in Assyrian, Cypriote,
Phoenician, Greek, and Latin. The greatest number (many thousands) and most important
of the objects discovered are deposited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York, though many found their way to European museums and private collections.
The Cyprian Sarcophagus--Roman Period. statuary, pottery, terra-cottas, glass,
gold, silver, and gems are a unique and unrivalled collection, and their value
for the study of Phoenician and Greek archaeology, art, and history appears in
their unceasing use in the learned publications of all countries. Since the occupation
of Cyprus by the English, others have excavated and explored, but by no means
on the same scale, the principal works accomplished being the further excavation
of the site of the greater temple of Venus at Old Paphos, and some large operations
near Salamis.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
GOLGOI (Ancient city) CYPRUS
(Golgoi). A town in Cyprus, of uncertain site, a Sicyonian colony, and one of the chief seats of the worship of Aphrodite.
IDALION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
(Idalion). A town in Cyprus, sacred to Aphrodite, who hence bore the surname Idalia.
KITION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
A town in Cyprus, 200 stadia from Salamis, near the mouth of the Tetius; here Cimon, the celebrated Athenian, died, and Zeno, the founder of the Stoic school, was born. It is now Larnaca.
KOURION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Kourion. A city of Cyprus, on the southern coast, or rather,
according to the ancients, at the commencement of the western shore, at a small
distance from which, to the southeast, there is a cape which bears the name of
Curias. Curium is said to have been founded by an Argive colony, and it was one
of the nine royal cities of Cyprus.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
LAMPOUSA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
A town on the northern coast of Cyprus on a river of the same name.
PAPHOS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
(Paphos). The name of two towns on the west coast of Cyprus,
called "Old Paphos" (Palaipaphos) and "New Paphos" (Paphos
Nea), the former near the promontory of Zephyrium, ten stadia from the coast;
the latter more inland, sixty stadia from the former. Old Paphos was the chief
seat of the worship of Aphrodite, who is said to have landed at this place after
her birth among the waves, and who is hence frequently called the Paphian goddess
(Paphia). Here she had a celebrated temple, the high-priest of which exercised
a kind of religious superintendence over the whole island. The priests were supposed
to be descendants of Cinyras. The image of the goddess was a conical stone, which
was anointed with oil at the time of worship, and this, with other testimony derived
from excavations made since 1887 by English explorers, makes it evident that the
cult of the Paphian Aphrodite was Semitic rather than Hellenic. The very temple,
with its large open courts and small chambers, had the characteristics of a Phoenician
structure. New Paphos, on the other hand, was of Greek foundation, and the traditions
ascribed it to Agapenor.
In the reign of Augustus Old Paphos was destroyed by an earthquake,
and when rebuilt by order of the emperor received the name of Augusta.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
TAMASSOS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
(Tamassos) or Tamasus (Tamasos), probably the same as the Homeric Temese. A town in the middle of Cyprus, northwest of Olympus, and twenty-nine miles southeast of Soloe.
Large island in eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Syria.
By its location, Cyprus was at the crossroad of many civilizations from the Middle
East, Egypt and Greece,
though its situation as an island and the richness of its soil (especially rich
copper mines that were at the root of its prosperity and induced trade relations
with most of the Middle East) allowed it to keep its specificity over the centuries.
Cyprus had been populated since a very remote past. Around 1450 B.
C., Greeks of the Mycenaean civilization established trade posts in the island.
Yet, the kings that were reigning over Cyprus stayed in power and managed to keep
their autonomy and neutrality in the power struggles that opposed the Hittites
kings from Anatolia and the pharaohs of Egypt
during the XIVth and XIIIth centuries B.C . Centuries later, toward the end of
the IXth century and during the VIIIth century B. C., Phoenician merchants established
trade posts on the southern shore of the island, in cities like Citium.
Yet, most of the island stayed under the control of kings of Salamis,
vassals of the Assyrian Empire. With the fall of Nineveh (612), the Assyrian dominion
over the island was replaced by that of Egypt,
followed by that of Persia
in the time of Cyrus the Great and his successors.
Greek mythology of classical times links Cyprus to Teucrus, son of
Telamon, the king of Salamis
and father of the Great Ajax, one of the most prominent Greek heroes during the
Trojan war. When he came back to Salamis
after the war, where his elder brother Ajax had been killed, his father Telamon
exiled him for not having protected or avenged his brother. Teucrus fled to Syria,
where the king of the place settled him in Cyprus that he had just conquered.
There, Teucrus founded a city that he called Salamis
as well.
Back in the historical times, Cyprus, under the leadership of Onesilus,
brother of the king of Salamis,
took part in 498 in an uprising against Darius, the Persian King, along with Ionian
cities led by Aristagoras, ruler of Miletus.
But the attempt failed, the combined Ionian fleet and Cypriot army were defeated
on sea and land by Darius' troops and his Phoenician navy near Salamis
of Cyprus, and Onesilus was killed.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
CYPRUS (Country) EUROPE
Lobby for Cyprus is a non party political, non sectarian organisation based in the UK with the aim of reuniting Cyprus. Lobby was formed in 1993 and since its inception has campaigned vigorously against the brutal invasion, occupation, ethnic cleansing and destruction of the Hellenic heritage of 37% of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkey.
CYPRUS (Country) EUROPE
Cyprus, an island in the Eastern Mediterranean, at the entrance of the Gulf of
Alexandretta. It was originally inhabited by Phoenicians and Greeks, and was famous
for its temples of Aphrodite. Though long autonomous, in the sixth century B.C.
dominion over it was disputed by the Egyptians and the Persians, the latter ruling
it till the invasion of Alexander the Great. From the Ptolemies of Egypt it passed
to the Romans (59 B.C.). Despite Moslem invasions from the seventh to the tenth
century, it remained a part of the Eastern Empire until the end of the twelfth.
ln 1191 it was conquered by Richard the Lion-Hearted, who gave it to Guy de Lusignan,
King of Jerusalem; in 1373 it fell to the Genoese, in 1489 to the Venetians. Finally,
in 1571, it became Moslem territory under Sultan Selim II. In 1878 it was occupied
by England and is now administered by an English high commissioner, assisted by
a board of four English members (Statesman's Year Book, London, 1908). The island
is hilly, with few rivers, and the climate is hot. Its once famous cities have
perished; the chief towns are now Larnaca (the best port), Nicosia, and Limasol.
Its area is 153,584 square miles. The population in 1901 was 237,000 (51,000 Mussulmans,
1100 Maronites, 850 Latins, 300 Armenians, a few Protestants and Jews, and the
rest Greeks). It produces dates, carobs, oranges and other fruits, oil, wine,
and corn. It has also sponge fisheries. Gypsum is mined there and copper mines
were worked in ancient times. Christianity was successfully preached in Cyprus
by St. Paul, St. Barnabas (a native of the island), and St. John Mark. At Paphos
the magician Elymas was blinded and the Proconsul Sergius Paulus was converted
(Acts, xi, xiii, xv). The Byzantine "Synaxaria" mention many saints, bishops,
and martyrs of this early period, e.g. St. Lazarus, St. Heraclides, St. Nicanor
(one of the first seven deacons), and others. In the fourth century we find two
illustrious names, that of St. Spiridion, the shepherd Bishop of Trimithus, present
at the Council of Nicaea in 325 with two other Cypriot bishops, whose relics were
removed to Corfu in 1460, and that of St. Epiphanius (d. 403), Bishop of Salamis,
the zealous adversary of all heresies and author of many valuable theological
works. The Bishop of Salamis (later Constantia) was then metropolitan of the whole
island, but was himself subject to the Patriarch of Antioch. During the Arian
quarrels and the Eustathian schism, the Cypriote Church began to claim its independence.
Pope Innocent I stood out for the rights of the Antiochene patriarch, Alexander
I. However, it was not long before the Council of Ephesus (431) in its seventh
session acknowledged the ecclesiastical independence of Cyprus: the cause was
gained by the metropolitan, Rheginus, who was present at Ephesus with three of
his suffragans. In 488 Peter the Dyer (Petrus Fullo), the famous Monophysite patriarch,
made an effort to recover the ancient Antiochene jurisdiction over the island.
During the conflict, however, the Cypriote metropolitan, Anthimus, claimed to
have learned by a revelation that the site of the sepulchre of St. Barnabas was
quite near his own city of Salamis; he found there the body of the Apostle with
a copy of St. Matthew's Gospel, brought the relics to Constantinople, and presented
them to the Emperor Zeno. Acacius of Constantinople decided in favour of Cyprus
against Antioch, since which time the ecclesiastical independence (autocephalia)
of the island has no more been called in question, the archbishop, known as exarch,
ranking immediately after the five great patriarchs.
From the fifth to the twelfth century the following Archbishops of
Constantia (Salamis) are worthy of note: Acadius, biographer of St. Symeon Stylites
the Younger, and an uncompromising opponent of the Ecthesis of Heraclius; Sergius,
who condemned this document in a council and sent the pertinent decree to Pope
Theodore I, but became afterwards infected with the very error he had formerly
condemned; George, a defender of the holy images (icons); Constantine, who played
a conspicuous part in their defence at the Second Nicene Council (787); Nicholas
Muzalon, appointed Patriarch of Constantinople in 1147. Another remarkable prelate
is St. Demetrianus, Bishop of Chytraea (ninth and tenth century). After the conquest
of Cyprus by the Arabs, 632-647, the Christian population with its bishops emigrated
to the mainland. Justinian II built for them, near the Hellespont, a city which
he called Nea Justinianopolis; their archbishop enjoyed there the rights he had
in Cyprus, besides exercising jurisdiction over the surrounding country (Quinisext
Council, can. xxxix, 692). After the death of Justinian II the Cypriotes returned
to their island with their hierarchy. Under Nicephorus Phocas (963-969) Cyprus
was freed completely from the Arabs, who had sometimes treated it more kindly
than the Byzantine emperors. Christianity, however, gained by the restoration.
To this period belongs the foundation of three great monasteries, Our Lady of
Pity (Eleusa) of Kykkos, Machaeras, and the Encleistra, the last founded in the
twelfth century by the recluse Neophytus, author of several ascetical works. The
Frankish rule, though at first accepted rather willingly, was finally the source
of profound disturbance. In 1196 King Amaury obtained from Celestine III a Latin
hierarchy for his kingdom: a resident archbishop was placed at Nicosia (Leucosia),
with three suffragans at Paphos, Limasol (Temessos), and Famagusta (Ammochostos,
formerly Arsinoe). Knights Templars, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians,
Benedictines, Cistercians, Carthusians, Regular Canons, Premonstratensian nuns
soon had many flourishing monasteries. Splendid churches were built in the Gothic
or ogival style, and many Greek churches were changed into Latin ones. Ecclesiastical
revenues were assigned (in part) to the Latin clergy; the Greek clergy and the
faithful were subordinated to Latin jurisdiction. In the execution of the decrees
of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) Cardinal Pelagius, legate of Innocent III,
showed himself utterly intransigent. Thirteen refractory Greek monks were cruelly
put to death. The Greek archbishop, Neophytus, was deposed and exiled, the Greek
sees reduced to four, the bishops ordered to reside in small villages and obey
the Latin archbishop (1220-1222). Innocent IV and Alexander IV were more favourable
to the Greeks (Hergenrother-Kirsch, Kirchengesch., 4th ed., 1904, II, 726), and
the Government often defended them against the Latins. The ecclesiastical history
of Cyprus during this sad period is one of conflict between the two rival communions,
the Greeks being always looked on as more or less schismatic both by the Latins
and by the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople. An attempted union of the two Churches
in 1405 did not succeed, nor was the Union of Florence (1439) more lasting. In
1489, through the abdication of Queen Caterina Cornaro, the island became subject
to Venice, whose rule was even more intolerable to the Greeks, so that, as stated,
in 1571 they welcomed the Turkish conquerors as true deliverers.
Among the more conspicuous Latin Archbishops of Nicosia may be mentioned
Eustorge de Montaigu (1217-1250) who died at the siege of Damietta, a stern defender
of the rights of his Church and a skilful administrator; he increased the splendour
of the church services, established schools, built the archiepiscopal palace and
the magnificent cathedral of St. Sophia; Ugo di Fagiano (1251-1261), distinguished
for his zeal and piety, but a zealous adversary of the Greeks; Gerard de Langres
(1274), deposed by Boniface VIII for siding with Philip the Fair; Giovanni del
Conte (1312), renowned for his charity; Cardinal Elie de Nabinals (1332), a great
reformer; Andreas of Rhodes (1447), present at the Council of Florence; Filippo
Mocenigo (1559), who assisted at the closing sessions of the Council of Trent,
helped the Venetians against the Turks, and, after the loss of Cyprus, retired
to Italy. The Latin bishops of Cyprus showed themselves generally worthy of their
mission, by resisting the encroachments of the kings, sometimes also of the Latin
Patriarchs of Jerusalem, and even of the pontifical legates. The only reproach
they deserve is a want of tact in their behaviour towards the Greeks, and also
that their clergy at certain times were guilty of moral laxity. Few saints appear
in Latin Cyprus; we hear only of the saintly Franciscan, Ugo di Fagiano, and the
Dominican, Pierre de La Palu, Patriarch of Jerusalem and administrator of the
See of Limasol. Blessed Pierre Thomas, a Carmelite and papal legate, who strove
hard to convert the Greeks, died at the siege of Famagusta in 1366.
After frightful massacres, the Turks allowed the Greeks to reorganize
their Church as they liked: viz, with an archbishop styled "Most Blessed Archbishop
of Nea Justiniana [a blunder for Justinianopolis] and all Cyprus", and three bishops
at Paphos, Citium, and Karpasia. In the seventeenth century the last-named see
was suppressed, and its territory given to the archdiocese; on the other hand
the ancient See of Kyrenia was re-established. Cyprus, like the other autocephalous
orthodox Churches, has its "Holy Synod", which consists of four bishops and four
priests. In the last three centuries there are few events to mention, apart from
simoniacal elections and perpetual domestic quarrels. In 1668 Archbishop Nicephorus
held a council against the Protestants. In 1821 the four Greek bishops, with many
priests, monks, and laymen, were murdered by the Turks. After 1900 strife arose
in the ancient Church of St. Barnabas, and it was found impossible to name a successor
to the archbishop who died in that year. The Turkish conquest caused the ruin
of the Latin Church: two bishops were then killed with many priests and monks,
the churches were profaned, and the Latin Catholics left the island. However,
as early as 1572, Franciscans could again reside at Larnaca; after a century they
had gathered about 2000 Catholics of various rites. Since 1848 Cyprus has been
ecclesiastically dependent on the new Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Franciscans
have stations at Larnaca, Limasol, and Nicosia, with schools and five churches;
Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition conduct schools in these three towns,
and have a hospital and an orphanage at Larnaca.
The Maronites were very numerous during the period of Latin rule,
but owing to persecutions of Greeks or Turks have mostly all departed or apostatized.
The latter are called Linobambaci; some of them returned to Catholicism. Cyprus,
with a part of Lebanon, still forms a Maronite diocese, with 30,000 faithful.
They have in the island a few churches and four monasteries, but lack good schools.
Among the resident Armenians there is only an insignificant number (12) of Catholics;
the rest obey the Gregorian Patriarch of Jerusalem and have two priests and a
monastery. Other Christians of Eastern Rites, who lived in Cyprus during the Middle
Ages, subject to their own bishops, have now completely disappeared.
S. Petrides, ed.
Transcribed by: Diane E. Dubrule
This text is cited June 2004 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
FAMAGUSTA (Municipality) FAMAGUSTA
NICOSIA (Town) CYPRUS
Nicosia. Titular archdiocese in the Province of Cyprus. It is now agreed (Oberhummer'
"Aus Cypern" in "Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde", 1890, 212-14), that
Ledra, Leucotheon, Leucopolis, Leucosia, and Nicosia are the same city, at least
the same episcopal see. Ledra is first mentioned by Sozomen (H. E., I, 11) in
connexion with its bishop, St. Triphyllius, who lived under Constantine and whom
St. Jerome (De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis), pronounced the most eloquent of his
time. Mention is made also of one of his disciples, St. Diomedes, venerated on
28 October. Under the name of Leucosia the city appears for the first time in
the sixth century, in the "Synecdemus" of Hierocles (ed. Burckhardt, 707-8). It
was certainly subsequent to the eighth century that Leucosia or Nicosia replaced
Constantia as the metropolis of Cyprus, for at the (Ecumenical Council of 787
one Constantine signed as Bishop of Constantia; in any case at the conquest of
the island in 1191 by Richard Coeur de Lion Nicosia was the capital. At that time
Cyprus was sold to the Templars who established themselves in the castle of Nicosia,
but not being able to overcome the hostility of the people of the city, massacred
the majority of the inhabitants and sold Cyprus to Guy de Lusignan, who founded
a dynasty there, of which there were fifteen titulars, and did much towards the
prosperity of the capital. Nicosia was then made a Latin metropolitan see with
three suffragans, Paphos, Limassol, and Famagusta. The Greeks who had previously
had as many as fourteen titulars were obliged to be content with four bishops
bearing the same titles as the Latins but residing in different towns. The list
of thirty-one Latin archbishops from 1196 to 1502 may be seen in Eubel, "Hierarchia
catholica medii aevi", I, 382; II, 224. Quarrels between Greeks and Latins were
frequent and prolonged, especially at Nicosia, where the two councils of 1313-60
ended in bloodshed; but in spite of everything the island prospered. There were
many beautiful churches in the possession of the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians,
Carmelites, Benedictines, and Carthusians. Other churches belonged to the Greeks,
Armenians, Jacobites, Maronites, Nestorians etc. In 1489 Cyprus fell under the
dominion of Venice and on 9 November, 1570, Nicosia fell into the power of the
Turks, who committed atrocious cruelties. Nor was this the last time, for on 9
July, 1821, during the revolt of the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire, they strangled
many of the people of Nicosia, among them the four Greek bishops of the island.
Since 4 June, 1878, Cyprus has been under the dominion of England. Previously
Nicosia was the residence of the Mutessarif of the sandjak which depended on the
vilayet of the Archipelago. Since the Turkish occupation of 1571 Nicosia has been
the permanent residence of the Greek archbishop who governs the autonomous church
of Cyprus. The city has 13,000 inhabitants. The Franciscans administer the Catholic
mission which is dependent on the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and has a school
for boys. The Sisters of St. Joseph have a school for girls.
S. Vailhe, ed.
Transcribed by: Joseph E. O'Connor
This text is cited June 2004 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
SALAMIS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Salamis, a titular see in Cyprus. Salamis was a maritime town on the eastern coast
of Cyprus, situated at the end of a fertile plain between two mountains, near
the River Pediaeus. It was already an important centre in the sixth century B.C.
Its foundation is attributed to Teucer, son of Telamon, King of the Island of
Salamis, opposite Attica; others believe it to be of Phoenician origin and derive
its name from the Semitic selom, peace. Its fine harbour, its location, and fortifications
made it the chief city of the island. In the sixth century B.C. it had kings,
allies of the princes of Cyrene; one of them, Gorgus, refused to join in the Ionian
revolt, and was expelled by his brother, who took command of the troops of Salamis
and the other cities; the battle was fought before Salamis, which fell again into
the power of Gorgus. It was besieged by Anexicrates, the successor of Cimon. After
the peace of Antacidas, the Persians had to fight for ten years against the valiant
king Evagoras, whose panegyric was composed by Isocatres. It was at Salamis in
306 B.C. that the greatest naval battle of antiquity was fought, Demetrius I,
Poliorcetes, defeating the Graeco-Egyptian fleet of Ptolemy I. In 295 B.C. Salamis
passed under the sway of the kings of Egypt, and in 58 B.C. under that of Rome,
at which time it possessed all the eastern portion of the island. When St. Paul
landed at Salamis with Barnabas and John, surnamed Mark, returning from Seleucia,
there were several synagogues, and it was there he began the conversion of the
island (Acts, xiii, 5). Salamis was destroyed by earthquakes, and was rebuilt
by Constantius II (337-61), who called it Constantia. It was destroyed by the
Arabs in 647 or 648. Its unimportant ruins are near the village of Hagios Sergios,
a little north of Famagusta. After its destruction the inhabitants and clergy
betook themselves to Famagusta, which became and for a long time remained the
residence of the archbishops. At present they reside at Nicosia. In the article
on Cyprus are mentioned the principal bishops of Salamis or Constantia; the list
of these prelates is given in Le Quien, "Oriens christianus", II, 1043 seq., and
more fully in Hackett, "A History of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus" (London, 1901),
651.
S. Petrides, ed.
Transcribed by: Stan Walker
This text is cited June 2004 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
AMATHUS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the S coast, about 11 km E of Limassol. The ruins cover a large
area on top of a hill and on the slopes reaching the sea to the S. The lower city
lies between the acropolis and the sea and to the E. Remains of the ancient city
wall and of the harbor still survive. The relatively well-preserved wall across
the acropolis is of Early Byzantine times. The necropolis extends E, N, and W
of the town.
One of the ancient kingdoms of Cyprus, its legendary founder was Kinyras,
who called the city after his mother Amathous. It was said in antiquity that the
people were autochthonous. They used a non-Greek language, as shown by inscriptions
in the Cypriot syllabary used down to the 4th c. B.C. According to one version
of the Ariadne legend, Theseus abandoned Ariadne at Amathousa, where she died.
The Amathousians are said to have called the grove where she was buried the "Wood
of Aphrodite Ariadne."
Nothing is known of the earliest history of the city. At the time
of the Ionian Revolt (499-498 B.C.) it sided with the Persians. Onesilos, king
of Salamis, who led the revolt, persuaded all the Cypriots except those of Amathous
to join him against Persia. Onesilos proceeded to lay siege to Amathous, but forced
by other events to abandon the siege, he fell in the battle that ensued on the
plain of Salamis.
King Euagoras I of Salamis (411-374/373 B.C.) reduced Amathous at
the time of his attempt to liberate Cyprus from the Persians. Its king Rhoikos
had been made a prisoner, but then returned home, his release having been effected
by the Athenians, who were Euagoras' allies. King Androkles of Amathous assisted
Alexander the Great at the siege of Tyre. The history of the city was written
in nine books by Eratosthenes of Kyrene (275-195 B.C.). The kings of Amathous
who are known to have issued coins are Zotimos, Lysandros, Epipalos, and possibly
Rhoikos. The city continued to flourish throughout the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman
periods down to Early Byzantine times, when it became the seat of a bishop, but
it was gradually abandoned after the first Arab raids of A.D. 647
Some stretches of the walls still stand but practically nothing of
the city has been uncovered so far. A number of built tombs had been excavated
in the 19th c., while more tombs were excavated in 1930. In recent years the ruins
of two Early Christian basilican churches were excavated. A built tomb can be
seen on the seaward side of the main Nicosia-Limassol road a little W of the ruins
of the city. A large dromos, measuring 13 x 7 m, slopes down to the doorway. The
interior of the tomb consists of two rectangular chambers; both have corbeled
slightly curved saddle roofs with flat top stones. It is dated to the beginning
of the Cypro-archaic I period, shortly after 700 B.C.
The city wall may be traced in practically all its course; the circuit
starts at the E end by the sea near the Church of Haghia Varvara, extends N along
the edge of the acropolis, and returns along its W edge. Remains of this Classical
wall survive at both ends. Of the ancient harbor only a little is now visible,
on the SE of the acropolis. Part of it has silted up and only scanty remains of
the artificial breakwaters can still be seen above water. The sites of a gymnasium
and of a theater are suspected but they have never been investigated. The Temple
of Aphrodite (also known as Amathousia) is to be sought on the summit of the acropolis.
We also know of the worship in Amathous of Zeus, Hera, Hermes and Adonis, but
nothing about the position of their sanctuaries. Cut into the face of a rock on
the E side of the acropolis there is a Greek inscription recording the construction
by Lucius Vitellius Callinicus at his own expense of the steps leading up to it
and of an arch.
Casual finds in the city site are frequent. A colossal statue in gray
limestone, measuring 4.20 m in height and 2 m in width at the shoulders, now in
the Istanbul Museum, was found in 1873 by the harbor. This curious colossus has
been much discussed and many identifications have been put forward, but most probably
it represents Bes. Its date too is disputed but it may well be an archaistic statue
of the Roman period. In 1862 a colossal stone vase, now in the Louvre, was found
on the summit of the acropolis. It may have stood at the entrance to the Temple
of Aphrodite. It has four horizontal arched handles ending with palmettes, within
each of which is placed a bull. Many small finds are in the Nicosia and Limassol
Museums.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
APHRODISION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the N coast 38 km E of Kerynia. The ruins of a small town identified
with Aphrodision lie by the shore at the locality Liastrika, due N of Akanthou
village. The ruins cover the fields inland as well as a headland which separates
two bays. On the W side of the headland is a perfectly shaped horseshoe bay, which
may have served as a harbor.
Nothing is known of the founding of the town or of its history but
it is mentioned by Strabo (14.682) and by Ptolemy (5.14.4). The reading Uppridissa
equated with Aphrodision on the prism of Esarhaddon (673-672 B.C.) is not to be
trusted. The worship of Hera in the 2d c. B.C. is attested by a recently discovered
inscription. Aphrodision seems to have flourished from Hellenistic to Early Byzantine
times, when it was gradually abandoned after the first Arab raids of A.D. 647.
The town site is now a field of ruins under cultivation and it is so far unexcavated.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ARSINOE (Ancient city) CYPRUS
There were at least three towns so named, all three on the coast.
A fourth one in the interior is rather doubtful. One was formerly Marion on the
NW coast near Cape Arnauti, another at modern Famagusta on the E coast, and the
third somewhere between Old and New Paphos on the SW coast. As to the fourth,
it is said to be at Arsos in the Limassol district. Of the four, only the first
has been explored.
The best known Arsinoe is the former Marion (q.v.). After Alexander
the Great, Stasioikos II, the last king of Marion, sided with Antigonos against
Ptolemy. In 312 B.C. the city was razed by Ptolemy and its inhabitants were transferred
to Paphos. On the ruins a new city was founded about 270 B.C. by Ptolemy Philadelphus
who renamed it after his wife and sister. We probably know more of this Arsinoe
than of its predecessor Marion.
The ruins of this town are to be found to the N of the modern village
of Polis. Part of the site is now a field of ruins under cultivation and part
is inhabited, but the town may have extended S under the modern village. The necropolis,
also the Classical necropolis of Marion, lies mainly to the S. This Arsinoe is
well known to geographers and historians (Strab. 14.683; Ptol. 5.14.4; Plin. HNT
5.130; Steph. Byz.). The Stadiasmus (309) and inscriptions record it. The town
flourished during the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman era, and in Early Christian
times it became the seat of a bishop. The site has never been excavated. Some
soundings made in 1929 were intended to locate the earlier city.
From an inscription of the 3d c. B.C. we know that there was a Hellenistic
gymnasium but its position remains unknown. There was probably a theater but we
have no evidence although its position can be conjectured. We learn from Strabo
that there was a Sacred Grove to Zeus and from an inscription of the time of Tiberius
we are told of the existence of a Temple of Zeus and Aphrodite. The site of a
sanctuary is known at the far end of a small ridge at Maratheri, E of the ancient
town. This sanctuary may well be that of Zeus and Aphrodite mentioned in the above
inscription, which almost certainly came from this site. This cult may be earlier
for on some coins of Stasioikos II is shown on the obverse the head of Zeus and
on the reverse that of Aphrodite. In fact, casual finds also date this sanctuary
from the archaic to the Graeco-Roman period. The site is the most important town
in Cyprus of this name and as we know of many Arsinoeia in the island we may presume
that there was one here too.
A number of tombs of the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman era were excavated
in the necropolis S of Polis. These tombs contain the familiar Hellenistic and
Roman pottery and other furniture and very often are rich in jewelry. However,
there is nothing to be seen at present above ground.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
On the NW coast near the sea. The ruins cover a large area, part of
which is now occupied by the village of Polis. Marion was founded on two low plateaus,
both commanding a wide view over the narrow plain below and the Bay of Chrysochou
beyond. Thus there was an E and a W city, the former being the first to be inhabited.
Similarly its vast necropolis extended E and W. Remains of the ancient harbor
still survive at Latsi.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the city was founded at the
beginning of the Geometric period. The site of the earliest city should be located
on a low hill E of the village of Polis. This is the E city. It is now a field
of ruins under cultivation except for part of its S side, which is occupied by
the modern gymnasium and Technical School of Polis. Close by is the E necropolis
with tombs dating mainly from the Geometric and the archaic period. In late archaic
times Marion spread to the W on a low hill called Petrerades, due N of Polis.
This is the W city. This site too is now under cultivation or partly inhabited.
South of it extends the W necropolis, dating from Classical and Hellenistic times.
The name Aimar appears in an Egyptian inscription at Medinet Habu
of the time of Rameses III (1198-1167 B.C.), if the correlation with Marion were
beyond dispute. The earliest known historical event mentioning Marion belongs
to the Classical period, when in 449 B.C. the Athenian general Kimon freed the
city from the Persians. On coins of the 5th and 4th c. B.C. are given in syllabic
script not only the name of the king but also the name Marieus. Skylax the geographer
(probably mid 4th c. B.C.) speaks of this city as Marion Hellenis (GGM 103).
After Alexander the Great, Stasioikos II, the last king of Marion,
sided with Antigonos against Ptolemy and in 312 B.C. the city was razed by Ptolemy
and the inhabitants transferred to Paphos. About the year 270 B.C. a new town,
renamed Arsinoe (q.v.), was founded on the ruins of Marion by Ptolemy Philadelphus.
This town flourished once more during the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman periods
and in Early Christian times it became the seat of a bishop.
Marion was one of the ancient kingdoms of Cyprus and we know the names
of most of its kings from the 5th and 4th c. B.C. The city grew in importance
at an early date, drawing its wealth from the nearby copper mines at Limne and
from an intensive trade with Athens. The necropolis has produced large quantities
of imported Attic pottery, an indication that there were close commercial and
cultural relations with Athens. These tombs are also rich in gold jewelry. A fine
marble kouros, now in the British Museum, also comes from Marion.
The earliest coins attributed to Marion date to the second quarter
of the 5th c. B.C. These were struck by Sasmaos son of Doxandros. Coins were also
minted by Stasioikos I (after 449 B.C.), Timocharis (end of the 5th c. B.C.),
and Stasioikos II (330?-312 B.C.). Nothing is known of the kings between Timocharis
and Stasioikos II.
Marion produced a large number of syllabic inscriptions dating from
the 6th to the 4th c. B.C. They are inscribed on stelai found in tombs so that
they are all funerary. None has been found so far on the city site. Alphabetic
inscriptions occur also but they are Hellenistic and later.
Apart from some soundings made in 1929 and in 1960 in the W sector
of the city no excavations were ever carried out within the city site. A large
number of tombs, however, were excavated in the necropolis but none is now accessible.
A general survey of the city site and its immediate surroundings was carried out
in 1960 with interesting results. Surface finds dating from the Protogeometric
period down to Hellenistic times were found at Peristeries, thus supporting the
theory that the site of the earliest Marion should be sought here. The soundings
at Petrerades N of Polis simply proved that at least part of the late archaic
and Classical city is buried below the remains of Hellenistic Arsinoe.
The site of a sanctuary is known at the far end of a small ridge at
Maratheri between the E and W cities. Casual finds date it from the archaic to
Graeco-Roman times. This sanctuary may well be that of Zeus and Aphrodite, known
from an inscription of the time of Tiberius which almost certainly came from this
site. Strabo (14.683) speaks of a Sacred Grove to Zeus. It is interesting to note
that some coins of King Stasioikos II show on the obverse the head of Zeus and
on the reverse that of Aphrodite.
The harbor of Marion-Arsinoe lies ca. 4 km W of Polis and still shelters
fishing boats. A massive breakwater still survives for a considerable length;
it must have been much longer in antiquity, since a large part of the harbor has
silted up. It was from this harbor that the trade with the West passed, especially
the exportation of copper.
The finds are in the Nicosia and Paphos Museums.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited July 2003 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
GOLGOI (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Inland ca. 1.6 km NE of the village of Athienou and 17 km N-NW of
Kition. The ruins cover a sizable area on a hill sloping gently N to S in the
direction of the village. Remains of the ancient city wall can still be traced
in almost all its course. According to Sakellarios, who was the first to identify
this site, the perimeter of the circuit was 7 stadia. The necropolis lies to the
S within the village and to the SE. Two important temples excavated in the 19th
c. lie outside the walls by the Church of Haghios Photios about 3 km SE of the
village. The area of the city itself is now a field of ruins under cultivation.
The traditional founder of the town was Golgos from Sikyon in the
Peloponnese. This connection is further illustrated by an archaic limestone block
found here, now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. Carved in relief on this
block is a Chimaera, the symbol of Sikyon which appears on its coins. Golgoi must
have succeeded the nearby Late Bronze Age settlement at Bamboulari tis Koukouninas,
due N of Athienou. Nothing is known of the history of Golgoi although it is mentioned
by several ancient authors. Inscriptions attest an Aphrodite Golgia whose worship
was, according to Pausanias, earlier than the cult of Aphrodite at Paphos. And
although we know nothing about the existence of a kingdom of this name some coins
have been attributed to it. On the evidence of recent excavations near the E gate
the city seems to have flourished to the end of the 4th c. B.C. but another sector
of the town must have been inhabited down to Early Christian times.
Excavations on the site were started for the first time in 1969 and
were confined to the E sector by the E Gate, where a number of private houses
and workshops dating mainly from the 4th c. B.C., came to light; the lowest strata,
however, produced sherds of the archaic and Early Classical periods. Part of the
city wall is preserved to a height of 2.50 m; its lower course consists of rubble
with mudbricks above. The E Gate with steps leading up into the town has also
been cleared.
From a tomb comes a late archaic stone sarcophagus with low relief
decoration, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. One of the long sides
shows a hunting scene; the other, a banquet scene of four couches on which recline
one older and three younger men.
One of the short sides shows Perseus carrying off the head of Medusa
followed by his dog; the other, a fourhorse chariot with a beardless driver conveying
an elderly man, who probably represents the occupant of the sarcophagus. The cover
is in the form of a gable with four crouching lions at the ends.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
IDALION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Inland by the river Yialias 22 km NW of Kition. The ruins of the ancient
city extend to the S of the modern village of Dali. The city consisted of three
parts: two acropoleis and the lower town. The acropoleis occupied two hills, Moutti
tou Gavrili to the E and Ambelleri to the W. These acropoleis bounded the city
to the S and the lower town extended on their N slopes and on the flat land right
up to the S outskirts of the modern village, which lies near the river. The city
wall can still be traced along the N ridge of the E acropolis and past the Church
of Haghios Georgios, where it disappears in the plain. It can also be traced along
the ridge of the W acropolis, where it was partly excavated, and then disappears
in the plain below. The necropolis extends E and W. Tombs of the Late Bronze Age
and of Geometric times lie in the E necropolis; those of the archaic, Classical,
Hellenistic, and Graeco-Roman, in the W one.
Idalion, one of the ancient kingdoms of Cyprus, was, according to
tradition, founded by Chalcanor. Excavations have shown that the city was inhabited
towards the end of the Late Bronze Age, when the W acropolis became a fortified
stronghold with a cult place. This later became the place of the Temenos of Athena,
whom the Phoenicians identified with their own Anat. On a terrace below the top
of the W acropolis are remains of the royal palace, uncovered by trial excavations.
The summit of the E acropolis was occupied by a Temenos of Aphrodite and in the
narrow valley between the two acropoleis was the Temenos of Apollo, whom the Phoenicians
identified with their Reshef. The Sanctuaries of Aphrodite and of Apollo, summarily
excavated at the end of the 19th century, yielded a series of sculptures of stone
and terracotta dating from the archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods. The
W acropolis was excavated in 1928.
Little is known of the history of Idalion but the name appears on
the prism of Esarhaddon (673-672 B.C.) and the sequence of its kings from the
beginning to the middle of the 5th c. B.C. is fairly well fixed. The city fell
in the siege by the Persians and the Kitians and thereafter was governed by Kition,
which was itself ruled by a Phoenician dynasty. The presence of Phoenicians at
Idalion after its fall is witnessed by inscriptions. The city continued to flourish
throughout the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman times and, unlike other cities of
Cyprus, seems to have had in the 5th c. B.C. a constitution with some democratic
element. Before falling to the Kitians it issued its own coins, the first of which
date from shortly before 500 B.C. These coins show on the obverse a sphinx and
on the reverse a lotus flower.
Very little survives in the way of monuments, the principal one being
the remains of the Temple of Athena on the summit of the W acropolis. Of the Sanctuaries
of Aphrodite and of Apollo nothing is to be seen. In the necropolis a number of
tombs were excavated but only one tomb can now be viewed within the W necropous.
The Temple of Athena was enclosed by the fortification wall, which
at the same time served as a peribolos wall of the temenos. The first temenos
belongs to Late Cypro-Geometric times but several additions and rebuildings were
made during the Cypro-archaic period until it was finally abandoned at the beginning
of the Cypro-Classical period. Originally it consisted of a chapel and an altar,
the first being a room of the liwan type. Along the SW fortification a hall was
built later which was entered through a gateway opening in the wall and communicated
with the outer temenos. Simultaneously a wall was built to screen the area of
the chapel, which thus became the inner temenos, in the N part of which another
altar was built like the one in the cult chapel. In its final phase it underwent
only minor alterations. Many ex-votos were discovered in these successive sanctuaries.
An archaic tomb in the W necropolis lies close to the road to Dali
from Nisou. A long, narrow stepped dromos cut into the rock leads to the chamber,
which is built with well-dressed stones and has a saddle-shaped roof. The tomb,
although looted in the past, yielded a number of vases and metallic objects.
Casual finds turn up frequently but the most important is an inscribed
bronze tablet, now in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, which was reported
to have been found accidentally in 1850 or before in the Sanctuary of Athena on
the W acropolis. Other finds are in the Cyprus Museum, Nicosia.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KARPASIA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the N coast of the Karpass peninsula ca. 3 km from the village
of Rizokarpasso. The ruins of the town, nearly 3 sq km in area, are now largely
covered with sand dunes; the rest is under cultivation. The town extended mainly
along the shore but also inland as far as the foot of the high plateau. The town
had a harbor; its ancient moles are still visible. Traces of a city wall, which
begins and ends at the base of the two moles, can be followed for its whole course.
This wall, however, built to protect only a small part of the town on the N side,
should date from Early Byzantine times. Nothing is known so far of a bigger circuit.
The necropolis extends W at the locality Tsambres.
Karpasia was founded, according to tradition, by Pygmalion. Present
archaeological evidence precludes an earlier date than the 7th c. B.C. for its
founding. Little is known of its history. The first mention of it dates from 399
B.C., when a man from there led the mutiny of Conon's Cypriot mercenaries at Kaunos.
It is mentioned in the list of the theodorokoi at Delphi, and appears on inscriptions
of the 2d c. B.C. Among early writers the town is frequently mentioned (Skyl.
GGM 1.103; Diod. 20.47.2; Strab. 14.682; Steph. Byz.; Plin. HN 6.30; Ptol. 5.14.4;
and in the Stadiasmus). Karpasia is better known in history as the place where
Demetrios Poliorketes, coming from Cilicia, landed his forces in 306 B.C. He stormed
Karpasia and Ourania and, leaving his ships under sufficient guard, marched on
Salamis. The town flourished in Classical, Hellenistic, Graeco-Roman, and Early
Christian times, when it became the seat of a bishop. It was finally abandoned
in Early Byzantine times after the first Arab raids of A.D. 647.
There is no evidence so far for the worship of any deities in Karpasia,
but there can be no doubt that sanctuaries existed. The remains of marble columns,
now covered by sand, to the S of the town may well belong to a temple. Further
evidence comes from casual finds of sculptures, among others a sandstone head
of Tyche of the Late Classical period. From an inscription found in recent years
we know that there was a gymnasium to be located at a short distance to the SW
of the Church of Haghios Philon. Apart from minor excavations carried out in the
1930s around this church, when remains dating from Early Christian times were
uncovered, the town site is unexcavated. The principal monuments now visible,
apart from the church and the excavated remains of an Early Christian palace attached
to it, are the harbor and some important rock-cut tombs in the W necropolis.
The two moles in the harbor are the most considerable works of their
kind in Cyprus. That of the E side can be followed for about 100 m from its base
on the shore; it is made for the most part of large well-dressed rectangular blocks
of stone rivetted to each other by clamps of lead. The outer end had been reinforced
in later times with more blocks including fragments of columns of marble and basalt.
These walls rest on natural rock. The width of the mole was about 3 m; its original
height cannot be determined. It projects W from the shore towards the point of
the other mole which runs due N. This latter mole, built in a similar manner,
extends from the shore to a large rock in the sea known as Kastros. This W arm
is longer than the E one, measuring ca. 120 m including the rock. The town was
supplied with water from springs W of Rizokarpasso. Remains of the aqueduct still
survive in many parts.
The W necropolis occupies a large area extending from the cliffs at
Tsambres to the plain below as far as the shore. In the cliff of Tsambres itself
there is a series of fine rock-cut tombs with unusual features. The chambers of
the tombs are of the usual type but their facades seem to be unique in Cyprus.
The face of the rock is carefully scarped and on the right or left of the tomb
doors plain stelai are cut in relief, either simply or in groups of two or three.
Sometimes they are of the conventional shape with pediment or they are anthropoid.
These stelai were not inscribed but were probably painted. The tombs may be dated
to the Late Classical or Early Hellenistic period.
Finds from the excavation of the necropolis are in the Cyprus Museum,
Nicosia, but certain tomb groups have been allocated to the Ashmolean Museum in
Oxford, to the Museum of Classical Archaeology in Cambridge, and to the Institute
of Archaeology in London.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KERYNIA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the N coast 23 km E of Cape Kormakiti. The ruins cover a large
area now occupied by the modern town. The town site is situated on the shore,
but its limits are difficult to define. The town had a harbor, used to this day
by small craft, whose ancient breakwaters are still visible behind Kyrenia Castle.
The necropolis extends W along the shore.
One of the ancient kingdoms of Cyprus, Keryneia was traditionally
founded by Kephios from Achaia in the Peloponnese. Evidence for the arrival of
the Mycenaeans in the area occurs at the villages of Kazaphani and of Karmi, both
very near the site. Archaeological evidence for the town itself, however, does
not at present support a date earlier than the Geometric period for its founding.
In Early Christian times it became the seat of a bishop. The ancient town flourished
down to Early Byzantine times when it was sacked during the first Arab raids of
A.D. 647.
Very little is known of the history. Kelena, identified with it, appears
in a list of names in the temple at Medinet Habu in Egypt of the time of Rameses
III (12th c. B.C.) but this reading is not to be trusted. The name of the Classical
town is mentioned for the first time by Skylax in the mid 4th c. B.C., by Diodoros,
and later by Ptolemy, Pliny, and Pompeius Melas, but strangely enough it is omitted
by Strabo. It is also mentioned in the list of the theodorokoi at Delphi (early
2d c. B.C.) and at Kafizin the ethnic occurs in the time of Ptolemy III, Euergetes
I (second half of the 3d c. B.C.).
It is conjectured that Themison, the Cypriot king to whom Aristotle
dedicated his "Protreptikos," was a king of Keryneia, who must have
reigned during the second half of the 4th c. B.C. Its last "dynast,"
possibly Themison, suspected of being on the side of Antigonos, was arrested in
312 B.C. by Ptolemy. From inscriptions we learn of the worship of Aphrodite and
of Apollo but nothing is known of the position of the sanctuaries.
From inscriptions also we learn that there was a gymnasium, but again
its site remains unidentified. And from an inscription of the time of the emperor
Claudius we are informed that water was carried to the town by an aqueduct from
a source at Limnal. No coins have been attributed to Keryneia. The town site itself
is still unexcavated but many casual finds have been recorded.
Practically nothing survives in the way of monuments except for some
rock-cut tombs in the W part of the town, looted long ago. In a sanctuary in the
upper part of the town many statuettes of terracotta and of limestone were found,
dating from the archaic to the Hellenistic period. In the same area some other
buildings also came to light but nothing is visible today. More recently a number
of fragmentary limestone statues and of terracotta figurines were accidentally
found in a bothros within the town. They date from Classical and Hellenistic times
and obviously belong to a nearby sanctuary. Recent rescue excavations have also
brought to light a number of tombs dating mainly from the Classical and Hellenistic
periods.
The finds are in the Keryneia and Nicosia Museums.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KITION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
The ruins cover a large area now occupied by the modern town. The
city site, on the S coast, is situated on a hill sloping gently S. The acropolis
is NE of the city, but unfortunately very little of it survives. The port lay
on the E side below the acropolis. At this end the sea penetrated inland and reached
the foot of the acropolis and then turned a little to the S. This inlet formed
a natural harbor, the enclosed harbor of Strabo. All this is now silted up and
the present coast line is ca. one-half km away. Traces of the city wall and of
the moat, which followed the edge of the plateau, are still visible, particularly
on the W side. A vast necropolis extends N, W, and S. The tombs date from the
Early Bronze Age to Graeco-Roman times.
The city was founded, according to archaeological evidence, in the
Late Bronze Age but the site was already occupied in the Early Bronze Age. Recent
excavations have shown that the founders were Mycenaeans coming from the Peloponnese.
The Phoenicians arrived at Kition at the end of the 9th c. B.C. at first as traders
during their expansion to the W, and later as settlers; yet the vast population
of the city must have remained Greek, as the archaeological evidence testifies.
Later, however, with the help of the Persians, the Phoenicians established a dynasty
which ruled the city in the 5th and 4th c. B.C.
There is no positive evidence as to the earlier kings of Kition but
a memorial stele of Sargon II, erected here in 709 B.C., mentions that the Cypriot
kings submitted to the Assyrian king and paid him tribute. The inscription mentions
seven kings of Ya, a district of Yatnana, which seems to be the cuneiform rendering
of "the isles of the Danai," i.e. the land of Greeks. Therefore the
king of Kition, where the stele was found, must have been at that time a Greek.
Unfortunately the names of the kings are not mentioned. The Greek rulers must
have remained in power down to the very end of the 6th c. B.C. for at the time
of the Ionian Revolt (499-498 B.C.) Kition joined the revolt against Persia.
The failure of the revolt and the support which the Persians gave
the Phoenicians, especially after the battles of Marathon and Salamis, soon brought
them to power. In the year 479 a Phoenician dynasty had been established, which
ruled Kition until it fell to Ptolemy I Soter in 312 B.C. The Phoenician dynasty,
however, was broken for a short period in 388-387 B.C. by the installation at
Kition of King Demonikos at the time when most of Cyprus was liberated by King
Euagoras I of Salamis with the help of the Athenian general Chabrias.
Kition was the birthplace of Zeno, the Stoic philosopher and of the
physician Artemidoros. From a metrical epitaph of the 2d c. A.D. we learn that
Kilikas, a native of Kition, was a teacher of the Homeric poems. According to
other epigraphical evidence quinquennial games were held at Kition in Graeco-Roman
times.
Systematic excavations were conducted in 1894, when a number of tombs
and a sanctuary were investigated. Later, in 1913, the Bamboula hill, i.e., the
acropolis, was explored. In 1930, on the same acropolis, the Temple of Herakles-Melkart
was excavated. And since 1959 excavations in the N extremity of the town have
been carried out. Most of the ruins, however, remain unexcavated and the task
of exploring them is a very difficult one because the modern town is built over
them.
The principal monuments uncovered to the present time include, in
addition to those mentioned above, part of the fortifications of the Mycenaean
city and a large Phoenician temple in the N part of the city. The city wall of
the Classical period can be traced for most of its course, particularly on the
W side, and the site is known of the ancient harbor, now silted up. The site of
the Hellenistic gymnasium and that of the Temple of Artemis Paralia is also known,
while the site of a theater may be conjectured. A Temple of Aphrodite-Astarte
may have stood on the acropolis side by side with that of Herakles-Melkart. And
from inscriptions we know of the worship of Zeus-Keraunios, Asklepios and Hygeia,
Aphrodite, Esmun-Adonis, Baal Senator, and Esmun Melkart, the last by the Salt
Lake.
Substantial remains of the city wall of Mycenaean Kition, later of
Classical Kition as well, can be seen on the N extremity of the ancient town.
Houses of the Geometric period were built in this part of the city above the Mycenaean
remains and follow the architecture of the previous period, for in most cases
the older foundations were reused. The Temple to Astarte was built towards the
end of the 9th c. on the foundations of an earlier Mycenaean temple which had
fallen into disuse ca. 1000 B.C. when this part of the Mycenaean town was abandoned.
It is an imposing rectangular building measuring 35 x 22 m. The walls were constructed
of large ashlar blocks, some of them measuring as much as 3.50 m in width and
1.50 m in height. Two parallel rows of columns, six in each row, supported the
roof of the temple. The adyton stood at the W side and in front there is a large
courtyard with two entrances. Four rows of wooden columns, of which only the stone
bases survive, supported the roof of the porticos on each side of the courtyard.
The temple suffered many changes--four successive floors were recognized--during
the five centuries of its life until its final destruction in the year 312 B.C.,
when Ptolemy I Soter put to death Pumiathon, the last Phoenician king of Kition,
and burned the Phoenician temples of the town.
A bath establishment of the Hellenistic period was recently uncovered
at Chrysopolitissa. It consisted of two tholoi within which were a series of cemented
basins around the hall. One of the rooms was circular with a column in its center;
the other was rectangular. Nearby was found a mosaic floor of the Graeco-Roman
period, composed of geometric and floral patterns in black and white.
Four built tombs (archaic) can be seen in the W necropolis of Kition.
The tomb of Haghia Phaneromeni contains two chambers, one behind the other. The
outer chamber is rectangular in shape; the interior, square with one corner rounded.
The roofs of both the chambers are vaulted, and are formed by huge blocks hollowed
out and covering the whole width of the chambers. The so-called Cobham's tomb
contained three chambers entered by a dromos leading down to them. The first chamber
had a very fine coffered ceiling, the second and third were provided with barrel
roofs with real vaults. The third room was quite small, more or less a recessed
space to contain the sarcophagus. The walls between the chambers were provided
with moldings in the shape of pilaster capitals on both sides of the doorways.
Close by is the Evangelis Tomb, which was damaged in late times. It may originally
have had a similar plan to the Phaneromeni Tomb, with a dromos leading down to
a large rectangular chamber with a second one behind. Both chambers had corbel
vaults and were constructed of large, well-dressed blocks.
The finds are in the Nicosia and Larnaca Museums.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KOURION (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the SW coast, about 16 km W of Limassol. The ruins cover a large
area on a bluff overlooking the sea to the S. Kourion was surrounded by a city
wall but of this very little survives; the rocky scarp on the E and S sides has
been vertically cut. There was probably no proper harbor but the remains of a
jetty, about 80 m long, are still visible at low tide to the W of the town and
Strabo mentions the existence of an anchorage. The necropolis extends E and S.
One of the ancient kingdoms of Cyprus, Kourion was founded by the
Argives (Hdt. 5.113; Strab. 14.683). The connection between Kourion and Argos
is further illustrated by the worship at Kourion of a god called Perseutas. Excavations
have yielded evidence of an Achaian settlement in the 14th c. B.C. at the Bamboula
ridge at the nearby village of Episkopi. A tomb within the necropolis of Kourion
yielded material of the 11th c. B.C. including the well-known royal gold and enamel
scepter which is now in the Cyprus Museum. The name of Kir appears in an Egyptian
inscription at Medinet Habu of the time of Rameses III (1198-1167 B.C.), if the
correlation with Kourion were beyond dispute. The name is also mentioned on the
prism of Esarhaddon (673-672 B.C.), where the reading Damasu king of Kuri has
been interpreted as Damasos king of Kounon.
During the revolt of Onesilos against the Persians at the time of
the Ionian Revolt King Stasanor of Kourion, commanding a large force, fought at
first on the Greek side but at the battle in the plain of Salamis (498 B.C.) he
went over to the Persians and his betrayal won them the day. Nothing is known
of the other kings of Kourion until Pasikrates, probably its last king, who sailed
in the Cypriot fleet, which went to the aid of Alexander the Great at the siege
of Tyre in 332 B.C.
The city flourished in Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman times. It was
badly hit by the severe earthquakes of A.D. 332 and 342, which also hit Salamis
and Paphos, but it was soon rebuilt. Before this time Christianity was well established
at Kourion and one of its bishops, Philoneides, had suffered martyrdom under Diocletian
(A.D. 284-305). Zeno, a later bishop, was instrumental in securing at the Council
of Ephesos (A.D. 431) a favorable decision on the claims of the church of Cyprus
to independence. As a bishopric the city flourished once more until it was gradually
abandoned after the first Arab raids of A.D. 647.
Kourion was the birthplace of the poet Kleon, who wrote Argonautica,
from which Apollonios Rhodios, in his epic of the same theme, was accused of copying;
it was also the birthplace of Hermeias, a lyric poet.
The principal monuments uncovered to date include the House of Achilles,
the House of the Gladiators and the House of Eustolios, all paved with mosaics
of the 4th and 5th c. A.D., a theater, an Early Christian basilican church, and,
near the city, the stadium and the Temple of Apollo Hylates.
The existence at Kourion of a gymnasium is attested by inscriptions
but its location is not known at present. The worship of Hera, Dionysos, Aphrodite,
and the hero Perseutas has also been attested by epigraphical evidence but again
nothing is known of the site of the sanctuaries. The Sanctuary of Demeter and
Kore, also attested by inscriptions, has been located on the E side of the Stadium.
The remains of the House of Achilles lie on the N part of the city
close to the main Limassol-Paphos road. The house consists of an open courtyard
with rooms on either side and a colonnaded portico on the N. In the portico, whose
floor is paved with mosaics, a large panel depicts in lively manner Achilles disguised
as a maiden at the court of King Lykomedes of the island of Skyros unwittingly
revealing his identity to Odysseus on the sounding of a false alarm. In another
room a panel shows Ganymede being carried by the Eagle to Mt. Olympos.
The House of the Gladiators, farther S, consists of a complex of rooms
and corridors with an inner court, probably an atrium. Some of its rooms were
paved with mosaics, including figure representations. In one of these rooms are
two panels depicting gladiatorial scenes. The first panel shows two gladiators
fully armed with helmets, shields, and swords facing each other and ready to strike.
Above them are indicated their names or nicknames, MARGAREITES and ELLENIKOS.
The second panel shows again two gladiators facing each other but with an unarmed
figure between them. The left-hand figure is called LUTRAS, the central one DAREIOS;
of the right-hand figure only the initialE survives.
At the SE end of the bluff are the remains of a large house paved
with mosaics, commanding a splendid view over the fields and the sea beyond. It
is known as the House of Eustolios and includes a bathing establishment. In one
of the porticos an inscription gives the name of Eustolios, the builder of the
baths, and refers to Phoebus Apollo as the former patron of Kourion; another inscription
specifically mentions Christ, an interesting commentary on the gradual transition
from paganism to Christianity. The bathing establishment lies on higher ground
to the N. Its central room has its floor paved with mosaics divided into four
panels, one of which depicts Ktisis in a medallion.
To the W of the House of Eustolios lies the theater built on a slope
overlooking the sea to the S. The theater consists of the cavea, a semicircular
orchestra, and the stage-building. A vaulted corridor around the back of the theater
provided access through five gangways to the diazoma. Access was also effected
from the parodoi lower down. The orchestra is paved with lime cement. Of the stage-building
only the foundations survive. The theater as it stands today dates from Graeco-Roman
times, but the original one, smaller and on a Greek model, was built in the 2d
c. B.C. The orchestra at this period was a full circle and the cavea encompassed
an arc of more than 180 degrees. The theater provided accommodation for ca. 3,500
spectators; it has been recently reconstructed up to the diazoma.
The stadium lies to the W of the city on the way to the Temple of
Apollo. The outline of its U-shaped plan is well preserved. Its total length is
233 m and its width 36 m. Its total capacity was ca. 7,000 spectators. The stadium
was built in the 2d c. A.D. during the Antonine period and remained in use until
about A.D. 400.
The Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, about 3 km W of the city, displays
a large group of buildings. The precinct is entered by two gates, the Kourion
Gate and the Paphos Gate. The remains of the long Doric portico extend the whole
way between the two gates. South of this portico is the S Building consisting
of five rooms entered from the portico and separated from each other by corridors.
Each room had a raised dais on three sides, divided from a central paved area
by Doric columns. The inscription set in the front wall over one of the doors
tells us that two of the rooms were erected by the emperor Trajan in A.D. 101.
A room of similar design is the NW Building, reached by a broad flight of steps.
The function of these rooms is not certain but they may have been used to display
votives or to accommodate visitors.
The main sanctuary lies to the N of the precinct. From the Doric portico
a paved street leads straight to the Temple of Apollo. The temple stands on a
high stylobate reached from the Sacred Way by a flight of steps occupying the
whole width of the temple. It consisted of a portico with four columns and of
two rooms, the pronaos and the opisthodomos. At the E of the precinct lie the
baths. At the SE, by the Kourion Gate, lies the palaestra, which is composed of
a central peristyle rectangular court surrounded by rooms.
The worship of Apollo at this site began as early as the 8th c. B.C.
There are still a few remains of the archaic period but most of the ruins seen
now date from the Graeco-Roman period or ca. A.D. 100, having been restored after
the disastrous earthquakes of A.D. 76-77. These new buildings were themselves
destroyed during the severe earthquakes of A.D. 332 and 342, when the sanctuary
seems to have been definitely abandoned.
Finds are in the site museum at Episkopi village and in the Cyprus
Museum, Nicosia.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
LAMPOUSA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the N coast, E of the Monastery of Acheiropoietos and 10 km W of
Keryneia. The ruins cover a large area along the seashore. Substantial remains
of a harbor with its breakwaters still survive and the city wall can be traced
for most of its course. The necropolis extends E.
The site extends mainly along the shore for a considerable distance,
but also inland. Part of it may lie under the cultivated land. The rest of the
site is now a field of ruins overgrown with scrub. A rocky hill near the center
of the city may have been its acropolis. The site has been badly damaged by looters
in search of stone and treasure. Lampousa is well known for its Early Byzantine
silver treasure, most of which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York.
It appears that there was originally a rocky ridge running E-W a little
farther back from the sea. It began at the rock-cut chapel, probably a tomb, at
Acheiropoietos on the W, included the acropolis about halfway, and extended E
to the Troulli hill. In this mass of rock there were tombs dating probably from
the 6th and 5th c. B.C., an indication that the earlier city was still nearer
the coast and that when it expanded in later Classical and Hellenistic times this
part was also inhabited so that most of the tombs were then quarried and destroyed.
Lapethos, one of the ancient kingdoms of Cyprus, was, according to
tradition, founded by Praxandros from Lakonia in the Peloponnese. Excavations
on the acropolis have shown that the city was inhabited during the Late Bronze
Age, which accords well with its traditional origin. A Late Bronze Age settlement
has also been located higher up within the modern village of Lapethos while Early
Geometric tombs surround the village.
Little is known of the history. The name appears for the first time
in 312 B.C. when its king Praxippos, who was suspected of being on the side of
Antigonos, was arrested by Ptolemy. From coins, however, we know the names of
some of its kings of the 5th and 4th c. B.C., and the name is mentioned by Skylax
the geographer (mid 4th c. B.C.). After that it is frequently mentioned by other
ancient authors. Lapethos seems to have flourished mainly from archaic down to
Early Byzantine times, when it became a bishopric. The city was gradually abandoned
after the first Arab raids of A.D. 647.
To Lapethos are attributed coins of the mid 5th c. B.C. with Phoenician
legends and heads of Athena. Some of them name a king Sidqmelek, thus indicating
a temporary Phoenician rule. Earlier coins show Athena and Aphrodite. To the later
king Praxippos are attributed coins with the head of Apollo on the obverse and
a krater on the reverse. The temporary Phoenician rule, however, does not prove
the existence of Phoenician settlers in Lapethos.
From inscriptions we learn that there was a gymnasium, and it is possible
that there was a theater, but nothing is known of the location of either. It seems
strange that no evidence has been forthcoming so far of the existence at Lapethos
of sanctuaries nor do we know anything of the worship there of any deity. Lapethos
is one of the Cypriot cities mentioned in the list of the theodorokoi from Delphi
(early 2d c. B.C.). According to epigraphical evidence quinquennial games were
held at Lapethos. These were known as the Aktaion games, held in celebration of
the victory at Aktion.
Very little survives in the way of monuments and only minor excavations
were carried out on the city site. Part of the acropolis was investigated in 1913;
and in 1915 a small excavation was carried out at Troulli hill; the results in
both cases, however, were disappointing.
The upper part of the acropolis was of solid rock deeply dissected
by house basements with rock-cut doors and staircases; there were chamber tombs
on the E face and deep quarries on the N.
The results of the excavations at Troulli hill were much the same.
Again chambers had been cut in the solid rock and rubble walls. One such chamber
had a long and thick wall resting on solid rock. Opposite this wall, the rock,
11 m high, had its side cut straight so as to form the other parallel wall of
a long and narrow chamber, 4 m wide, with the door at the broader side opening
to a small antechamber.
Probably the best preserved remains are those of the harbor, where
both the ancient breakwaters still survive for a considerable distance. The W
arm measures about 155 m; the N one is shorter, measuring about 40 m. In this
way was created a small but safe harbor protected from the N winds. This is undoubtedly
the anchorage for small craft mentioned by Strabo. The breakwaters were recently
reinforced with new blocks of stone in order to make a safer fishing shelter.
To the E of the city lie a group of ancient fish tanks right on the
rocky coast, all cut in the solid rock. They communicate directly with the sea
or with one another by canals. The largest one 30 x 13.25 m and ca. 1 m deep,
is fairly well preserved. It communicates directly with the sea by three side
oblique canals and by a front (sea side) system of openings and sluices of complicated
mechanism.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
LEUKOLLA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
The sea battle of 306 B.C., in which Demetrios Poliorketes defeated
Ptolemy, is said to have been fought off Leukolla, tentatively identified with
a site at Protaras on the coast S of Famagusta. A small but safe bay, known in
the time of Sakellarios as Konnos, may be the harbor of Leukolla mentioned by
Strabo, who places it between Arsinoe (Ammochostos) and Cape Pedalion (14.682).
The ruins of a small town above this bay may belong to the place mentioned
by Athenaios from whom we learn that the trireme of Antigonos with which the generals
of Ptolemy were defeated at Laukolla was dedicated to Apollo in that town. It
is characteristic that among the ruins noted above was found a Hellenistic inscription
dedicated to Apollo. An excavation in 1877 uncovered a building, obviously a sanctuary,
which produced some fragments of sculpture in stone.
The site is unexplored.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
LIDRA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
Remains of this ancient town extend S of the Venetian walls of Nicosia
as far as Haghioi, Omologitai. The necropolis extends W and S. In the light of
recent discoveries, the earlier identification of Ledrai with Leondari Vouno,
some 6 km SW of Nicosia, should now be dismissed.
Practically nothing is known of the origin of this town except that
it succeeded a Late Bronze Age settlement which has been discovered on the S boundary
of Nicosia and especially on either side of the Venetian fortifications. Here
were found quantities of Mycenaean pottery. The necropolis of this period was
at Haghia Paraskevi, which also yielded Mycenaean material. From present-day archaeological
evidence it is clear that Ledrai itself was in existence from the Geometric period
down to Early Christian times, when it became a bishopric. The area, however,
has been inhabited since Neolithic times and owed its prosperity to the river
Pediaios and to the fertile land of the surrounding plain.
Very little is known of the history. On the prism of Esarhaddon (673-672
B.C.) we find the name Unasagusu, king of Ledir, identified as Onasagoras (?),
king of Ledrai. The recent study of graffiti in the Temple of Achoris at Karnak
has revealed the presence in Egypt, at the beginning of the 4th c. B.C., of several
Cypriotes from Ledrai. The ethnic Ledrios appears also on a sherd from Kafizin,
a hill near Nicosia, of the end of the 3d c. B.C. We hear no more about the site
until A.D. 52, when St. Mark took refuge there on his way from Salamis to Limenia.
The next reference is in the 4th c. when Triphyllios was its bishop.
From inscriptions we learn of the worship of Aphrodite at Ledrai but
nothing is known of the site of the sanctuary. A sanctuary, possibly dedicated
to Apollo, has been located at the locality Haghios Georgios on a hill at the
back of the modern Civil Servants Club. The town site is unexplored but many casual
finds have been recorded.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
LIMASSOL (Town) CYPRUS
On the S coast in Greek Lemesos. Remains of a sizable town, whose
limits are difficult to define, are largely covered by the modern town. The necropolis
lies E and N.
Practically nothing is known of the founding of this town except that
it must have succeeded a Late Bronze Age settlement located N of Limassol. On
present-day evidence the town was in existence from Geometric to Roman times but
the area had been inhabited since the Early Bronze Age and after the Roman period.
Nothing is known of its early history and by the time this place is known by a
name we are already in post-Roman times. By the 5th c. A.D. it was a town of some
importance with an established episcopal see. It was then known by several names
such as Neapolis, Theodosias, or Theodosiana. By the following century this had
become Nemesos. The name Neapolis, however, might be earlier (Bios Auxibiou 13).
The Life informs us that Tychicos I was consecrated to the see of Neapolis in
the time of St. Paul.
The name appears in an inscription of the second half of the 3d c.
B.C. This inscription, which was acquired in the village of Gypsos in the hinterland
of Salamis, honors Nikandros, commandant of Neapolis, but as no other town of
that name can be found within Cyprus it may well refer to the predecessor of Limassol.
It has also been suggested that this Neapolis might be identified
with Kartihadast but since this name applies rather to Kition this view must be
dismissed. Moreover nothing Phoenician has been found so far in Limassol.
The town site is unexplored but many casual finds have been recorded.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
LIMENIA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the NW coast. The remains of a town to be identified with this
site cover a small coastal plain which lies some distance W of Vouni Palace. The
town is mentioned by Strabo who, however, places it inland. It is also mentioned
as the town of embarkation of St. Mark when he left the island. It is also recorded
in the Acta Auxibii, where it is given both as Limne and Limnites, thus indicating
that this town possessed a harbor. It was in this small town that Auxibios landed
on his arrival in Cyprus. Here he was ordained bishop of Soloi by St. Mark, when
they met ca. A.D. 52.
A number of antiquities of various kinds turn up occasionally dating
mainly from the Graeco-Roman period, while very close to the shore a sanctuary
was excavated in 1889. It yielded various sculptures in bronze, limestone, and
terracotta dating from the archaic to the Hellenistic period.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MAKARIA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the N coast. The ruins of a small town identified by Hogarth with
this site cover the Moulos headland, E of Keryneia. The necropolis lies S. The
small bay to the E may have served as an anchorage.
Nothing is known of the founding of the town but it was occupied for
the first time during the Late Bronze Age. Among surface finds of this period
are fragments of Minoan and Mycenaean pottery. It is mentioned by Ptolemy the
geographer but otherwise nothing else is known of its history. It seems to have
flourished from Hellenistic to Early Christian times when it was gradually abandoned
after the first Arab raids of A.D. 647. The town site is now under cultivation
and is thus far unexcavated.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MORPHOU (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the NW coast, 6-7 km from the sea. Remains of an extensive settlement
can be seen on both sides of the main Morphou-Myrtou road due N of the village
of Morphou. On the evidence of surface finds the settlement can be dated from
the archaic period down to Early Byzantine times. A necropolis with tombs ranging
in date from the Geometric to the Hellenistic period extends W from Ambelia. The
sites of both the settlement and the necropolis are now planted with orange trees.
Nothing is known of the founding of this important settlement or of
its ancient name. It succeeded the nearby Late Bronze Age settlement at Toumba
tou Skourou. Rescue excavations, carried out in recent years, have brought to
light the remains of a Hellenistic sanctuary probably dedicated to Aphrodite.
It may be noted that at Sparta Aphrodite bore the epithet Morpho and that the
Lakonians, the traditional founders of Lapethos (q.v.), may also have settled
in the area of Morphou.
From the necropolis at Ambelia come a funerary inscription of the
4th c. B.C. in the Cypriot syllabary and some pottery of the Geometric to the
Hellenistic periods. An alphabetic inscription of the 3d c. B.C. honoring a Ptolemaic
official and his family is also reported to have been found at Morphou. And on
a marble sarcophagus of the early 3d c. A.D., now in the Church of Haghios Mamas
at Morphou, is an epigram of Artemidoros in hexameter.
The finds are in the Cyprus Museum, Nicosia.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
NEAPOLIS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the S coast in Greek Lemesos. Remains of a sizable town, whose
limits are difficult to define, are largely covered by the modern town. The necropolis
lies E and N.
Practically nothing is known of the founding of this town except that
it must have succeeded a Late Bronze Age settlement located N of Limassol. On
present-day evidence the town was in existence from Geometric to Roman times but
the area had been inhabited since the Early Bronze Age and after the Roman period.
Nothing is known of its early history and by the time this place is known by a
name we are already in post-Roman times. By the 5th c. A.D. it was a town of some
importance with an established episcopal see. It was then known by several names
such as Neapolis, Theodosias, or Theodosiana. By the following century this had
become Nemesos. The name Neapolis, however, might be earlier (Bios Auxibiou 13).
The Life informs us that Tychicos I was consecrated to the see of Neapolis in
the time of St. Paul.
The name appears in an inscription of the second half of the 3d c.
B.C. This inscription, which was acquired in the village of Gypsos in the hinterland
of Salamis, honors Nikandros, commandant of Neapolis, but as no other town of
that name can be found within Cyprus it may well refer to the predecessor of Limassol.
It has also been suggested that this Neapolis might be identified
with Kartihadast but since this name applies rather to Kition this view must be
dismissed. Moreover nothing Phoenician has been found so far in Limassol.
The town site is unexplored but many casual finds have been recorded.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
OLYMPOS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the E point of the island about 6 km from the Monastery of Apostolos
Andreas. Far out in the sea are the Kleides islands (Hdt. 5.108.2; Strab. 14.682;
Ptol. 5.14.7). At the foot of a rising mass of rock remains of a small town extend
for some distance inland; farther W is the necropolis.
The name Kleides was also applied to the cape itself by such writers
as Agathemenos and Hesychios. To Ptolemy it was also known as Oura Boos (bull's
tail). In the Stadiasmus (GGM 2.476) it is simply called Akra. The name of the
town has not been identified yet but on the evidence of Strabo, who calls the
hillock Olympos, this name may also apply to the town itself.
The foundations of a building measuring about 35 x 17 m are still
visible on the summit of the rock. These remains may belong to the Temple of Aphrodite
Akraia, which women were not allowed to enter (Strab. 14.682; Stad. GGM 1.307,
315).
Of the lower town only scanty remains of a few houses are still visible
above ground. Farther inland the site is overgrown with thick scrub. Several rock-cut
tombs looted long ago, are still visible along the shore to the W of the town.
Along the N shore Hogarth saw ancient wheel-marks and two underground pools, to
which access was obtained by flights of steps.
On present-day archaeological evidence this town has been in existence
from Classical to Graeco-Roman times. The S slope of the hillock, however, was
occupied by a very small community in Neolithic times, as shown by recent excavations.
The Classical town is still unexcavated.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
OURANIA (Ancient city) CYPRUS
The ruins of a small coastal town about 8 km due NE of the village
of Rizokarpasso in the Karpass peninsula, have been identified with those of Ourania.
The ruins cover a sizable area back from the coast on the last slopes of the ridge
and on the plain below. The acropolis bounded the town to the S. The town possessed
a harbor, W of which the necropolis lies near the shore. Three Byzantine churches
are the only prominent monuments still standing.
Nothing is known of the origins of Ourania. Geometric and archaic
tombs known in the neighborhood of the Classical site may belong to it. However,
archaeological evidence is at present against a date earlier than the Classical
period for its founding. The town flourished down to Early Byzantine times, when
it was gradually abandoned after the first Arab raids of A.D. 647.
Very little is known of the history, and but for a doubtful reference
in Nonnos (13.452), our only authority for its existence is Diodoros (20.47.2),
who relates its capture by Demetrios Poliorketes. Demetrios, coming from Cilicia,
landed his forces in 306 B.C. at Karpasia and, having stormed both Ourania and
Karpasia, marched on Salamis.
The principal monuments now visible are, apart from the churches,
the acropolis and the harbor. The ruins of the lower town are now under cultivation
with great quantities of stones, fragments of columns, and other remains scattered
about or piled up. To the E may be seen a large quarry, now called Phylakes. A
number of tombs, dating from Classical to Hellenistic times, were excavated in
1938 in the necropolis but these are for the most part filled in.
To the S of the ruined town rises the acropolis, a rock projecting
sheer on three sides from the hills into the plain. On its summit can still be
seen the foundations of a building, possibly a sanctuary or a fortress. The entire
ground plan of the building has been preserved because the lower portion of its
rooms was excavated in the living rock to a depth varying from .61 to 1.21 m.
Enough of the walls remain intact to determine the position of the doorways and
the character of the approaches. The outer walls are generally .61 to .91 m thick
and the party walls vary from .31 to .46 m. The building was approached from the
SE by a wide passage, on the left of which are two rooms; a flight of four steps
and a gate, whose sockets remain, lead into an inner room, which again opens into
a third room, the largest of the three.
Less than a km below the town lies a little horseshoe bay which served
as a harbor. The entrance is narrow but the space within could afford room for
many small craft. On the beach still stand four stone mooring-posts, ca. .91 m
high. The remains of the masonry of the quay may be traced for some distance.
The finds from the excavations of the necropolis are in the Cyprus
Museum, Nicosia but certain tomb groups have been allocated to the Ashmolean Museum
in Oxford, to the Museum of Classical Archaeology in Cambridge, to the Institute
of Archaeology in London, and to the Nicholson Museum in Sydney.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
PAPHOS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
In W Cyprus, ca. 1.5 km from the sea, some 16 km SE of Nea Paphos.
The ruins cover a large area, part of which is now occupied by the modern village
of Kouklia. A vast necropolis extends NE, E, and S of the city. Palaipaphos or
simply Paphos was the capital of the kingdom of Paphos and the celebrated center
of the cult of Aphrodite.
The traditional founder of Paphos was Agapenor, king of Tegea in Arkadia
in the Peloponnese, who founded the Temple of Aphrodite in that city.
According to another legend, the cult of Aphrodite was established
earlier by Kinyras, the proverbial king of Paphos or of all Cyprus, who, as the
Iliad tells us, sent to Agamemnon a notable cuirass when he heard of the expedition
against Troy. The priest-kings of Paphos traced their origin to Kinyras, and a
dynasty called the Kinyradai ruled Paphos down to Ptolemaic times.
The Temple of Aphrodite was the most notable sacred edifice in Cyprus
and the most famous Temple of Aphrodite in the ancient world. There, according
to tradition, Aphrodite first set foot upon the shore after having been born of
the foam of the sea. The Holy Grove and Altar of Aphrodite in Paphos are mentioned
by Homer; since then many historians and geographers of antiquity have described
and mentioned this Shrine of the Goddess of Beauty and Love, often called Paphia.
The very Tomb of Aphrodite was shown in Paphos.
Strabo and Pausanias confuse Old and New Paphos and refer to Nea Paphos
as the city founded by Agapenor. Archaeological evidence, however, is against
this view for, whereas the presence of the Mycenaeans in Old Paphos is well attested,
the founding of New Paphos cannot be earlier than the 4th c. B.C.
Recent excavations have shown that heavy fighting took place at the
NE defenses of the city at the time of the Ionian Revolt (499-498 B.C.). Nikokles,
son of Timarchos, the last king of Paphos, was also the founder of New Paphos.
He remained faithful to Ptolemy and when in 312 B.C. Marion was razed, its inhabitants
were transferred to Paphos, most likely New Paphos. Old Paphos, however, still
flourished in Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman times and retained its status as the
principal center of the cult of Aphrodite. In fact, Strabo tells us that at the
annual festival of Aphrodite men and women, from other cities as well as from
Paphos walked from New to Old Paphos, a distance of 60 stadia.
Very little is known of the earlier history of Palaipaphos. The name
appears on the prism of Esarhaddon (673-672 B.C.) where Ituander, king of Pappa,
is interpreted as Eteandros king of Paphos. Two gold bracelets of the late 6th
or early 5th c. B.C. which are said to have been found at Kourion bear in Cypriot
script the name Eteandros, king of Paphos. The sequence of its kings from the
beginning of the 5th c. B.C. is fairly well fixed from coins and from inscriptions.
The principal monuments uncovered up to the present day include part
of the fortifications of the city excavated in recent years and the Temple of
Aphrodite, which was excavated towards the end of the 19th c. Most of the ruins
of this large city, however, remain unexcavated. The existence of a gymnasium
and of a theater is attested by inscriptions but their sites remain unidentified.
The oracle is known both from an inscription and from literary sources.
Of particular importance are the NE fortifications of the city. The
sector uncovered thus far is at the Marcello hill, due NE of the village of Kouklia.
A wall running for ca. 90 m in a SE-NW direction was cleared. At the SE end a
rectangular tower projecting from the outward face of the wall was uncovered.
At the NW end are two bastions with a gate in between. But most important perhaps
of all the fortifications is the siege mound between the gate and the tower. The
city defenses date from Late Geometric or early archaic down to Late Hellenistic
times. Of particular interest are the fortifications of the time of the Ionian
Revolt (499-498 B.C.) with the construction of siege and countersiege works. The
mound was raised by the Persians when besieging the city. The most striking feature
of the siege mound is the variety of its contents: stones, earth, ashes, burnt
bones, carbonized wood, and numerous architectural, sculptural and epigraphical
fragments, many of which were damaged by fire.
The architectural finds include fragments of Proto-Ionic volute capitals,
acroteria, architraves, and various moldings. There are a number of altars, bases,
and many votive columns. More remarkable are the great quantities of limestone
sculpture, among which are Kouroi clad in the Cypriot "belt" and parts
of sphinxes and lions. All the sculptured remains date from the archaic period,
mostly of the middle or the later part of the 6th c. B.C. To the same context
belong over 190 syllabic inscriptions, many of them obviously dedications. The
large amount of sculptural and architectural debris proves that there existed
an important archaic sanctuary in the vicinity outside the walls and that this
shrine was used by the Persians as a quarry for building the ramp in a hurry.
The siege mound also contained a large number of rough, round-shaped stones, probably
used as ballistic missiles. Besides the materials described the mound contained
great quantities of weapons: javelin points, spearheads and arrowheads both of
iron and bronze, and an exceptionally well-preserved late archaic bronze helmet
of the Greek type with engraved ornaments, resembling the so-called Miltiades
helmet from Olympia.
On the other hand, a series of underground sally ports were made by
the besieged for mining the mound. Severe fighting took place during the construction
of the ramp, to judge from the quantity of missiles found, and the defenders were
able to mine the ramp by setting fire to the support of the tunnels, thereby causing
it to collapse.
The set-back NE gate has an outer (N) cross-bastion and an inner (S)
cross-bastion on the opposite side. The presence of many spearheads and arrowheads
and the extensive damage to the gate also indicate heavy fighting at the time
of the Ionian Revolt. In the 4th c. B.C. a series of guard rooms were built on
the N side of the gate.
The temple of Aphrodite lies on a hill at the SW sector of Palaipaphos.
Unfortunately very little of this temple survives and most of its ruins date from
Graeco-Roman times (excavated in 1887).
The plan as uncovered to date may be divided into two sections: the
S wing, of which very imperfect remains exist; and the great rectangular enclosure
to the N; its sides are ca. 9 m long, within which area are included the S stoa,
several chambers of various sizes, the N stoa, a large open court, and the central
hall.
The great rectangular enclosure seems originally to have consisted
of a range of buildings extending along the whole of the E side with a great open
court to the W of it, which was flanked on the N by a wide stoa extending along
its whole width and probably originally by a similar stoa extending along the
S front. Whether this court ever had a W wall it is impossible to say without
further investigation.
When in Roman times the temple was restored after its destruction
by earthquakes on two separate occasions all traces of the S stoa were destroyed
and a new one of large proportions was built. The central hall dates also from
Roman times but the chambers running up the E side belong to the pre-Roman period.
To the same period may be assigned the walls of the N stoa.
Very little of the plan of the temple can be worked out from the existing
remains and our knowledge of the temple is better derived from coins of the Augustan
and later periods.
A large conical stone, now in the Cyprus Museum, came from the area
of the Temple of Aphrodite and may be an aniconic representation of the goddess.
It is possible that this stone once stood in the central room of the temple. The
central feature of the shrine is shown on representations of the temple on Cypriot
coins of the Roman era.
Many Greek alphabetic inscriptions of the Hellenistic and Roman era
were found in the area of the temple. Of these some are dedications to Aphrodite
Paphia while others are honorific. An important inscription of the Early Hellenistic
period is a dedication of Ptolemy II to his naval architect Pyrgoteles son of
Zoes. A house of the atrium type of the 3d-4th c. B.C. to the W of the Temple
of Aphrodite was excavated in 1950 and 1951.
The finds are in the Cyprus Museum, the Paphos District Museum, and
the site museum at Kouklia.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
On the W coast. The ruins cover an extensive area, about 100 ha, part
of which is now occupied by the modern village of Kato Paphos. Vast necropoleis
extend N and E. Nea Paphos, or simply Paphos, was the capital of Cyprus during
the latter part of the Hellenistic period and throughout the Roman era. Nea Paphos
should not be confused with Palaipaphos (q.v.), which lies some 16 km to the SE,
which as the earlier of the two cities was the seat of the kingdom of Paphos and
the center of the celebrated cult of Aphrodite. Nea Paphos is definitely a later
city founded sometime in the 4th c. B.C. Apart from the contemporary cemeteries,
a large necropolis of the Geometric, archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and Graeco-Roman
times exists further inland within the limits of the modern town of Paphos, but
the city to which this necropolis belongs remains unidentified.
The historical sources for Nea Paphos are late and their evidence
is confusing for it is not always clear to which of the two cities they refer,
though generally speaking Paphos, at least in the earlier authors, denotes Palaipaphos.
The use of Paphos, to designate Nea Paphos becomes current during the 2d c. B.C.
Nea Paphos was probably founded in the latter part of the 4th c. B.C.
by Nikokles, the last king of the Paphian kingdom, to serve as his economic and
political capital. The destruction of the city of Marion in 312 B.C. by Ptolemy
Soter and the transfer of its population to Paphos may refer to this new city.
Nikokles was awarded the people of Marion for his fidelity to Ptolemy and it is
not unreasonable to suggest that the inhabitants of Marion were sent to people
a newly founded city. Nea Paphos gradually grew in importance and by the beginning
of the 2d c. B.C. had taken the place of Salamis as capital of Cyprus.
Nea Paphos had in Ptolemaic times a shipbuilding industry. Ptolemy
II Philadelphos (284-246/245) had two large ships built there by the naval architect
Pyrgoteles son of Zoes, to whom a statue was erected in the Temple of Aphrodite
at Palaipaphos.
Under the Ptolemies, Nea Paphos (hereafter Paphos) enjoyed certain
forms of liberty, as for example, a boule and demos and a grammateus. The importance
of Paphos is shown by the fact that this city along with Salamis and Kition preserved
the right to issue coins. In fact, the Paphian mint was the most important, and
was the only one still issuing coins in Roman times. Recent excavations brought
to light a hoard consisting of 2484 silver Ptolemaic tetradrachmas, the majority
of which were minted in Paphos. The others were minted in Salamis and Kition.
Molds were found also for casting flans as well as bronze flans for making coins,
again of the Ptolemaic period.
Paphos, which had been increasing in importance under the Ptolemies
and had become the capital of Cyprus, retained this position throughout the Roman
period until the 4th c. A.D. when it reverted to Salamis. The earliest written
record of the city as capital of Cyprus occurs in the Acts of the Apostles (13:5-13),
which describes the visit of St. Paul, John, Mark the Evangelist, and St. Barnabas
to Paphos (A.D. 45), the seat of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, whom they converted
to Christianity.
The cities of Roman Cyprus were governed by a demos and boule and
there is nothing to indicate that the Romans ever founded a colonia or municipium
in the island. A joint organization termed the Koinon Kuprion (Federation of Cypriots),
which was functioning under the Ptolemies, continued during the Roman period.
At some time in the 4th c. A.D. Paphos yielded to Salamis its place
as the metropolis of Cyprus, possibly because of the severe earthquakes of 332
and 342, in which both cities were badly shaken. Paphos was eventually rebuilt
but it never regained its lost glory. The city became in Early Christian times
the seat of a bishop and within reduced limits it continued to be a city of some
importance. It survived the Arab raids.
The principal monuments uncovered to date include the House of Dionysos
with floor mosaics, a large public building also with floor mosaics, an odeon,
two Early Christian basilicas, and the Early Byzantine Castle. The city wall can
still be traced for most of its course and the breakwaters of the ancient harbor
are still there. Moreover we know the site of the gymnasium, of a Hellenistic
theater, of a garrison camp, of the Temple of Apollo Hylates, and of other monuments.
From inscriptions we are also informed of the worship here of Aphrodite, Zeus,
Apollo, Artemis, and Leto. Most of the ruins of this city, however, remain unexcavated.
The House of Dionysos (ca. A.D. 3d c.) is of impressive dimensions;
it occupies an area of ca. 2000 sq. m, of which about one-quarter is paved with
mosaics. It is an atrium-type house with an impluvium in the center. The floor
of the rectangular portico thus formed around the impluvium was paved with mosaics.
The rooms all around the atrium were similarly paved. To the E lie the bedrooms
and the bathrooms and a small peristyle vivarium. To the W are the kitchens and
the workshops. The main entrance is at the SW, leading up from the S street. Remains
of painted stucco indicate that the walls of the house were also decorated with
polychrome geometric or floral patterns.
The pavement mosaics are composed of magnificent polychrome designs
of great artistic value and beauty. On three sides of the atrium there are a series
of hunting scenes. On the fourth (W) portico are four panels of figures from Greek
mythology: Pyramos and Thisbe; Dionysos, Akme, Ikarios and the First Wine Drinkers;
Poseidon and Amymone; and Apollo pursuing Daphne. The most important room is probably
the tablinum. In its center a large rectangular panel depicts a vintage scene.
Along its E, narrow end is another mythological scene representing the Triumph
of Dionysos. This panel is flanked by the Dioskouroi. Other figure representations
exist in other rooms: Hippolytos and Phaidra, Ganymede and the Eagle, the Peacock,
the Four Seasons, and Narcissus. Moreover, many other rooms are paved with a geometric
decoration only but again of a great variety of color and pattern.
What appears to be a public building of Late Roman times, due S of
the House of Dionysos, has been under excavation since 1965. This edifice has
an inner peristyle court, 56 x 43 m, surrounded by long porticos with rows of
rooms adjacent to them. So far only parts of the N, the W, and the S wings have
been excavated. The porticos and most of the rooms were paved with mosaics, but
they are, with few exceptions, badly damaged. At the E end of the S corridor is
an apsidal room, which was probably the corner chamber of the E wing. It contains
within a medallion a mosaic pavement depicting Theseus slaying the Minotaur, Ariadne
and personifications of Crete, and the Labyrinth. In one of the S rooms another
relatively well-preserved mosaic floor depicts the Three Fates, Peleus, Thetis,
and Achilles.
An odeion was recently excavated on the E slope of a low hill where
the modern lighthouse stands, believed to be the acropolis. The odeion, which
was entirely built, suffered much damage at the hands of quarrymen but 12 rows
of seats were identified.
The parodoi were also badly looted but the remains of their foundations
indicate that spectators entered the orchestra by a G-shaped parodos similar to
those of the theater at Soloi. The stage-building, constructed of large well-dressed
stones, extended beyond the parodoi. Only its floor survives. The diameter of
the semicircular orchestra measures ca. 12 m. The lower course of the outside
analemma is well preserved; the diameter of the cavea is ca. 47.7 m. The Paphos
odeion, the first of its kind known in the island, dates from the beginning of
the 1st c. A.D. It has been partly restored.
On the S slope of the Fabrica hill in the E sector of the city can
be seen the remains of another theater, still unexcavated, looking S and commanding
a wide and beautiful view over the city below and the sea beyond. The upper part
of the cavea is cut in the solid rock, where many rows of seats are still visible.
Inscriptions date the theater to the 3d c. B.C.
The city wall may be traced in practically all its course but the
better preserved part lies to the NW. At this point the circuit follows the edge
of the artificially scarped cliffs. Here too lies the NW gate, the foundations
of which are cut in the rock. The approach from the sea was by a bridge, also
rock-cut, which slopes gently outside the gate to a length of some 36 m. The gate
itself was flanked by towers. There still exist some sally ports. A NE gate is
also visible and there were probably a N and an E one. Apparently there were towers
at regular intervals all along the circuit. This city wall may have been originally
built by King Nikokles, the founder of Nea Paphos.
The ancient harbor, still used by small craft, was mainly artificial
with its two breakwaters projecting into the sea for a considerable distance.
The surviving length of the E arm is 350 m, that of the W one is 170 m.
A complex of underground chambers to the N of the city may be part
of the camp of a garrison. The complex consists of a long vaulted passage with
chambers opening along the E side and at the far end to the N. Two of these chambers
resemble those of the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates (see below) and it is possible
that they served as a sanctuary but only as part of a larger compound of buildings
and it appears that the whole was surrounded by a wall. The date to be assigned
to them should be the end of the 4th c. B.C.
The Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates lies to the E outside the limits of
the ancient city. Cut in the solid rock it is composed of two underground chambers
entered by a flight of steps. The front chamber is rectangular; the back one,
circular with a dome-shaped roof. Two rock-cut inscriptions in the Cypro-syllabic
script, cut above the entrance of the cave, inform us that it was dedicated to
Apollo Hylates. These inscriptions are dated to the end of the 4th c. B.C., hence
the sanctuary should be contemporary with the foundation of Nea Paphos.
The Tombs of the Kings lie in the N necropolis about 1.5 km from the
city. They consist of an open peristyle court in the center with burial chambers
all around, and are entirely cut in the solid rock below ground level and are
entered by a flight of steps, also rock-cut. The peristyle is of the Doric order;
each side of the court is decorated as a temple facade with Doric columns and
an entablature of triglyphs and metopes. These tombs, which do not follow in the
traditional tomb architecture of Cyprus, may have their prototypes in Alexandria.
They date from Hellenistic times and were probably used for the burial of the
Ptolemaic rulers of the island.
From the city site come a number of marble sculptures and inscriptions
of the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman period.
The finds are in the Nicosia and Paphos Museums.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
PERGAMON (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the N coast. The ruins of a small town identified by Hogarth with
Pergamon extend around the Church of Panaghia Pergaminiotissa, due NE of Akanthou
village, some 500 m from the sea. A low, rocky hill to the N may have been the
acropolis.
Nothing is known of the founding or history of this small town, which
seems to have flourished in Graeco-Roman and in Early Byzantine times. The town
site is now a field of ruins partly under cultivation and partly overgrown with
scrub. The acropolis has been quarried but on its summit a single pillar of rock
is still standing while on its gentle slope two depressions have been cut, connected
with each other by a flight of four steps.
The site is unexcavated.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 272 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
SALAMIS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the E coast of the island, ca. 6.5 km N of Famagusta. The ruins
occupy an extensive area, ca. 150 ha, along the shore and for a considerable depth
now covered by sand dunes and a forest. The harbor lies to the S near the mouth
of the river Pedhiaios. Traces of the city wall of the archaic period have recently
been discovered to the S. The vast necropolis lies in the plain W of the city
and extends towards the villages of Enkomi, Haghios Serghios, and the Monastery
of St. Barnabas.
The traditional founder was Teukros, son of Telamon, king of the Greek
island of Salamis and one of the heroes of the Trojan War. He was also the founder
of the Temple of Zeus Salaminios and the ancestor of its dynasty of priest-kings.
A sepulchral epigram to him exists among those on the Homeric heroes. The dynasty
of Teukridai ruled for a long time and even the kings of later times claimed descent
from Teukros. This dynasty of priest-kings lasted down to the time of Augustus.
Salamis must have succeeded the Mycenaean city of Enkomi, ca. 2 km
further inland, sometime in the 11th c. B.C. probably when the harbor of the latter
was silted up. This earlier theory has now been corroborated by the recent discovery
within Salamis itself of a Protogeometric tomb, and of 11th c. sherds found at
the S sector of the city.
Salamis was the most important city in Cyprus and King Euelthon (560-525
B.C.) claimed to be ruler of the whole island. He was the first king of Cyprus
to issue coins, and his silver staters of Persic standard show on the obverse
a lying ram with the reverse at first smooth and then with an ankh. His name appears
on the obverse in syllabic script.
His grandson Gorgos was reigning at the time of the Ionian Revolt
(499-498 B.C.) but refused to rise against the Persians, so he was overthrown
by his younger brother Onesilos, who succeeded in liberating most of the island
for a while. Onesilos, however, fell in the battle that ensued on the plain of
Salamis, and the Cypriots, after a year of freedom, were "again enslaved
to Persia" (Hdt. 5.104, 108-15).
The most important of all the kings of Salamis, however, was Euagoras
I (411-374-373 B.C.) for whom Isocrates wrote an oration (Evagoras). In an attempt
to liberate Cyprus from the Persians Euagoras met with little resistance. He was
a close ally of Athens and received much military help but in spite of all his
initial successes he was forced to submit to the Great King although he did retain
his throne as king of Salamis. Euagoras remained throughout his reign a friend
of Athens and under his philhellenic policy Greek philosophers, artists, and musicians
enjoyed the patronage of his court.
As a result of the Wars of the Successors Salamis was in 306 B.C.
the scene of heavy fighting, both on land and sea, between Demetrios Poliorketes
and Ptolemy I Soter for the possession of the city. It finally fell to Ptolemy,
who soon took possession of the whole island. The city continued to flourish in
Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman times and was embellished with important public buildings.
During the Ptolemaic rule Salamis ceded its place to Paphos as the leading city
of the island sometime in the 2d c. B.C. but in the 4th c. A.D. Salamis, now called
Constantia, had once more superseded Paphos as the metropolis of Cyprus. The city
became in Early Christian times the seat of a bishop and continued to flourish
down to Early Byzantine times when it was gradually abandoned after the first
Arab raids of 647 A.D.
The principal monuments uncovered towards the end of the 19th c.,
and again recently, include the gymnasium, the baths, the theater, the reservoir,
the agora, the Temple of Zeus Olympios, part of the city wall, two Early Christian
basilican churches and the Royal Tombs. Most of the ruins of this large city,
however, remain unexcavated.
The Graeco-Roman gymnasium, originally built in Hellenistic times,
was probably destroyed in the 4th c. A.D. earthquakes, after which it was restored
as public baths. The central court, the palaistra, measuring 50 x 38 m and paved
with opus sectile, is surrounded on all four sides by monolithic marble columns
crowned by Corinthian capitals of various types which were salvaged from other
derelict buildings when the gymnasium became the baths. The present columns originally
carried arches of stone to support the roof which covered the portico. When first
excavated this gymnasium was thought to be a marble forum.
The entrance to the gymnasium was through the S portico. On the step
between the entrance columns is an inscription of the Hellenistic gymnasium. In
the central part of the W wing, behind the portico, is a semicircular platform
the floor of which lies about one m above the level of the floor of the portico.
At the S end of this wing lie the gymnasium's latrines, a semicircular structure
with a roof supported on columns; it had facilities for about 44 persons.
The E portico is larger and furnished with fluted columns higher than
those along the other three sides of the court. At the N end of this portico,
steps lead up into the N annex with a rectangular pool which replaced an earlier
circular one. The sculptures now grouped there come from other parts of the gymnasium.
In the middle of the E portico was found the marble altar of the gymnasiarch Diagoras,
son of Teukros, in the 2d c. A.D. style. The large group of buildings to the E
belongs to the period of the baths. There are still, in a relatively good state
of preservation, hypocausts, sudatoria, caldaria, praefurnia, and large halls
with niches decorated with mosaics, among others one depicting the river Eurotas
and another Apollo slaying the children of Niobe.
The theater was built early in the Imperial period, probably during
the reign of Augustus, but was repaired and remodeled during the 1st and 2d c.
A.D. It has a semicircular orchestra measuring about 27 m in diameter; its cavea,
measuring 104 m in diameter, consisted originally of over 50 rows of seats with
a capacity of about 15,000 spectators. Of the stage-building little survives and
the cavea has been restored in its greater part.
The stage-building consists of two parallel walls measuring ca. 40
m in length. The span between them, ca. 5 m, was covered with wooden planks at
a height of ca. 2 m above the level of the orchestra. Rectangular colonettes offered
additional supports to this wooden platform on which the actors performed. This
was the proscenium, the facade of which was decorated with frescoes, traces of
which survive in one of its niches. The back wall of the proscenium is a massive
structure which supported the scenae frons; this was richly decorated with columns,
statues, and honorific inscriptions. The theater, ca. 100 m to the S of the gymnasium,
was connected with the latter by a colonnaded paved street.
Towards the S of the city is a group of buildings composed of the
main reservoir, the agora and the Temple of Zeus Olympios. The reservoir adjoining
the agora to the N consists of a large rectangle which had a vaulted roof supported
on 39 piers in three rows. This is assigned to the reign of Septimius Severus
and it appears that it was supplied with water from the spring at Kythrea some
56 km away. Traces of the aqueduct can still be seen in the plain between the
village of Haghios Serghios and Salamis. Repairs to this aqueduct were made as
late as the Early Byzantine period.
The Graeco-Roman agora between the reservoir and the Temple of Zeus
Olympios measures 217 x 60 m. Considerable remains survive of the stone colonnades
extending on either side of the central open space. The stone drums stood ca.
8.20 m high at intervals of 4.60 m and carried Corinthian capitals. Behind the
two long porticos were rows of shops. On the S side of the agora lies the Temple
of Zeus Olympios, originally built in Hellenistic times. The temple stands on
a high stylobate and has a square cella at the rear. Fallen column-drums and Corinthian
capitals of a considerable size suggest an impressive building.
Trial trenches at the S sector of Salamis near the harbor brought
to light the existence of a complete system of defenses consisting of many parallel
walls. The lower course of the walls was of stone, while the upper part was built
of mudbricks. The city defenses at this point run E-W along the edge of the plateau,
which overlooks the harbor. This circuit has been provisionally dated to the end
of the Geometric and to the archaic period.
Substantial remains of the breakwaters of the harbor near the mouth
of the river Pediaios still survive; however, most of the harbor itself has silted
up.
Tombs dating from Late Geometric to Graeco-Roman times are known in
the vast necropolis W of Salamis, but the most important of these are the archaic
Royal Tombs, a number of which were excavated in recent years (1956 onwards).
Unfortunately only the dromoi were found intact, the burial chambers having been
looted long ago. The characteristic features of these tombs are their large dromoi,
and their Homeric burial customs. One of these tombs, Tomb 50, is the so-called
Prison or Tomb of Haghia Haikaterini. The sloping dromos, measuring 28 x 13 m,
had its sides revetted with well-dressed stones. The skeletons of two yoked horses,
their iron bits still in their mouths, and several vases were found in the dromos.
The tomb in its original form dates from the 7th c. B.C.
Tomb 79 lies to the S of the Tomb of Haghia Haikaterini, and is beyond
doubt the wealthiest tomb found thus far at Salamis. The chamber was built, like
that of the tomb of Haghia Haikaterini, of two very large blocks of stone, rectangular
in shape and with a gable roof. In front of the chamber there was a kind of propylaeum.
This tomb dates from the end of the 8th c. B.C. but was reused in the 7th c. and
still later during the Graeco-Roman period, so that the chamber was found looted
of its earlier contents. The dromos, however, remained intact and its excavation
proved most rewarding. The 8th c. burial was associated with the sacrifice of
horses, and a chariot and a hearse were found in the dromos. In addition to the
pottery the tomb furniture included three ivory chairs, of which only one was
in fairly good condition, ivory plaques with relief decoration, a large bronze
cauldron standing on an iron tripod decorated around the rim with griffin heads,
bird-men, and sphinxes; also various bronze horse-bits, such as frontlets, blinkers,
and breastplates, all decorated with figure representations. The 7th c. burial
was also associated with chariot and horse burials.
A number of rock-cut tombs were recently excavated due S of the Royal
Tombs. These tombs were enclosed by a peribolos wall. Of particular interest is
the discovery of pyres in the dromos on which clay figurines and fruit were offered
in honor of the dead. This custom was known in ancient Greek religion as pankarpia
or panspermia. Several infant burials made in jars were brought to light. The
jars are as a rule of Rhodian import but two came from Attica. The furniture of
the tombs includes a number of beautiful vases of the 7th c. B.C. decorated with
lotus flowers, alabaster vases, bronze mirrors, gold jewelry, seals, and scarabs.
Half-way between the Salamis forest and the Monastery of St. Barnabas,
in the middle of the plain, lies a large tumulus of soil, Tomb 3. Above the tumulus
traces of a beehive construction have been found, probably a reminiscence of the
Mycenaean tholos tomb. The dromos measures 29 x 6 m. Remains of two chariots have
been found in it. The four horses which drew the chariots were sacrificed with
all their trappings. Various weapons were found including an iron sword, .92 m
in length. The border of the broad tang was of silver soldered on the iron by
means of copper. This tomb dates from ca. 600 B.C.
Another tumulus, Tomb 77, is to be seen close to the outskirts of
the village of Enkomi. This one, however, dates from the end of the Classical
period. Under the tumulus was an exedra of rectangular shape, built of mudbricks
and measuring 17 x 11.50 m. Almost at the center of the exedra was found a large
pyre in which were, among other objects, a number of fragments of life-size statues
made of unbaked clay but hardened by fire. Among the five heads found, two seem
to be portraits. Their style dates them to the end of the 4th c. B.C. These heads
are acrolithic and there is evidence that they were mounted on wooden posts at
the time of the funerary ceremony. No traces of burial have been found and the
conclusion has been reached that this was a cenotaph, probably of Nikokreon, the
last king of Salamis, who committed suicide with the members of his family in
311 B.C. and was buried under the ruins of the burnt palace because he would not
submit to Ptolemy.
From the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman necropolis come a number of
funerary inscriptions. The finds are in the Nicosia and Famagusta Museums.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
SOLOI (Ancient city) CYPRUS
On the NW coast in the area of Morphou Bay. The ruins cover a large
area, part of which is now occupied by the modern village. The city extended on
the summit of a hill, a little back from the coast and over its N slope overlooking
the bay; it also extended over a narrow strip of flat land below as far as the
harbor. The city consisted of two parts, the acropolis and the lower city.
The city wall can still be traced along the S ridge of the acropolis.
To the E it follows the edge of the hill down to a point ca. 100 m E of the theater,
where it disappears in the plain. In all likelihood it reached the coast and was
continued by the E breakwater of the harbor, the end of which is still visible
above the water. The W part of the city wall runs from the acropolis in a NW direction
and disappears in the village near the modern main road. Near the middle of the
last portion of the wall traces of the W gate have been located. This wall must
have also reached the coast, where it was continued by the W breakwater, the end
of which is again visible above the water. These two extremities formed the entrance
to the harbor, now entirely silted up. A similar arrangement of walls and breakwaters
is to be seen at Nea Paphos (q.v.). This then was the winter harbor of Skylax
(GGM 1.103), also mentioned by Strabo (14.683). The necropolis extends E and S,
with the earliest tombs found in the E necropolis.
Soloi, one of the ancient kingdoms of Cyprus, was, according to tradition,
founded by Akamas and Phaleros. According to another version, a city called Aipeia
(supposed to have been the predecessor of Soloi) was founded by Demophon, brother
of Akamas. The name is connected with the visit of the Athenian lawgiver Solon
to Cyprus and to Philokypros of Aipeia. Solon advised the king to remove the city
of Aipeia from its inconvenient position in rough country to the plain by the
sea. Philokypros took the advice and founded a new city, which he called Soloi
in honor of his friend.
Owing to the existence of copper mines, the richest in the island,
the area was inhabited at an early date and the presence of Late Bronze Age settlements
in the vicinity is well attested. On archaeological evidence available today,
the city site has been occupied since Geometric times and like some other cities
in the island such as Salamis, Soloi may have succeeded a Late Bronze Age town
in the neighborhood. It owed its prosperity to the nearby copper mines, and flourished
down to Early Byzantine times, when it was gradually abandoned after the first
Arab raids of A.D. 647.
Little is known of its earliest history, though from Classical times
onwards the city played an important role in the history of Cyprus and at least
in the times of Alexander the Great seems to have been the most important city
of the island after Salamis.
During the rising against the Persians at the time of the Ionian Revolt
the king of Soloi, Aristokypros, son of Philokypros, was killed in the battle
on the plain of Salamis. Soloi itself successfully resisted the siege of the Persians
for five months but was finally captured, when the city walls had been undermined.
After this time there are but a few records of the city in literature. From inscriptions,
however, we know the names of Kings Stasias and Stasikrates, probably living in
the 4th c. B.C.
The kings of Cyprus assisted Alexander the Great actively during the
siege of Tyre and some of them accompanied him on his way to the E. The kings
of Salamis and Soloi paid the expenses for the choruses, when celebrating in 331
the capture of Tyre. Nikokreon of Salamis and Pasikrates of Soloi vied with each
other as choregoi, the Athenian tragic actor Athenodoros, provided by Pasikrates,
being victorious. Nikokles, the son of Pasikrates, was one of the leaders of the
Cypriot fleet, which was used by Alexander on his expedition to Indus. And Stasanor,
possibly a brother of Pasikrates, also accompanied Alexander. Alexander made Stasanor
governor of Areia and Drangiane in 329 and later in 321 he also received Bactria
and Sogdiane. Hiero of Soloi, also was sent to circumnavigate the Arabian peninsula
and got as far as the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Soloi is the birthplace of the
peripatetic historian Klearchos, a pupil of Aristotle.
The last king of Soloi was called Eunostos, probably the elder son
of Pasikrates. All the kingdoms of Cyprus were abolished by Ptolemy I Soter with
the exception of Soloi, which seems to have been in an exceptional position. How
long Pasikrates continued to reign after we last hear of him in 321, when he sided
with Ptolemy, we do not know; Eunostos, however, was his successor.
During the Ptolemaic period little is known of Soloi though contacts
with Alexandria must have been maintained. The city continued to flourish in Graeco-Roman
times and soon became the seat of a bishop. According to the Acta Auxibii (8-9),
the saint was baptized and ordained bishop by John Mark the Evangelist and sent
to Soloi, where he lived for fifty years (A.D. 52-102/3).
The principal monuments uncovered so far include the theater, an archaic
Greek temple on the acropolis, both excavated in 1929, and part of the lower city
and an Early Christian basilican church in 1965 onwards.
Of the temples at Cholades excavated by the former expedition nothing
is visible, the site having been filled up subsequently. The temples date from
Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman times and the gods worshiped there have been identified
with Aphrodite, Kybele, Isis, Serapis, the Dioskouroi, Canopos, Eros, Priapos,
and possibly Mithras. Strabo mentions a Temple of Aphrodite and Isis and from
the Acta Auxibii we learn of the Temple of Zeus near the W gate. A city of the
importance of Soloi could not have been without a gymnasium, but of it nothing
is known. Trial trenches on the S side of the acropolis have shown that the royal
palace should be located here.
Excavations in the lower city revealed several buildings dating from
archaic to Graeco-Roman times. The structures in the late Graeco-Roman period
were erected on workshops of the early Graeco-Roman period. Among the workshops
were identified a glass factory and a dyer's factory. In the lower layers were
remains of Hellenistic buildings and among the Classical levels a public building
built of well-dressed stones. Below the levels of the Classical period, represented
by an accumulation of debris corresponding to the Persian wars, were found the
remains of the archaic city.
Probably the most important discovery to date is that of a large street
paved with stone slabs. The part revealed measures 4.95 m in width. On the S side
was a portico with columns of which the bases are preserved in situ. This was
certainly the main E-W street in Graeco-Roman times--it probably dates from the
3d c. A.D.--and may have been a colonnaded street.
The theater lies on the N slope of the lower hill, E of the acropolis,
overlooking the sea to the N. It consists of the cavea, which had been cut in
the rock, of a semicircular orchestra, and of the stage-building. A diazoma encircled
the cavea two-thirds of the way up. The semicircular cavea had a diameter of 52
m. The floor of the orchestra was plastered with lime-cement on a substructure
of rubble; it had a diameter of 17 m. The stage-building is rectangular, 36.15
m x 13.20 m; but of this structure only the platform on which it was built is
preserved. The theater could hold about 3500 spectators. It has recently been
reconstructed to its diazoma.
The recent excavation of tombs in the E necropolis yielded some very
interesting results. One of the tombs dates from the Cypro-Geometric period, a
fact which adds about two centuries to the material hitherto known from the area.
But the most important discovery was that in the dromos of one of the archaic
tombs: in front of the burial chamber of the rock-cut tomb were found the remains
of a horse and of a smaller animal, probably a sheep, sacrificed in honor of the
dead. Similar customs of sacrifice and burial of animals are known at Salamis,
Tamassos, and Palaipaphos, but in Soloi they were recorded for the first time.
The finds are in the Cyprus Museum, Nicosia.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
TAMASSOS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
In the copper mining area SW of Nicosia. The ruins of a large town
lying on the left bank of the river Pediaios extend on the top and over the N
slopes of a hill overlooking the rich Pediaios valley below. The site is now partly
occupied by the village of Politiko. The town consisted of two parts, the acropolis
and the lower town. The acropolis is believed to lie on top of the hill to the
S of the town, where now stands the village elementary school. Remains of the
city wall can still be traced for part of its course. The necropolis extends N
and W.
Tamassos, one of the ancient kingdoms of Cyprus was probably the Homeric
Temese. Nothing is known of its origin but it certainly succeeded a Late Bronze
Age settlement in the area, the best known one being on the other side of the
river on a height due N of Pera village. A Late Bronze Age necropolis, however,
exists at Lambertis, a small hill due SE of the ancient town and E of the Monastery
of Haghios Herakleidios. Owing mainly to the existence of copper mines, the area
of Tamassos was inhabited even earlier. The city naturally owed its prosperity
to these mines, as has been stressed by ancient writers.
Very little is known of the history. On the prism of Esarhaddon (673-672
B.C.) is mentioned the name Atmesu, king of Tamesu (Admetos, king of Tamassos),
were the identification certain. The earliest known historical event goes back
to the middle of the 4th c. B.C., when Pasikypros, king of Tamassos, sold his
kingdom for 50 talents to Pumiathon, king of Kition, and retired to Amathous,
where he spent his old age. Later on we hear again of Tamassos when this city
was taken away from Pumiathon by Alexander the Great and presented to Pnytagoras,
king of Salamis. Thereafter it is frequently mentioned (Strab. 14.684; Ptol. 5.14.6;
Plin. HN 7.195; Steph. Byz.). Tamassos is one of the Cypriot cities mentioned
in the list of the theodorokoi from Delphi (early 2d c. B.C.). The city flourished
mainly from archaic to Graeco-Roman times; in Early Christian times it became
the seat of a bishop.
The worship of Apollo and of the Mother of the Gods at Tamassos is
attested by epigraphic or archaeological evidence. The Sanctuary of Apollo may
be located to the NE of the town by the left bank of the river Pediaios. It was
near here in 1836 in the bed of the river that a bronze statue of Apollo was found.
Its head only has been preserved. Known as the Chatsworth head, it is now in the
British Museum. The Sanctuary of the Mother of Gods may be located just inside
the N city wall. From inscriptions or from literary sources we learn of the worship
of Aphrodite, of Dionysos, of Asklepios, and of Artemis, but nothing is known
of their sites.
There are no coins attributed to Tamassos and nothing is known of
the existence of a gymnasium or of a theater though a town of this importance
should have had both.
The town site is practically unexcavated but two imposing royal built
tombs, one with two chambers, dating from the archaic period, were excavated in
1889. These tombs had been looted long before their excavation but both are well
preserved.
The first tomb has a stepped dromos, the sides of which are revetted
with well-dressed stones. The facade is beautifully molded. On either side of
the stomion the walls are decorated with a pilaster surmounted by Proto-Ionic
capitals of extremely fine workmanship. The chamber is rectangular; its side walls
are built of large ashlar blocks; the roof is saddle-shaped and made of two huge
slabs resting on the side walls and leaning against each other. Along the rear
wall there is an open sarcophagus.
The second tomb, near the first, is very much the same construction
but it has a more elaborate decoration imitating wood carvings. A stepped dromos
leads down to the entrance. The two chambers have molded saddle-shaped roofs imitating
wooden logs, which are supported on a molded beam running lengthwise at the top
of the roof. Along the rear wall of the back chamber there is a sarcophagus. The
first chamber is provided with two square niches in the shape of false doors.
On the upper part of these doors a door-lock is sculptured in stone: four vertical
projections through which a bar has been pushed horizontally.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
THRONI (Ancient city) CYPRUS
The ruins of a small town, mentioned by Strabo (14.683) and Ptolemy
(5.14.1-4), on a headland called Cape Pyla, on the E shore of Larnaca Bay. Strabo's
reference, however, does not make it clear whether Thronoi refers to the cape
or to the town or to both. It is mentioned in the list of the theodorokoi at Delphi
(early 2d c. B.C.), provided the restoration of the name is correct.
Substantial remains of the town, dating from Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman
times, are still visible. Remains of the town wall running for a considerable
distance along the inland side of the town, underground chambers cut in the rock,
and vestiges of a sanctuary with fragments of stone statues have been reported.
The site is still unexplored.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
TREMITHOUS (Ancient city) CYPRUS
The site of a small town identified with Tremithous is partly occupied
by the modern village in the Mesaoria plain. The necropolis lies to the S. This
town seems to have flourished from Hellenistic to Early Byzantine times.
Nothing is known of its founding. Its later history, however, is fairly
well known for it is mentioned by Ptolemy (5.14.6), who counts it as one of the
interior towns of Cyprus, and by Stephanus Byzantius. In Early Christian times
it became the seat of a bishop. Its first bishop was Spyridon, who was present
at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and at that of Sardica in 343-344.
The worship of Apollo is attested by an inscription. Another inscription
records a horoscope of Flavian date. The road system in Roman times connected
Tremithous directly with Salamis and Kition.
Towards the end of the 19th c. an excavation uncovered a number of
tombs of the Hellenistic period producing mainly plain pottery. The town site,
however, is unexcavated though many finds have been recorded among which are a
number of inscribed funerary cippi.
K. Nicolaou, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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