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ORIENTAL RESEARCH
ADMINIS...
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SCHOOLS OF
AMERICAN
ORIENTAL RESEARCH
ADMINISTRATIVE MD 21211(301)889-1383 OFFICE,ASOR,711WEST40TH STREET,SUITE354, BALTIMORE, P. Kyle McCarter, President
Eric M. Meyers,First Vice Presidentfor Publications WalterE. Rast, Second Vice Presidentfor Archaeological Policy
George M. Landes, Secretary Kevin G. O'Connell, Assistant Secretary Holden Gibbs, Theasurer Gough W Thompson, Jr., Chairman of the
W.E AlbrightInstitute of ArchaeologicalResearch(AIAR).
John Spencer, Secretary-TReasurer
Director
BaghdadCommittee for the Baghdad School. Jerrold S. Cooper, Chairman Near Eastern Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218.
ASOR Newsletter; P Kyle McCarter,
Editor
American Center of OrientalResearch (ACOR).
Biblical Archaeologist; Eric M. Meyers,
Editor
P. O. Box 2470, Jebel Amman, Amman, Jordan. Bert de Vries, Director Robert Coughenour, President Lawrence T. Geraty, Vice President Marjorie Cooke, Secretary Anne Ogilvy, rleasurer
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research; Walter E. Rast,
Editor
Journal of Cuneiform Studies; Erle Leichty, Editor Editor for Books, Walter E. Aufrecht
Q
Biblical
OF OF
04p
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President
Boardof Trustees
Norma Kershaw, Director of Tours Susan Foster Kromholz, Executive
Ls
P. O. Box 19096, 91 190 Jerusalem, Israel. Seymour Gitin, Director Edward E. Cohen, Board Chairman Joe D. Seger, President Carol Meyers, First Vice President Joy Ungerleider-Mayerson, Second Vice
7
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CyprusAmerican Archaeological ResearchInstitute (CAARI).
41 King Paul Street, Nicosia, Cyprus. Stuart Swiny, Director Charles U. Harris, President Lydie Shufro, Vice President Ellen Herscher, Secretary Andrew Oliver, Jr., Theasurer
Damascus Committee. Giorgio Buccellati, Chairman Center for Mesopotamian Studies, University of California, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024.
Archaeologist
P.O. BOXH.M., DUKESTATION,DURHAM,NC 27706 (919)684-3075 Biblical Archaeologist (ISSN 0006-0895) is published quarterly (March, June, September, December) by the Johns Hopkins University Press for the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), a nonprofit, nonsectarian educational organization with administrative offices at 711 West 40th Street, Suite 354, Baltimore, MD 21211. Subscriptions. Annual subscription rates are $19.95 for individuals and $30 for institutions. There is a special annual rate of $17 for students and retirees. Single issues are $7 for individuals and $10 for institutions. In Canada and Mexico, add $3.40 for annual subscriptions and $2 for single issues. In other foreign countries, add $8.40 for annual subscriptions and $2 for single issues. Orders should be sent to the Johns Hopkins University Press, 701 W 40th Street, Suite 275, Baltimore, MD 21211 (telephone: 301-338-6988; telex: 5101012198, JHU Press Jnls). Second-class postage paid at Baltimore, MD 21211 and additional offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Biblical Archaeologist, the Johns Hopkins University Press, 701 W 40th Street, Suite 275, Baltimore, MD 21211. Copyright ? 1989 by the American Schools of Oriental Research. All rights reserved. No portion of this journal may be reproduced by any process or technique without the formal consent of the American Schools of Oriental
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Art Director
Eric M. Meyers Lawrence T. Geraty James C. Moyer
LindaHuff
Senior Editor
Leslie Watkins
Assistant Editor
ToddMcGee
ProductionAssistants Elyse Carter
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EditorialCommittee Walter E. Aufrecht Thomas E. Levy Edward E Campbell P. Kyle McCarter David W McCreery Douglas L. Esse Carol L. Meyers James Flanagan Volkmar Fritz S. Thomas Parker Jack Sasson Seymour Gitin Neil A. Silberman Jo Ann Hackett A. T. Kraabel Mark S. Smith L. Michael White
Advertising. Correspondence should be addressed to the Johns Hopkins University Press, 701 W 40th Street, Suite 275, Baltimore, MD 21211 (telephone: 301-338-6982).
Biblical Archaeologist is not responsible for errors in copy prepared by the advertiser. The editor reserves the right to refuse any ad. Ads for the sale of antiquities will not be accepted.
EditorialCorrespondence.Article proposals, manuscripts, and editorial correspondence should be sent to the ASOR Publications Office, P.O.Box H.M., Duke Station, Durham, NC 27706. Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Foreign contributors should furnish international reply coupons. Manuscripts must conform to the format used in Biblical Archaeologist, with full bibliographic references and a minimum of endnotes. See recent issues for examples of the proper style. Manuscripts must also include appropriate illustrations and legends. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use illustrations. Composition by Liberated Types, Ltd., Durham, NC. Printed by PBM Graphics, Inc., Raleigh, NC.
Publisher The Johns Hopkins University Press
BiblicalArchaeolog Volume52 Number4
A Publicationof the AmericanSchoolsof OrientalResearch
December1989
The Role of CAARI on Cyprus Charles U. Harris
157
The CyprusAmericanArchaeologicalResearchInstitute (CAARI)will move into its new headquartersbuilding in 1990. Here'sa look back at how CAARIgot its start, and a look aheadat where we'regoing.
A History of American Archaeology in Cyprus Thomas W Davis
163
American archaeologicalinterest on Cypruswas limited to individuals such as GeorgeMcFaddenand Paul Lappuntil the mid-1970s,when G. ErnestWright beganpushing for an American institute on the island.
Page 178
The Museums of Cyprus Pamela Gaber
170
Fascinatingartifactsfrom every archaeologicalperiodare just some of the many items on display in the CyprusMuseums, which house more than 7,000 yearsof Cypriot history.
PrehistoricCyprus:A Current Perspective Stuart Swiny
.
178
Each groupof inhabitantson Cyprushas left behind evidence of its stay,clues that help piece togetherthe puzzle of what life was like on the island beforethe introductionof writing.
The EarlyChristian Mosaics of Cyprus Demetrios Michaelides The Christianmosaics fromCyprusreflectthe spiritof their time andillustratethe cultural orientation of the island towardConstantinoplein the sixth century C.E.
rg
Page 192
Page203
192
Cyprus and the Phoenicians Patricia Maynor Bikai r.r
203
The relationshipbetween the Phoenicians and Cypruswas initially based on trade,but duringthe IronAge the Phoenicians decidedto colonize the island.
a, v
StandingBefore One's God: Votive Sculptureand the Cypriot Religious Tradition JoanBreton Connelly
210
Dedicating votive statues has been a Cypriottraditionfor almost 3,000 years.The traditionhas long since died out elsewhere,but the Cypriotsstill practiceit today.
PO
Past Present:The Village Pottersof Cyprus Gloria London
.
?. • o.
.
219
Potteryhas been a Cypriotindustry for more than 7,000 years,and potters of today use the same processes used by their predecessors.
Introducingthe Authors BookReviews Letterto the Readers
154 230 156
On the cover:A Chalcolithic figurine of serpentinitefrom western Cyprus.Photograph courtesy of XenophonMichael. On the back:An apse mosaic from the sixth-century-c.E. Churchof PanayiaAngeloktistos at Kiti depicting the VirginMaryand the archangels Michael and Gabriel. Photographcourtesy of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus.
Biblical Archaeologist is published with the financial assistance of the Endowmentfor BiblicalResearch,a nonsectarianfoundationfor the study of the Bible and the history of the ChristianChurch.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
153
Charles U. Harris
Joan Breton Connelly
Stuart Swiny
the Authors Introducing Charles U. Harris is an antediluvian, actively retired priest of the Episcopal Church. He has been a trustee of ASORsince 1965,has servedon the executive committee since 1975 and has been the president of CAARI since 1984. He receivedhis bachelor'sdegreefrom WakeForest University, a master's in divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary and has honorary degrees from VirginiaTheological Seminary,WakeForest,and Seabury Western. Thomas W. Davis received his Ph.D. in Syro-Palestinian Archaeology from the University of Arizona. He is a specialist in the nascent field of the history of archaeology. He has participatedin excavationsin Jordan,Cyprus,and the United States. Caradoc Press will soon publish A History of Biblical Archaeology,Davis'sstudy of the rise and decline of the biblical archaeologyparadigm. Stuart Swiny, the Director of the Cyprus American Archaeological ResearchInstitute since 1980, has excavated on land and underwater in France, Turkey,Iran, Afghanistan, and Cyprus. From studying the Iron Age in northwest Iran and the Bronze Age in Afghanistan, he moved in 1974to the EarlyandMiddle Cypriotperiodsin
154
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
Maynor Bikai Patricia Maynor
Cyprus.He has published two monographs:T7voCypriot BronzeAge Sites at Kafkallia (Dhali) with JohnC. Overbeck in 1972, and The Kent State University Expedition to Episkopi-PhaneromeniPart 2, in 1986. Dr. Swiny is currently working on the final report of the excavations at Sotira-Kaminoudhia,the first EarlyBronzeAge settlement to be excavatedin Cyprus. Demetrios Michaelides is the Archaeological Officer for the Paphos District in Cyprus. A native of Cyprus, he received his Ph.D. in 1980 from the Institute of Archaeology at the University of London. He has excavatedin Libya,southern Italy,and Rome as well as Cyprusandhas published numerous articles on Hellenistic and Roman Cyprus. His monograph Cypriot Mosaics, which was published by the Department of Antiquities in 1987, helped establish Cyprus as one of the great production centers of mosaics in the ancient world. PatriciaMaynorBikai is an independent scholar who has workedin Lebanon,Egypt,Cyprus,and the Azores. She is author of The Pottery of 7yre, an account of the first excavation at that city to uncover stratified Phoenician remains. She subsequently published studies of the
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Phoenician pottery from Palaepaphos-Skalesin western Cyprus, from Amathus, and from the Tyrian colony at Kition. In 1984-85, she was a FulbrightResearcherat the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute in Nicosia. While there, she wrote The Phoenician Pottery of Cyprusand preparedthe Phoenician pottery from the excavations at Kition for final publication. JoanBretonConnelly is assistant professorof Fine Arts at New YorkUniversity. She is the author of VotiveSculpture of Hellenistic Cyprus,and several articles on votive offerings from the Seleucid fortress on Failaka,Kuwait. Dr. Connelly received her Ph.D. in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College and was the Classical Fellow in the Department of Greek and Roman Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she studied the Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Antiquities. She has excavatedat Corinth and Nemea in Greece, and at Kourion,Paphos and Marion in Cyprus. Gloria Londonreceived her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona and has held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Washington and Hebrew Union College (Cincinnati). Her research in pottery includes ancient
Near Eastern ceramics and ethnoarchaeological studies of traditional potters in Cyprus, the Philippines, and Jordan.A recent publication is Traditional Pottery in Cyprus,published by Philipp von Zabern, 1989. Another 1989 publication, A Comparison of Two Contemporaneous Lifestyles of the Late Second Millennium B.C.,in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, deals with the Israelites and Canaanites at the end of the Late Bronze Age. Dr. London is currently the ceramic technologist with the MadabaPlains Project. Pamela Gaber received her Ph.D. in Fine Arts from HarvardUniversity. After several seasons in the Levant, she began working in Cyprus in 1972. While excavating each summer at Idalion, she conducted research on ancient Cypriot sculpture,producingseveralarticles and a book on that subject,Regional Styles in CyprioteSculpture (GarlandPress, 1986). Now director of the excavations at Idalion, she continues to work and publish in the areas of field archaeology and the art of ancient Cyprus. She is currently a member of the Middle East Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
155
Letter
to
the
Readers
Anyone who has visited Cyprus and the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI) can understandperfectly the enchantment and allure of that extraordinaryplace in the heart of the eastern Mediterranean.Always a bridgebetween EastandWest,a meeting place for cultures of varying and often seemingly antithetical natures, Cyprus remains a haven for those who would strive to understand better the wellsprings of Westerncivilization. The island seems to have successfully absorbedaspects of Semitic and Greek cultures. In the 1970s, G. Ernest Wright anticipated and encouragedthe establishment of a permanent American presence on Cyprus. Todaywe invite all the readers of Biblical Archaeologist to celebrate with us the achievements of Cypriot archaeology these past years and of CAARI'sunique role in facilitating them. None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of Stuart Swiny, the director of CAARI. His leadership at every level- administrative, political, and intellectual-scholarly- has made CAARI and all its diverseprojectspossible. In these endeavorshe has been supported at every stage by his coworker and wife, Helena Wylde Swiny. Without the constant encouragementand vigorous leadershipof the Rev.Charles C. Harris,the president of CAARI,anda dedicatedcohort of trustees, CAARIcould not have achievedso much in so few years. To all of these individuals, and to those who precededthem, I would like to express a profounddebt of gratitude on behalf of the American Schools of Oriental Research(ASOR).
The idea for this special issue on Cyprus originated after my first visit to CAARIseveral years ago. I became absolutely convinced of the necessity for CAARI and Cypriot archaeologists to communicate the results of their researchto a wider audience that was dedicated to the recovery and study of cultures of the ancient Near East and classical world, which had so long established themselves in Cyprus. After several return visits and repeated discussions with Swiny, it was decided that a stock-taking of Cypriot archaeology and ASOR'sactivities would be an appropriatevehicle to welcome the advent of CAARI'snew facility. After much discussion and consideration, Swiny agreed to serve as guest coordinatingeditor for this special issue honoring CAARI's newly acquiredand renovatedcenter.The special articles included in this issue are a fitting and lasting tribute to Ernest Wright, who dreamed of an American research center in Cyprus, and all those who made it possible to realize this day.To the present leadership of CAARIand to the government of Cyprus, which has so generously supported CAARI in many ways, all of us in ASOR express our heartiest congratulations for achievements attained and best wishes for goals yet to be accomplished.
As always, it is a pleasure to acknowledge the assistance given to me by members of the Department of Antiquities. The Acting Director of the Department, Athanasos Papageorghiou,and the Curator of Archaeological Mu-
Thomas Davis's article in this issue. I wish to recordmy gratitude to editor Eric Meyers,a good friend of CAARI and Cyprus,for suggesting that an issue of BA be devoted to what I hope the readerswill agreeis a most original and captivating island, both in terms of its past and its present. And last, but not least, I extend my cordialthanks to the contributors, without whom this issue would not
seums and Survey, Michael C. Loulloupis, allowed me to photograph, at very short notice, one of their prized possessions: the so-called Pomos figurine on the cover. This task was facilitated by the museum photographer, Xenophon Michael. Many thanks are also due to Yiannis Hadjisavvas, who helped in his usual efficient way to provide a whole series of illustrations. Vassos Karageorghis kindly lent us the delightful photograph of the Phoenician ostrich egg cup. It should not be overlooked that virtually all the research reported on in this issue of Biblical Archaeologist has been the direct result of his support and that of the Department of Antiquities over the past quarter of a century, a fact clearly stated in
156
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
Eric M. Meyers Editorand First VicePresident for Publications
havebeenpossible.
Guest CoordinatingEditor Stuart Swiny Director of CAARI
The
Role
of
CAARI on by
Itsstrategic location,considerable mineralresources, and,at times, have timberresources plentiful theenvious,thegreedy, attracted
andtheneedyto Cyprus.
Cyprus Charles
U.
Harris
thelegendary birth-siferous deposits have changed that yprus,
conclusion. One of the richest deposits is on the Akrotiri Peninsula at Aetokremnos, a cliff overhangingthe southern coast known in English as the Eagles'cliff. Fossilized remains of hippopotamuses and elephants have been excavatedthere, although we do not know how they actually got there. There is no evidence that erratic - sometimes as few as four there was ever a land bridgebetween inches a year- its strategic location, the island and the adjacentconticonsiderable mineral resources, and, nental land masses or that an ice age at times, plentiful timber resources providedthem a frozen highway.Behave attractedthe envious, the greedy, lieved to be unique in the world of and the needy. Nearly all of them nature, they have been technically have left behind evidence of their identified as Hippopotamusminutus marble and stay-monumental buildings, Elephas cypriotes. Chipped stone artifacts indicative of human temples of compelling beauty, statues, richly decoratedchurches, and habitation as early as the eighth or ninth millennium B.C.E.were also many various metal and ceramic artifacts- that attract a different discoveredin the deposit. The diskind of explorer,the archaeologist. covery advances the earliest preUntil recently, it was believed sumed date of human habitation of that humans first inhabited the the island by three millennia. A comisland in the sixth millennium B.C.E. prehensive reporton one of the most Renewedstudy of Pleistocene osrecent excavations, sponsored in part
place of Venus Aphrodite, lies at the northeast end of the Mediterranean,60 miles west of Syria and 40 miles south of Turkey.The island is 140 miles long and up to 60 miles wide and includes mountains 6,400 feet high and alluvial plains. Although its climate is mild and its rainfall
by CAARI,confirms this finding. "Frommy analysis, I tentatively conclude that. .. the island was oc-
cupied by approximately 10,000 BP" (beforethe present; Simmons 1988). Copperwas first found on the island in the third millennium B.C.E. So plentiful was it that the modern name of the island has its etiology in the Latin phrase aes cyprium, the ore of Cyprus. It was abbreviatedto cyprium and later corruptedto cuprium, the Latin word for copper. Its distinctively shaped ingots have been found by marine archaeologists in several shipwrecks on the seafloor of the Mediterranean. Among the island'searly visitors were the Myceneans. They were followed by the Acheans, who gave Cyprus its Greek culture and language. Tuthmosis IIIof Egyptconqueredthe island around 1500 B.C.E. The Phoenicians arrivedin the tenth century B.C.E.and were succeeded by SargonII, the Assyrian. Others who resided on the island included
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
157
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(that is, truly multidisciplinary) was conducted in the early 1970s at Idalion, a site 12 miles south of Nicosia. Idalion was an independent kingdom from around 700 to 425 B.C.E. when it was eclipsed by the Phoenician kingdom of Kition. The excavationwas mounted by G. ErnestWrightand two of his former students, LawrenceE. Stager of Harvardand Anita Walkerof the University of Connecticut. Other archaeologists sought Cyprus's ASOR in Cyprus famed copper mines. The American Schools of OriUntil 1927, when the Swedish scientific ental Research(ASOR),a consortium Cyprus Expedition began in American universities and inof 175 excavation,previous activity been the had such as The Smithsonian, stitutions deprelargely Cyprus dations of treasurehunters and grave the HarvardSemitic Museum, and robbers.The first modern expedition Chicago'sOriental Institute, has
Romans,Muslims, crusadersunder Richardthe Lionhearted,Venetians, Genoese, French,the Turksand the British, who made Cyprus a part of their empire in 1878 and grantedit independence in 1959. In between foreign rule were local sovereignties. The last conquerorof the island's vast resources has been the archaeologist,whose objectiveis the recovery of past cultures. Cyprus providesjust that milieu with its wealth of sites.
158
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
been directing, overseeing,and assisting archaeologicalprojects in the Middle East since 1900. Its initial objective was biblical archaeology, which was an emerging discipline seeking scientific evidence, such as that producedby archaeology,to validate the biblical story. Over the decades, ASOR'smission has enlargedand become comprehensive in its objective to recoverthe cultures of the past whereverits expeditions operate.In the 1989 season, in spite of widespreadpolitical unrest, ASOR sponsored35 excavations in six nations. In Middle Easterncountries with much archaeologicalactivity, ASOR has established researchinstitutes. These institutes provide support ser-
of its kindon CAARI is theonlyinstitution Cyprus.It helpspromotedialoguebetween andforeignscholarsalike. Cypriot American and Cypriot scholars and to providefacilities comparable to those offeredby other overseas advancedresearchcenters. The only institution of its kind in Cyprus, CAARIserves a special need. The island has no university, and in the absence of other national research centers, CAARIwelcomes archaeologists of all nationalities. The institute thereby serves in a unique way as a center of exchange of information about the archaeologyof Cyprus." Walkerwas appointed CAARI's first director.Operatingon a hope and a dreamand a minuscule budget, she located, rented, and furnished CAARI'sheadquartersin the second and third floors of a building at 41 King Paul Street in Nicosia. It had rooms for visiting scholars, a library, and other researchfacilities.Although space was limited, work proceeded under severe limitations. Nevertheless, her leadershipprovideda solid foundation for Ian Todd,who sucOther services to be providedby ceeded her in 1979. He saw the need to provideadequatespace for the the institute included liaison with the Department of Antiq"library,archives, slide and photouities and general assistance to graphiccollection, map collection, those about to set up new exca- sherd collection, site index and bibvation projects.The coordinaliography,geological collection, collection of faunal remains, collection tion of the services of visiting of flora, drawingoffice, laboratory, ecowould provide specialists nomic and other benefits to all darkroom,kitchen, laundry room, concerned. A GraduateFellow- common roomandgeneralworkroom" ship was also envisaged to allow as well as administrative offices and one or more students to travel storagefacilities for equipment and to Cyprus for researchpurposes. motor vehicles. CAARIcontinuedto expandwith the appointment of Stuart Swiny as At the Spring 1978 meeting of directorin 1980. With a largerprothe ASOR Board,I offereda resolution to found the Cyprus American gram came increasing concern over
vices for archaeological researchand expeditions. They rangefrom securing permission from governments for digs to providinglaboratoriesand libraries for research and study, hostels for visiting scholars, and equipment for archaeologicalteams. Depending on local conditions, the resident directorof an institute maintains close contact with expeditions in the field on behalf of ASOR. Each site is also visited annually by ASOR'sCommittee on Archaeological Policy (CAP).Its approvalto excavateis a prerequisite to mounting an expedition. Adherence to ASOR'srigid standardsof excavations, conservation, and publication is necessary for retention of ASOR sponsorship. The first such institute was the Institute of ArchaeW.F Albright ological Research(AIAR)in Jerusalem, which was founded in 1900. It was followed by institutes in Damascus and Baghdad,both now temporarily closed because of the political situation. The American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR),ASOR'sinstitute in Amman, Jordanwas founded in 1968 and just recently completed a $1.9-million building. In all these centers, researchinstitute signifies a place for the study of ancient cultures and is not confined solely or exclusively to archaeologicalactivity. Beforehis death, Wrighthad planned a center on Cyprus. Philip J. King, who was then President of ASOR, Anita Walker,and Vassos Karageorghis,Director of the Department of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus,were among the moving spirits. The Honorable William R.
remain on the scene, and he helped open many doors. In a letter sent to severalforeign archaeologists in February1978, Walkerenvisioned an institute with a multinational clientele that would providethe following services: A conveniently located building to providehostel accommodations for visiting archaeologists and which would act as a place for archaeologists to meet. Space would also be providedfor storage,laboratoryand other art work. There would also be a libraryto complement the holdings of the libraryof the Cyprus Museum, and various data collections (sherds,lithics, fauna, metallurgies)to facilitate comparativestudies. The institute would also purchase various items of expensive excavation equipment and obtain several motor vehicles which could be rented to excavatorsas required.
Crawford, United States Ambassador to Cyprus, played an important role. He secured a Fulbright Fellowship for Walker, which enabled her to
Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI). As King wrote in his history of ASOR (1983: 224), CAARI serves "to promote dialogue between
the need for larger quarters. By 1985, the need had become acute. One factor was the unexpected acquisition of the extensive library of Claude F.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
159
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Twoexteriorviews of the new CAARI headquartersbuilding in Nicosia. The former residence will hold the Claude E Schaeffer MemorialLibrary,archives, a laboratoryand variouscollections as well as administrative offices, a receptionroom, kitchen and residential area for visiting scholars. The dedication is set for May 1990.
160
Schaeffer,a noted Frencharchaeologist, in memory of JohnI. Wylde. Its 2,500 works, conservatively valued at $100,000, overflowed CAARI'smodest commons room/ library.An architect was selected and asked to prepareplans for a new building when two things happened to change the board'sthinking. First, a good friend of CAARI and former resident of Cyprus,who asked to remain anonymous, sold her house on the Turkishside of the
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
island and gave the proceeds to CAARIfor the new headquarters. The second event was finding what had once been a beautiful, classic villa in the center of Nicosia located directly across the street from the proposednew National Museum. With very few resources and no organizedor developedconstituency, CAARI'sboardsigned an agreement on November 17, 1986 to purchase the property.The Nicosia Academy of Music occupied the second floor, and an elderly woman and her large family occupied the first floor. Taxes, permits, and inspections delayed the process for many months before the agreement was signed. CAARI'sattorney was Lellos P. Demetriades, the mayor of Nicosia and longtime friend of CAARI.Because of his efforts and those of JoannaLoizidou, along with the cooperation of many departments of the government,the lengthy purchasingprocess was completed in a little more than a year. The acquisition was completed on October9, 1988when it was approved by the Council of Ministers of the Government of Cyprus, and title was taken on that date in the name of ASOR and CAARI.With the anonymous donor'sgift and funds raisedby the CAARIBoard,the house and land, valued at $296,500, were paid for in cash. ASOR'syoungest offspring had suddenly come of age!It was a remarkableeffort for an overseas, not-for-profitinstitution, operating in four currencies and two languages. Locatedat 11 Andreas Demetrious Street, a few blocks from the business district of Nicosia, the new facility is described by Swiny as "a well-appointed arkhontiko spiti (patrician townhouse). It displays character and is a representative example of pre-war urban Cypriot
These pictures show the lobby below and entrance above right to the residential area on the second floor. Renovations began in February1989 and are scheduled to be completed in the springof 1990. The building, which was built in the 1930s as a private residence, cost around $300,000. Renovations were approximately$110,000.
architecture.The building is of interest in its own right, a quality which appeals to many scholars. It is large, solid, yet unpretentious." Its two floors andbasement comprise nearly 8,000 squarefeet. Built as a private residence in the 1930s, it was later divided into three selfcontained apartments, and eventually part of it was made into a dentist's office. Details such as the magnificent floor tiling and its substantial construction give an indication of what a splendid building it had once been and of what it could be with a thoughtful, careful restoration. In late 1986 the architect was asked to prepareplans for the renovation and remodelingof the building. At the same time, the boardbegan raisingthe money needed to complete the purchase. In quick succession came grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Program(which was met by ASOR),the United States Information Agency (USIA),and the David and Lucille PackardFoundation. Then the CAARIBoardraised the additional money needed to buy the building outright-$260,000 plus an additional $35,700 for taxes, permits, legal fees, and tenants' settlements. The renovation,which has basically followed Todd'srecommendations, will make this facility similar to other ASOR centers. The large main floor will accommodate an 8,500-volume libraryto be called the Claude E SchaefferMemorialLibrary. It will also serve as a lecture room with seating for 70 persons. The importanceof this room cannotbe underestimated; as noted earlier, Cyprus has no university. To a very satisfactory degree, CAARI provides a place for the scholarly community to meet, do research, and study. Its symposia,
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
161
Fulbright colloquia, and lecture series, often of an international character,go far in fulfilling Walker'shopes for a place for the interchangeof ideas. In its short ten year history, scholars from 16 nations have been in residence at CAARI,all of them engagedin predoctoral or postdoctoralstudy and research.The majority of the scholars are doing postdoctoralwork. A laboratory,administrative and libraryoffices, a communications center with computers and other modern equipment, a dark room, collections room, reception room, and a small kitchen and dining area will occupy the groundfloor. The second floor will house nine scholars (some rooms are large enough to accommodate spouses), the FulbrightSuite, with private kitchen and bath, and a commons room. It also will have a charming terracefor social gatherings in Cyprus's100-degreeheat and 95-percenthumidity. The basement will house a second laboratory,and utilities room, and there will be a large storage space in the areabetween the second floor andthe attic. Separateentrances will be providedfor the researchacademic-administrativeareas and the living quarters. Contracts for renovationswere signed, and work began in February 1989, with the work scheduled to be completed in the spring of 1990. Renovationcosts will be $120,000, which has alreadybeen raised by a committee of the boarddirected by JasonPaige, Jr.LydieShufrohas been active in forming support groups in New York,Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, and Virginia with the help of Ellen Herscher and Patty Wylde. In addition to raising money for
162
the renovation,CAARI'senergies are being directed towardfurnishing the building at an estimated cost of $53,000. Helena Swiny,an archaeologist and the wife of Stuart Swiny, is overseeingthis aspect of the enterprise. The final effort will be to raise an endowment to maintain the building. The dedicatory celebration is set for May 23-25 1990. Bibliography For a general overview of the Island and an introduction to its life, art, and history see: Cyprus, photography Gerhard P. Mueller, Text Klaus Liebe, 1984, 1986, English Edition, Verlag C. J. Bucher GmbH, Munich and Lucerne For excellent and comprehensive reports on archaeology, see Archaeology in Cyprus 1960-85 Ed. V. Karageorghis, A. G. Levantis Foundation, Zevallis Press Ltd., Nicosia 1985 (Note: some articles are in French) King, P J.
1983 American Archaeologyin the Mideast:A History of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.
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Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
The CouncilforInternational announces of Scholars Exchange of one Fulbright theavailability awardin lecturing/research in Archaeology Cyprusduring theacademic year1991-92. will be the The hostinstitutions CyprusAmericanArchaeological Institute(CAARI)and Research of Anthe CyprusDepartment tiquities.Forfurtherinformation,
orwrite Press JohnsHopkinsUniversity 701W.40th St.,Suite275 MD 21211. Baltimore,
Attach Label Here
State
Fellowship Award
Zip
A History of American on Cyprus Archaeology
by
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n 1988, American tenth anniversarybe markedby a theCyprus
Archaeological ResearchInstitute (CAARI),the most visible symbol of American commitment to Cypriot archaeology,celebratedits tenth anniversary.In March of that year, the Institute, located in Nicosia, marked its coming of age by purchasing a large pre-WorldWarIIhouse for a permanent home. The once precarious CAARIhas become a thriving fixture of Cypriot archaeology,and this transition owes a great deal to the vision of Vassos Karageorghis,who, as director of the Department of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus, has guided the fortunes of Cypriot archaeologyfor more than a quarter century. It is altogether fitting that the dual milestones of Karageorghis's retirement this year and CAARI's
historical look at American archaeology on the island of Cyprus. An active retirement undoubtedly awaits this archaeological ambassador-atlargewho has presented the cultural treasures of Cyprus to an often ignorant world. Karageorghiswill not easily be replaced,only emulated.
The Early Christian Basilica in Kourion, which was excavatedfirst by George McFaddenin 1934. In 1956,A.H.S. Megaw, who was then the directorof the Department of Antiquities for the Governmentof Cyprus, resumed work at the site, which was completed in 1979 with the supportof the Dumbarton Oaks Centerfor Byzantine Studies. Accordingto Strabo,any person who touched the altar in the nearby temple of Apollo Hylates was flung into the sea from the cliffs in the background.
The Past Until the 1970s, American archaeological interest in Cyprus was limited to a few individuals.American classical archaeologyfocused on mainland sites of mainstream, classical importance such as Corinth and Athens. American Near Eastern archaeology,dominated by the biblical orientation of William F.Albright and his students, focused on SyroPalestine. Cyprus seemed peripheral
to both areas,and, until recently, did not arouse much interest. In the late nineteenth century, the fascinating and colorful Luigi Palmadi Cesnola- soldier, diplomat, adventurer,and amateur archaeologist -became the first American to leave his mark in the annals of Cypriot archaeology.Cesnola was in the tradition of Heinrich Schliemann, a man whom Cesnola consciously imitated and attempted to
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
163
madeits first American archaeology on theisland appearance organized of Cyprusin 1931. upstage, and his checkered career has been ably told elsewhere (McFadden1971).Cesnola's shameless looting of Cypriot antiquities made American practitioners of the nascent field of classical archaeology awareof the island'srich archaeological heritage,but he remains an albatrossabout the neck of those American archaeologists who are interested in Cyprus. The Role of GeorgeMcFaddenand the University of Pennsylvania American archaeologymade its first organizedappearanceon the island of Cyprus in 1931.Bert Hodge Hill of the University Museum of The University of Pennsylvanialed a small team in an investigation of a cemetery at Lapithos (Dohan 1932).Thus began a Pennsylvania-Cyprusconnection that would last for more than two decades. Cyprus in the 1930s was very differentfrom the place that suffered from Cesnola'snot so delicate depredations. Great Britain,which had administeredthe island since 1878, had set up a colonial administration after WorldWarI and now ruled directly The directorshipof the Department of Antiquities had been offeredto Thomas EdwardLawrence (Stoors 1945:450) but was now in the capablehands of Peter Megaw. During this economically depressed period, many public works projects sponsoredby the colonial administration were related to archaeology. The Venetianwalls in Nicosia were reconstructed,and much work was done on the Crusadersites on the northern coast. Such work was expensive, of course, and very few resources were available for field excavation. Because its expense would be minimal, the colonial
164
Ibft-Wlar Foeaign Numbr o
andilAmncan
sexcavatiseseatCyprus
excavations
10 9
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I 0 1947 48 49 50 51 52 53 5455 56 5758 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 Securitysituationpreventedexcavationin 1956,1964. in 1960. Independence 20
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1968 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 -
=
All foreignexcavations
American excavations
Sources:Annual Reportsof the Directorof the Departmcnt of An~tiquities.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
GeorgeMcFaddenbuilt this house and adjoining workroomsas his private residence and excavation headquartersin the 1930s. After he drowned in 1953,McFadden'sfamily donated the propertyto the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,which turnedit into the KourionMuseum. Photographcourtesy of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus.
governmentwas quite happyto permit the University Museum to mount a major excavation at the site of Kourionon the south coast. From 1934 to 1954, except from 1942 through 1946, field expeditions were conducted at Kourion.The purpose of the excavation was "totrace the history of that ancient city in the different sites it occupied from the earliest times to the break-upof the Roman Empire"(McFadden 1938:3). The goal of total excavation, or at least total understanding of the site, was in keeping with the pattern established by the major excavations in the classical world and the Levant(forexample, work at the Palestinian sites of Beth-shean,by the University Museum, and Megiddo, by The University of Chicago). Trainedas an architect, George McFadden,the chief excavator,was interested in tracing the architectural history of the temple site and uncoveringbuilding sequences on the city site. Secondaryexcavations conducted by JohnFranklinDaniel and others uncoveredthe surrounding cemeteries and the stadium. Financial resources for the excavation at Kourionwere providedby George McFadden.The University Museum did not have the means to sponsor a new expedition and was forced to cut back on other established projects such as at Beth-shean. McFaddenwas independently wealthy and dedicated himself to the excavation. A lifelong bachelor, he constructed a two-story house in the village of Episkopito be used as excavation quartersand as a second home. The villagers were pleased to have McFadden there. Christofis Polykarpou, now a retired archaeological architect, started his career as McFadden's personal secretary. In
a video interview conducted in late 1987, Polykarpourecounted how the eccentric McFaddenbecame an accepted part of the daily life in Episkopi-he once savedthe Eastercelebration by paying the laborersbefore work had begun. The excavationwas the only wage labor the villagers could find. They later repaidtheir debt to the excavationby permitting Daniel to be buried in the Episkopi churchyardfollowing his death in 1948while on a survey trip to Turkey. One windy day in April 1953, while sailing off the south coast of Cyprus, his small dinghy overturned in a rough sea, and McFadden drowned. Soon thereafter,Roger Edwardswas sent out from Philadelphia to close down the work. After a short final season in 1954, the house was donated to the Department of Antiquities for use as an excavation house and museum. Thus, the University Museum'scommitment to Cyprus was primarily that of George McFadden.Its interest in Cypriot archaeologywould lie dormant until the late 1960s. The only other American institution to excavateon Cyprus before the island gained its independence
from Great Britainwas the University of Missouri. Under the direction of Saul S. Weinberg,a single season was mounted at the site of Phaneromeni near Episkopiin 1955. This investigation has the honor of being the first excavation sponsoredby an American state university in the Old World(Megaw1956). The security situation deteriorated rapidlyon Cyprus during the 1950s. A proposedmemorial service for McFaddenwas cancelled for fear that it would turn into a pro-Enosis (union with Greece) demonstration. All five of the foreign archaeological teams that were on the island in 1955 were unable to return in 1956 when a state of emergency was declared. Foreignarchaeologicalactivity on the island remained at the low level of one or two teams per year throughout the transition to independence in 1960 (see the chart on post-warexcavationwork). Independencebrought a new director to the Department of Antiquities, PorphyriosDikaios. Dikaios permitteda long-termprojectplanned by his colonial predecessor,the restorationof Byzantine church frescoes, to begin under the auspices of
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
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IdalionwasthefirstCypriot dig whichhadbeen byASOR, sponsored moreorientedtowardsPalestine. the Byzantine Institute of America, a groupthat later became Dumbarton Oaks (Mango1969).When Vassos Karageorghisbecame director in 1963 he enthusiastically supported the work. Except for 1962 and 1964, Dumbarton Oaks teams were in the field each year until the conclusion of the project in 1973. Formany of those years, they were the only American teams active on the island. Cyprus Rediscovered Civil unrest halted all archaeological work on the island in 1964, but after that Cyprus entered a very active phase of archaeologicalinvestigation. Excavationteams from the Department of Antiquities were active in all regions and were quickly joined by numerous foreign expeditions. Their numbers reached a peak in 1972 when there were 20 different expeditions of various nationalities. Cyprusprofitedarchaeologically from the Arab-Israeliwar of 1967. The captureof the West Bank and Gaza, coupled with the maturing of the Israeli archaeological community, limited American archaeological opportunity in the Levant.The island came into popularview through the pioneering underwater work at the Kyreniashipwreck site by Michael Katzev from The University of Pennsylvania.Katzev'spreliminary survey in 1967, followed by a full-scale excavation of the site, was the first American excavation effort in independent Cyprus. Paul Lapp,an American archaeologist who refused to work under the new conditions in the West Bank, went to Cyprus to locate a site for possible excavation. Lapp was attracted by the ancient site of Idalion, which seemed physically similar to a Palestinian tell. In April 1970,
166
while assembling an excavation team, he went swimming in a heavy sea off Kyreniaand drownedat the age of 39. George Ernest Wright, then president of the American Schools of Oriental Research,intervened to ensure that the excavation permit would not be lost after Lapp's death. Wrightleft the field direction to Anita Walkerand LarryStager, but his official presence satisfied the permit requirements (Stager,Walker and Wright 1974).The Idalion proj-
ect markedthe first exporting of the multidisciplinary Gezer Method to Cyprus. The Gezer expedition in Israel integratedtraditional American ceramic expertise and Dame Kathleen Kenyon'sstratigraphic methodology with specialists from geology and other scientific disciplines. Idalion was also the first Cypriot excavation sponsoredby ASOR, which had been oriented towardwork in Palestine. Following this lead, the American presence on
SimplifiedChronologyof AmericanArchaeologyon Cyprus Year Site Excavator/Sponsor 1931
Lapithos
1934-1941 1947-1954
Kourion(Episkopi): KourionAcropolis, Sanctuaryof Apollo, EpiskopiBamboula, SotiraTeppes,Kaloriziki Cemetery,Ayios ErmoyenisCemetery
1955
Episkopi-Phaneromeni
1961,1963, 1965-1974
1967-1973
Byzantinechurchsites: Asinou,AyiosNeophytus, Monasteryof Saint Chrystosmos, Lagoudhera, Monagri, Perakhorio Kyreniashipwreck
1970-1973
Phlamoudhi-Melissa
1970-1978 1980,1987
Idalion
1971-1973
Tou Morphou-Toumba Skourou River Khryosokhou Survey
1972-1973
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
BertHodgeHill/University Museum(Universityof Pennsylvania) John GeorgeH. McFadden, FranklinDaniel,DorothyCox, J.H. Last,J.Young,Porphyrios Dikaios,BertHodgeHill, Saul S.Weinberg, RogerEdwards, JohnBenson/University Museum(Universityof Pennsylvania) of SaulS.Weinberg/University Missouri S.W.Hawkins,Y.Makrides, D.Winfield,Zaferiades/ DumbartonOaks
of MichaelKatzev/University Pennsylvania EdithPorada,S. Symeoneglou/ ColumbiaUniversity PaulLapp,John Overbeck/SUNY-Albany; G. ErnestWright,LarryStager, AnitaM. Walker/Harvard, ASOR,Universityof Connecticut,SUNY-Albany; of PamelaGaber/University New Hampshire EmilyT.Vermeule,Cornelius Vermeule/Harvard University J.M.Adovasio,G. F.Fry, J.O.Gunn,R.F.Maslowski/ StateCollege Youngstown
the island expandedrapidly,with five field expeditions conducted in 1971. Politics again affected Cypriot archaeology in the summer of 1974. Following a Greek-supportedcoup that almost took the life of President Makarios,the TurkishArmy invaded the island to "safeguard" the Turkish This resulted Cypriot community. in 38 percent of the island coming under the control of the Turkish Army, and major sites such as the palace of Vouni, ancient Salamis,
Year
and the most spectacular medieval castles were no longer accessible. American scholars and universities have conducted many longterm projects since 1974 (see accompanying chart)to study sites dating from the Neolithic period to the present day.Forthe most part, these expeditions have kept pace with theoretical and methodological advances,the Vasilikos Valleyproject being the flagship example of this trend (Biersand Soren 1981;Todd
1973-1974
Site Kalohorio-Khalandrikos
1974-1979
KourionBasilica
1975-1978
Episkopi-Phaneromeni
1976, 1978 1980, 1982 1976-1984 1987
Alambra-Mouttes
1978-1987
VasilikosValleyproject, Kalavassos-Tenta, Ayios Dhimitrios Kourion:Sanctuaryof Apollo (1978-1984)
Acropolis (1984-1987) 1979, 1982 1984-1986 1981, 1983 1986-1987 1981-1987
AkheraArea survey Polis Tis Chrysokou SotiraKaminoudhia
Excavator/Sponsor JamesR. Carpenter/KentState University A. H. S. (Peter)Megaw/ Dumbarton Oaks JamesR. Carpenter,Stuart Swiny/KentState University JohnE. Coleman/Cornell University Ian A. Todd,Alison South/ BrandeisUniversity Diana Buitron, David Soren/ WaltersArt Gallery, University of Maryland (BaltimoreCounty), University of Missouri, Dartmouth College David Soren/Universityof Arizona PaulW.Wallace/SUNY-Albany
Stuart Swiny/CAARI,G. R. Rapp/Universityof Minnesota SarandraKolones (Paphos) A. H. S. (Peter)Megaw,J.Rosser/ Dumbarton Oaks, British School of Athens, Boston College MaroniVournes 1982-1983 GeraldCadogan/Universityof Cincinnati, British School in Athens Marion-PolisTis 1983-1986 W.P.Childs/Princeton Chrysokou University workto 1987.Other Note:Thischartincludesexcavation, survey,andrestoration fromBritain;1978-CAARI importantdatesare1960-Cyprusgainsits independence founded,AnitaWalkerappointedas director;1979-IanA.Toddmadeseconddirectorof CAARI;1980- StuartSwinymadethirddirectorof CAARI.
1977, 1978, 1985, 1986).Computers have become standardequipment in the field, although more traditional approachesare still followed at certain sites. The Reportof the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus (RDAC)and the Annual Report of the Antiquities Director are the primarypublications for Cypriot archaeology,but as the many American archaeologicalprojects continue to publish their findings, Cyprus will gain an even wider audience. Foreignarchaeological interest in Cyprus has yet to return to the level set in 1974. Approximately 12 expeditions have been functioning annually since then, with Americansponsored teams making up half the total foreign effort. That number has remained remarkablyconstant, perhaps because American scholars and institutions, unlike those from Europe,have not heavily invested in archaeologicalwork in the northern half of the island. The Cyprus American Archaeological
ResearchInstitute (CAARI) The IdalionProjectwhetted G. Ernest Wright'sinterest in Cyprus. He put together a proposal, contacted the American Embassyin Nicosia, and by early 1974 planning for an American school was progressing.Modeled after the American Center of Oriental Research(ACOR),ASOR'sinstitute in Amman, Jordan,the proposed Cypriot establishment was to be named the EasternMediterranean Institute of Archaeological Research. In the midst of the incipient discus-
sions, the suggestion was made that the institute be named the G. Ernest Wright Institute for Cyprus. Wright was touched by the gesture, but demurred. (If this suggestion had been implemented, ASOR would
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
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now have an Albright Institute in Jerusalemand a WrightInstitute in Cyprus!)At the annual meeting in May 1974, ASOR trustees gave their approvalto the Institute and appointed Sophocles M. Sophocles, a Byzantine scholar from Widener College in Chester, Pennsylvania,as the first director.Sophocles was unable to take the appointment, however,and the search for a replacement was delayedby the tragic events of 1974. Except for A. H. S. (Peter) Megaw'swork at the KourionBasilica (supportedby Dumbarton Oaks), all of the American excavations on the island were either interruptedor canceled during that summer. Added grief came to ASORwith Wright's death in early August. He had been Above:A beautiful ceiling fresco from the monastery church at Lagoudhera,which was restoredby a team from Dumbarton Oaks. The group'sprogramto restorethe Byzantine churchfrescoes began in 1961 and ended in 1973. Formany of those years, they were the only American team working on Cyprus.Photographcourtesy of ThomasDavis. Right:GeorgeMcFadden, left, being shown the excavations at Sotira-Teppesby PorphyriosDikaios in the early 1950s. The CuriumExpedition of the UniversityMuseum, Universityof Pennsylvania,sponsoredDikaios's work at Sotiraand undertook the publication of the results. McFaddenwas a driving force in the early years of American archaeologyin Cyprus.Photograph courtesy of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus.
168
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
Theelectionof PhilipJ. Kingas revivedinterest of ASOR president center. a Cypriot in establishing the driving force behind the suggested institute and with his passing, the idea went into abeyance. The election of Philip J.King as president of ASOR led to the revival of interest in a Cypriot center. The Idalion projectwas nearing the publication stage, and it was hoped that this project could form the basis of a center on the island, an idea supported by Karageorghis.The necessary governmentalapprovalwas obtained, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a letter listing the appropriate antiquities laws relating to the prospective institute as well as conveying official approval(in principle) for its establishment. In the letter, however,the Cyprus government said it expected more from ASOR than a simple publications office: A broadercoverageof all civilizations in Cyprus with the participation both of Classical and Oriental scholars would better serve, we believe, not only the sciences of international archaeology and history, but also American archaeologywhich is well known for its international interest and objectivity (material on file at CAARI). The Cyprus Archaeological Research Institute, as it was first known, had been officially established. CAARIhas had only three directors in its 10 years:Anita Walker (1978-1979), Ian Todd(1979-1980), and Stuart Swiny (1980 to the present). Swiny has providedCAARI with the fundamental prerequisite for growth in the Levant-long-term stability. CAARIhas become a clearinghouse for the exchange of archae-
role. As the only foreign archaeological institution on Cyprus, it has always held an open door to the international archaeological community. The hostel usage reflects this. From 1980 through 1984, for example, 58 percent of the guests were non-American.This is hopefully a pointer to more international participation in the future. The institute does not have the power of such established centers as the American School of Classical Studies at Athens or even the relatively new American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR)in Amman. Unlike the Athens School, CAARI has no voice in deciding which American teams may excavate in Cyprus;this remains fully in control of the Department of Antiquities. As a result, CAARIcan be freely bypassedby American excavators but is also able to escape blame for their failures. This unique situation has caused the institute to develop the research aspect of its title rather than the archaeological one. Thanks to the recent acquisitionof the C. E A. SchaefferLibrary,purchasedin memory of E I. Wylde,CAARIboasts the best private archaeologicalresearch facilities on the island. In addition, I have begun an oral history collection of video interviews on various subjects related to Cypriot archaeology. Cypriot archaeology in general, and CAARIin particular,can look forwardto increased public awareness as the institute enters its second decade. It is to be hoped that the political situation on Cyprus can be resolved satisfactorily and permit renewed archaeological investigation
ological shoptalk and information, a vital service on such a small island, and it has taken on an international
of the north. A final note of caution. In the eastern Mediterranean archaeology
can find itself suddenly treated as a political weapon (see the warning in Jones 1986: 593). What to a scholar may be an academic issue can become an explosively partisan political statement. We would do well to remember that whereverwe work in the world, we are guests. Bibliography Biers,J.C., and Soren,D. 1981 Studies in CyprioteArchaeology MonographXVIII.Los Angeles:Institute of Archaeology,University of California. Dohan, E. 1932 The CyprusExpedition.Bulletin of the UniversityMuseum 4(1):12-15. Jones,R. E. 1986 Greek and CypriotePottery:A Review of Scientific Studies. London: British School of Athens/FitchlaboratoryOccasional Paper1. Mango,C. 1969 Summaryof work carriedout by the DumbartonOaks ByzantineCenter in Cyprus, 1959-1969. Reportof the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1969:98-104. McFadden,E. 1971 The Glitter and the Gold. New York: Dial Press. McFadden,G. H. 1938 Excavationat Kourion.Bulletin of the UniversityMuseum 7(2):3-17. Megaw,A. H. S. 1956 Annual Reportof the Directorof Antiquities for the Year1955. Nicosia: CyprusMuseum. Stager,L. E., Walker,A. M., and Wright,G. E. 1974 American Expedition to Idalion, Cyprus.Cambridge,MA:American Schools of OrientalResearch. Stoors,R. 1945 Orientations. London:Nicholson and Watson. Todd,I. 1977 VasilikosValleyProject:FirstPreliminary Report,1976. Reportof the Department of Antiquities in Cyprus,1977:5-32. 1978 VasilikosValleyProject 1977-1978: An Interim Report.Reportof the Department of Antiquities in Cyprus,1979:13-68. 1985 The VasilikosValleyand the Chronology of the Neolithic/Chalcolithic periods on Cyprus.Reportof the Department of Antiquities in Cyprus,1985: 1-15. 1986 VasilikosValleyProject:Fifth Preliminary Report,1980-84. Reportof the Department ofAntiquities in Cyprus,1986: 12-27.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
169
The
of Museums Cyprus by
n ancienttimes,theeastern
end of the MediterraneanSea providedpassagewaysfor the meeting of the Aegean and the Levant,Anatolia and North Africa. Because of its location, Cyprus was the natural crossroadfor this active, intercultural traffic. Nowhere is the colorful and compelling result of
170
Pamela
Gaber
this tumultuous history so visible as in the museums of Cyprus.There are 12 separatemuseums in Cyprus headed by the Curatorof the Archaeological Museum in the Department of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus.'They house works that span the millennia from prehistoric times to today.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
1
The CyprusMuseum in Nicosia displays more than 7,000 years of Cypriothistory.It is one of a dozen museums throughoutCyprus that preservethe island's unique heritage. The governmentcollection of antiquities began in 1874, and the museum has been influenced by many well-known archaeologists, including SirJohnMyresand Max Ohnefalsch-Richter.All photographscourtesy of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus.
Below: A bichromepainted jug from the historic period is an example of Eteocyprian cultural flavor. It is this representationof a water bird that inspired the logo of the CyprusAmerican Archaeological Research Institute (CAARI).
Center:Because of its strategic location in the Mediterranean, Cyprushas always been open to outside influences. This EarlyBronzeAge jar, with its severevertical trough spout, clearly shows the influence of nearbyAnatolia. Right: The Mycenaeansare another example of a people who had a strong influence on Cyprus,as shown in this Helladic Style craterthat dates from the fourteenth century B.C.E.
Cyprus Museum help make sense of the extraordinarycomplexity of the bichrome painted jarsof the historic island'sculture. From its beginnings period, the particularcultural flavor in the late nineteenth century, the museum's collections have been arthat has come to be known as Eteorangedinstructively, even at a time cyprian is evident. A fascinating paradoxis equally when other museums were a hodgeapparent,however.From almost the podge of finds flung together in any earliest period of the island'sartistic availablespace. In 1874, the Ottoproduction there is evidence of expo- man overlordsof Cyprus passed a sure to neighboring cultures. The in- law under which one-thirdof the fluence of nearbyAnatolia is clearly finds of any excavation went to the shown in the severe vertical beaks of government, thus beginning the govsome EarlyBronze Age jars (around ernment collection of antiquities. 2500to 1900 B.C.E.).In the fourteenth The vast wealth of Cyprus'sarchaecentury B.C.E.,the infusion of Myce- ological past attractedmany excavators and treasure-hunters,and finds naean culture from the Aegean is equally apparentin beautiful Hella- began to accumulate. It soon became apparentthat it dic style pottery.The strong native was not enough to collect artifacts; culture combined with thousands of they needed to be displayedas well. years of foreign influences created a The first museum was sponsored remarkablycomplex cultural history to 2300 B.C.E.), throughthe BaseRing for an island so small. purely by private subscriptions. Alin the The collections contained Wareand White Slip ceramics charthough its sponsors were certainly The Cyprus Museum The museum in Nicosia houses antiquities from all over the island and is the primaryshowcase of all the museums. Begun in the nineteenth century, its displays preserve more than 7,000 years of Cypriot history. Its graceful limestone facade is flanked by guardianpalms. Backgroundand History.The Cyprus Museum is unique in that everything within its walls comes from Cyprus,which makes the richness and variety of its collections all the more remarkable.Partlybecause of the purely Cypriot provenanceof the collections, the striking characterof the native Cypriot culture is evident throughout. From the arresting, early prehistoric artifacts,including the famous Chalcolithic cruciform figures carvedin stone (around3000
acteristic of the Late Cypriot period
(around1650to 1050B.C.E.),to the
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
171
Asthemuseumsexpanded, thededication to preserveandcommunicate information aboutCypriot continued. antiquities well-meaning, by 1899 the condition of the collections was chaotic. In that year,two of the great scholars of early Cypriot archaeology,Sir John Myres and Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, set out to put the collections in order. The resulting catalogue (Myresand Ohnefalsch-Richter1899)claimed the help and support of some of the greatest names in EasternMediterranean studies at the turn of the century. The list of those who contributed or took an interest in the catalogue included FlindersPetrie, E. A. Gardner,David G. Hogarth, A. S. Murray,and H. B. Walters. These scholars had alreadyrecognized, some 90 years ago, the importance of Cyprus in understanding the ancient world. From its beginning, the Cyprus Museum tried to present its collections so that the viewer could extract the maximum amount of information. However,it took decades to bring orderto the masses of haphazardlycollected material. Sir John laments in his prefacethat "alarge number of Attic vases was discovered, after the Catalogue was written out, in the wardrobeof the caretaker's wife"(Myresand Ohnefalsch-Richter 1899:vii). That first museum, to which the Catalogue Myres-Ohnefalsch-Richter provideda guide, was located at Number 7 Victoria Street in Nicosia. the present building on Museum Street was begun in 1908 and has a long history of additions and reorganizations.Its first quadrangular plan was completed in 1924;then a second set of additions, including more storerooms, offices, and gal-
the museum a semiofficial institution run by a committee. According to the law, "excavatorswere entitled to retain only such antiquities as the Committee did not requirefor the Museum"(Dikaios 1947:vii). During the succeeding decades a flurry of archaeologicalactivity vastly expandedthe museum's holdings. Never again, however,did the acquisition process get out of control as it had in the Ottoman days. The initial organizationby Myres and Ohnefalsch-Richterhad set the tone. Fromthe outset those who arrangedand presented the Cypriot antiquities did so with two majorgoals in mind. The first was to preserve the artifacts and works of art;the second was to make them accessible to the lay public as well as to scholars. As an adjunctto this process, the Cyprus Museum Librarybecame the nucleus of an archaeological libraryconscientiously expandedby purchases and gifts. Largegifts such as the Louki Pieredes Library,which was donated in 1942, coupled with careful management by the Department of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus,has resulted in a library that is the envy of many scholarly institutions in the EasternMediterranean. It is interesting to speculate whether or not emphasis in the museum's collections might have changedhad Thomas E. Lawrence ("ofArabia")accepted the post of Director of Archaeology in Cyprus, which he was offeredby Sir Ronald Storrswhen he became governorin 1926. Lawrencerefused "becauseof what he chose to imagine were the
G. R. H. Wrighthas indicated that a great deal might have been made of the medieval remains on the island under Lawrencebecause of his knowledge of castles. Cyprus is rich in castles, which datefrom the Byzantine period through the Middle Ages. It wasn'tuntil independence in 1960, however,that the medieval artifacts were accordeda place of their own under the purview of the Cyprus museums. As the Cyprus Museum developed and expanded,the dual dedication to preservationand communication of information about Cypriot antiquities continued. In the 1890s, Sir John'sapproachwas to arrange the artifacts accordingto two guiding principles: First, objects were groupedaccordingto the material of which they were made; second, they were arrangedchronologically, sometimes with pieces from a single site displayedtogether. The intellectual clarity of this original conception was carriedon during the various changes in the museum through the decades. The Collections. Visitors enter the museum through the main portal, and to its immediate right is Room I. The earliest prehistoric objects, including stone implements and unique stone bowls, as well as some human and animal representationsfrom various sites, were producedin the Aceramic Neolithic period (around 7000 to 6000 B.C.E.)and are displayed here. Remarkableobjects from the Ceramic Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods complete the display in this gallery. Room II, one of the smaller
leries, was completed in 1961. The initial impetus for this long development came in 1905 when an antiquities law was enacted that made
social obligations of an official there." At the time, Lawrence was semiretired as an airman in the Royal Air Force (Storrs 1945: 450).
rooms in the museum, houses artifacts from the Early Bronze Age (around 2500 to 1900 B.C.E.).In a brief span from around 2100 to 2000
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Artifacts from the EarlyBronzeAge (around 2500 to 2000
B.C.E.)
can be found in Room II
of the CyprusMuseum. This remarkable piece is a red polished vase 83 centimeters high with incised patterns.
B.C.E., many noteworthy artifacts were produced.These include a terracotta model of a shrine with bull horns reminiscent of those represented at Catal H6yiik in Anatolia, a circular model of an open-airsanctuary with animals and more than a dozen human figures arrangedenigmatically, and a red composite vase,
83 centimeters (21/2feet) tall, with
incised patterns. A plank-shapedfigurine of a mother holding an infant begins an iconographic theme, per-
and revealone of the particularfeahaps referringto the Great Mother, which recurs in Cypriot art begintures of ancient Cypriot culture. In the IronAge, religious tradition prening in the third millennium and scribed that human votive figures be continuing through the first millennium B.C.E.Similarly,a white painted dedicated in the sanctuaries of many oinochoe dating to the Middle deities. The earliest of these, as at Bronze Age (around2000 to 1600 Ayia Irini, are in terracotta,but by about 600 B.C.E.the island's carvers B.C.E.) is an early manifestation of a tradition of ceramic decoration that began to producehundreds of votive continued in Cyprus through the figures in local stone as well. This rich, local tradition is Iron Age. documented in Room V, where the The impressive arrayof vessels native Cypriot style is visible in continues chronologically in Room III-from a Mycenaean craterof the works of great beauty, especially fourteenth century B.C.E.to a faience from the Archaic and Classical periods. By the Hellenistic period, the rhyton of the thirteenth century. The display includes beautiful stylistic influence of the Greek world is evident, as in the haunting examples of the Cypro-Geometric 1050 to 750 and head from Arsos producedin the (around B.C.E.) third century B.C.E.(see Joan Breton 750 to 475 Cypro-Archaic(around the Connelly's article on the votive art CyproB.C.E.) periods through Classical age (around475 to 325 tradition in this issue). The other rooms of the museum with full cases of B.C.E.), ending Greek and Graeco-Romanimports. are devotedto artifacts and works of Many of these objects rank as works art in all media. Perhapsthe most of art. important of these for Cyprus are Room IV providesboth a spatial the bronzes in Rooms VI and VII. The so-called Horned God from and intellectual transition to other sorts of material remains housed in Enkomi (twelfth century B.C.E.)may the rest of the museum. A single well be a representationof a deity associated with the copper industry, floor-to-ceilingdisplay case curves the source of much of the island's aroundtwo walls of the room and contains half of the terracottavotary prosperity.Room VIIalso houses a figures unearthed by the Swedish fascinating variety of coins, seals, in the late 1920s Cyprus Expedition gold jewelry,and glass. An extension of galleries and at Ayia Irini near the northern coast of the island? The case contains storerooms was addedto the north side of the museum's enclosed courthundreds of figures rangingfrom around 20 centimeters (almost yard in 1959-1961. Upstairs are the 8 inches) in height to sizes largerlibraryand the displayof the treasures from the RoyalTombs at Salamis than-life. Most are male figures in battle dress, but a few wear a long dating to the late eighth century B.C.E. The with wealth of gold, ivory-inlayed, a cloak across the garment or and a of bronze robe Near shoulders, objects illustrates the exfringed Eastern type that drapes over the left arm at the chest. The myriad figures are arranged more or less in the order in which they were discovered
tent to which prosperity had returned to the island by 700 B.C.E.following the so-called Dark Age at the end of the Late Bronze Age. The Iron Age
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Above:Half of the terracotta votive figures unearthed by the Swedish CyprusExpeditionare on display in Room IV of the CyprusMuseum. The hundreds of figuresrangefrom around 20 centimeters to more than 2 meters. Most are of men in battle dress but others have different types of garments. Below right: The Cypriots continued dedicating votive statues to their gods long after the tradition lost popularityin other areas. Most of the early figures were made in terracotta, but by 600 B.C.E.the islands
sculptorshad begun using local stone as well. In Room Vof the museum, examples of all types are on display.
kingdoms of Cyprus mentioned in the Stele of Esarhaddonof Assyria (around699 B.C.E.) amassed great wealth through trade,undoubtedly once again primarily in copper. The rest of the annex is devoted to galleries arrangedaccordingto themes. The lower level includes funerarymonuments, reconstructions of tombs, and inscriptions. Many, but by no means all, of the inscriptions in Room X are also funerary. Of great interest are the cases devoted to the Cypro-syllabicand Cypro-Minoanscript that were in use on the island from the eleventh through the third centuries B.C.E.
Upstairs opposite the library is perhapsthe most modern of the museum's galleries. Its displays deal with ancient metallurgy.The technologies of mining, smelting, and processing are amply describedand illustrated. The remaining galleries in the original quadrangleare devotedto sculpture. Room XIIIhouses large-
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Thenewermuseumswereconceivedwith individual themesin mind,rangingfrom the folkartsto individual periods. scale late sculpture in stone and bronze, and Room XIVdisplays terracottas.The most ancient figural tradition on Cyprus existed in this medium, and representativesof the entire history from the EarlyBronze Age through the Roman Periodare showcased here. There are examples of a great variety of human figures, from the early plank-shapedfigures through Roman masks. There are reclining figures on beds, at least one apparentbirthing scene, an extensive arrayof figures on horseback from the Bronze Age through the Classical Period,and many chariot groups, some of them very elaborate. It is hardto leave Room XIVwithout realizing that the art of sculpting in clay was not only the most ancient, Cypruswas one of the leading producersof copper in antiquity and as a result, the museum displays many artifacts of copperand bronzein Rooms VI and VII.Perhapsthe most notable is the Horned God from Enkomi, dating to the twelfth century B.C.E.It is thought to be a representationof a deity associated with the metal industry.
but also the primaryfigural tradition on Cyprus. The Regional and Theme Museums Collections in the Cyprus Museum end with the late Roman Period,but the turbulent history of the island did not. Indeed, the importance of the EasternMediterraneanin the Byzantine period and the later Middle Ages resulted in continued Cypriot involvement in the struggle between East and West. The other museums of Cyprus are divided by period, subject, and region, and provide a deeper insight into the material remains of ancient and medieval sites as well as villages aroundthe island. The regional approachto the antiquities of Cyprus is carriedout in the District Museums. The Paphos, Limassol, and LarnacaMuseums continue to be active, receiving, processing, and displaying the finds from current excavations in their area.The FamagustaMuseum and the KyreniaCastle Museum, which houses the famous KyreniaShipwreck, are also regional museums but are in the part of Cyprus currently occupied by Turkishtroops and have not been active museums since 1974. The Episkopiand Kouklia Museums are devoted to artifacts from the excavations in and around Kourionand Palaepaphos,respectively. As such, they are regional and theme museums. The newer museums were conceived with individual themes in mind, rangingfrom the folk arts to individual periods;the medieval and Ottoman. The Limassol Castle is a showplace of medieval art and artifacts. The role Cyprus played in the Byzantine age, the Moslem conquest, and during the Crusadesbrought the
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Museums TheCyprus preserveanddisplay culturesfrom all aspectsof Cypriot to thepresent. prehistory house containing the tools, implements, decorations,embellishments, textiles, and furniture found in Cypriot farmingvillages at the turn of the century. The most recent Folk Art Museum, which opened in the mountain village of Lefkarain 1988, is devoted to the handicraftsfor which Cyprus is known. The LefkaraLace, actually a form of Hardangeropenworkembroidery,is suitably housed along with examples of other forms of embroideryand furnishings. The building, a gracious, restoredstone village house, is as typical of its mountain setting as the museum at Yeroskiposis of the lowlands. Phicardouis a tiny village in the Troodosregion of central Cyprusthat has miraculously escaped modern development. The Department of Antiquities has declaredthe entire village a historic site and has preserved it as a kind of living museum. Its few aging inhabitants dwell as Phicardiansalways have among the traditionalimplements andaccoutrements of agrarianvillage life in the hill country of Cyprus. Here, visitors This traditional courtyardhouse in Yeroskipos,just east of Paphos,was turnedinto one of can see the traditionalprocess of threeregionalmuseums devoted to folk art. It contains the tools, implements, decorations and furniturecommonly found in Cypriotfarming villages at the turn of the century. making wine, with huge pithos jars and stone presses. The wooden tools of farming,breadmaking,spinning, island into the arenaof international but little known period of Cypriot and weaving also are seen in their conflict. The Knights of Saint John history. It is a nineteenth-century were headquarteredat Colossi Castle dwelling of a dragoman(interpreter) natural settings. that has been faithfully restoredto in the Limassol district. Although Conclusion the original splendor of the time the Lusignandynasty of Frankish The museums of Cyprus preserve when it housed a family of means kings made their homes fartherto and display all aspects of Cypriot and influence during the Ottoman the north, they contributed to the material culture from earliest times period. outfitting of soldiers, knights, and to the present day.Within their walls The other three museums are castles. Some of the rich and varied devotedto folk art. Each has a sepaobjects of all sorts and sizes, from objects resulting from hundreds of rate, special identity that derives pins to ships, are preserved.The years of interchange can be seen in from its individual focus. The oldest richness and depth of their collecthe Limassol Castle Museum of the and best known of the three is at Middle Ages. tions bear testimony to the wealth of The HadjigeorgakisHouse in Yeroskipos,just east of Paphos.It is a Cypriot history. They house and make available the results of the Nicosia is similarly devotedto a rich lovely, traditional village courtyard
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Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
labors of archaeologists and ethnographerswho have been at work for more than a century. The nature and importance of the material remains have been summed up by Vassos Karageorghis:"Someof these objects are brilliant works of art, while others are just moving witnesses to the daily toil and aspirations of Man throughout the ages"(1975:5).
In the NextBA: -Zookat 53iblical.Archaeology .AnUnderwater In the next BA, GeorgeBassof TexasA & M University'sNautical Archaeologyprogramwill takeyou on a guidedtourthroughvarious The articleswill cover shipwrecksites in the easternMediterranean. from the earlyprimitivecanoesthrough the historyof shipbuilding, the colossalgrainships that fed Rome duringthe time of Jesus.
Notes 'Forcontinuing help and advice throughout the preparationof this article the author is indebted to Michael Loulloupis,Curatorof the Archae-
ologicalMuseums. 2Theauthoris indebtedto G. R. H. Wrightfor discussing at some length Lawrence'sconnection with Cyprus.The readeris referredto Wright'sarticle for more information (Wright1985). 3The other half of the figures found at Ayia Irini are in the Medelhausmuseet in Stockholm. Bibliography Dikaios,P. 1947 A Guide to the CyprusMuseum. Nicosia: Department of Antiquities
of Cyprus.
1961 A Guide to the CyprusMuseum,
thirdedition.Nicosia:Department
of Antiquities of Cyprus. Karageorghis,V. 1975 CyprioteAntiquities and the Cyprus Museum. Athens. Loulloupis,M. C. 1985 The National Archaeological Museums of Cyprus. CyprusToday XXIII(2):5-11. 1987 TaKratikaArchaeologicaMousia tis Kyprou.Pp.30-38 in Proceedingsof the 1st Meeting of Museology.The Museum of ContemporarySociety, 29-31 October 1984. Athens: ICOM ELLHAIKO TMHMA. Myres,J.L., and Ohnefalsch-Richter,M. 1899 A Catalogue of the CyprusMuseum with a Chronicleof Excavations Undertaken Since British Occupation and IntroductoryNotes on CyprioteArchaeology.Oxford: ClarendonPress. Storrs,R. 1945 Orientations. London:Nicholson and Watson. Wright,G. R. H. 1985 T. E. Lawrenceand Middle Eastern Archaeology.Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orientgesellschaft 117:5-19.
Call for Manuscripts The American Schools of Oriental Research is seeking book-length manuscripts (includingdissertations) on subjects related to Near Eastern archaeology,especially includingfield archaeologybut also embracingthe history, language, art, architecture, anthropology,literature, and religionof the pre-modernMiddleEast. Authors should send a one-page description, not the manuscript,to: Walter E. Aufrecht, Editor for Books, AmericanSchools of OrientalResearch, P.O. Box 9, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge,Alberta, CanadaT1K 3M4.
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PREHIS
A Current CYPRUS: Perspectiv by
178
Stuart
Swiny
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
LenaKassianides, who is studying archaeology at BrynMawr College, excavates the partially exposed bone deposit on the floor of the rock shelter. Unless otherwise noted, all photographsare courtesy of Stuart Swiny and the CyprusDepartment of Antiquities.
theviorthepast30years,
tality of Cypriot prehistoric archaeologyhas resulted in a flood of publications and the elimination of substantial gaps in the cultural record.In this article the term prehistoric encompasses everything that predatesthe introduction of writing to Cyprus,which took place during the Late Bronze Age, around 1500 B.C.E. Determining the cultural sequence in Cyprus is often a problem because of the curious lack of tells. Why each successive culture chose to establish its settlements at some distance from those of its predecessors has never been satisfactorily explained, but the fact that Cyprus was an island is surely a majorfactor to be considered. This settlement pattern, which began in the Neolithic period and survived to the modern era, has the advantageof generating archaeologicaldeposits that are coveredonly with topsoil and not the debris of subsequent cultures. It is, therefore,possible to excavate largerexpanses of prehistoric sites with less expenditure of time and resources. However,it does complicate the establishment of cultural sequences without indepen-
The arrowindicates where a collapsed rock shelter, or cave, was found in 1980 by an amateurfossil hunter on the Akrotiripeninsula. Thepicture was taken before the area, called Aetokremnos(EagleCliff), was excavated. Discovered at the site were artifacts as well as deposits of pygmyhippopotami and dwarf elephant bones dating to the ninth millennium B.C.E.,which pushed the date of
man's first habitation of the island back by almost two millennia.
dent radiometricdating, as it requires an almost total reliance on cross-datingmethods. Proto-Neolithic Cyprus When human beings first arrivedon Cyprus has been debated since the search for Palaeolithic remains began more than half a century ago (Schaeffer1936).No firm evidence of pre-Neolithic occupation existed prior to the chance find of limeencrusted bones associated with chipped stone implements on the Akrotiri peninsula in October 1980 (Swiny 1988).This discovery,by an amateur fossil hunter, ultimately led to an excavationthat has changed our understandingof Cypriot prehistory (Simmons 1988).
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CyprusChronologicalTable Dates
Period Proto Neolithic
8100 bc
Aceramic Neolithic
7500 to 5900/5600 B.C.E.
KhirokitiaCulture Lacuna 4600 to 3900 B.C.E.
Ceramic Neolithic
SotiraCulture Chalcolithic
3900 to 2900/2500 B.C.E.
Erimi Culture Chalcolithic/EarlyBronzeTransition Philia Culture EarlyBronzeAge (EarlyCypriot) Middle BronzeAge (MiddleCypriot) LateBronzeAge (LateCypriot) Late Bronze I 1625 to 1450 B.C.E. Late Bronze II 1450 to 1225 B.C.E. Late Bronze III 1225 to 1050 B.C.E. Cypro-Geometric Cypro-Geometric I 1050 to 950 B.C.E. 950 to 850 B.C.E. Cypro-Geometric II 850 to 750 B.C.E. Cypro-Geometric III Cypro-Archaic 750 to 600 B.C.E. Cypro-Archaic I 600 to 475 B.C.E. Cypro-Archaic II Cypro-Classical 475 to 400 B.C.E. Cypro-Classical I 400 to 325 B.C.E. Cypro-Classical II Cypro-Hellenistic Roman 36 B.C.E.Antony gives Cyprus to Cleopatra. 30 B.C.E.Cyprus reverts to Rome at Cleopatra's
2500 to 2300 B.C.E. 2300 to 2000 B.C.E. 2000 to 1625 B.C.E. 1625 to 1050 B.C.E.
1050 to 750 B.C.E.
750 to 475 B.C.E.
475 to 325 B.C.E.
325 to 30 B.C.E. 30 B.C.E.to 330 C.E.
death. 45 Barnabasand Paul land at Salamis. 330 Inaugurationat Constantinople. Late Roman/EarlyChristian 332, 342 and 370 Earthquakes 648/649 FirstArabraid 653/654 Second Arabraid'
330 to 653/654 c.E.
Byzantine
965 to 1191 C.E.
1184-1191Usurpation of Isaac Commenus 1191-1192RichardThe Lion Heart, Knight Templars. 1192 to 1489 C.E.
Lusignan
1291Templarsreturn to Cyprus 1426 Mameluke Sultans of EgyptraidCyprus, exact tribute. 1489 to 1571 C.E. 1571 to 1878 C.E.
Venetian Turkish
Cyprus an Ottoman Province OrthodoxChurch reinstated British
1878 to 1960 C.E.
Republicof Cyprus
1960 to present
'Cyprus'spolitical state was unclear from 653/54 C.E.until 945 C.E.During this time there were intermittent Arabraids,leading to the Byzantine reoccupation in 965 C.E.after a severeArabdefeat.
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Akrotiri-Aetokremnos, also known as Site E, is a collapsed rockshelter or cave with a rich deposit of pygmy hippopotami and elephant bones, representing about 120 of the former but only three of the latter species. Many of the bones are burnt. The occupants also consumed marine shells and, on occasion, birds, fish, and eggs. They apparently wore necklaces of shells, embellished with green serpentinite beads and pendants, and used the local chert and beach pebbles for chipped and ground stone tools. The site is remarkable because it proves that human beings, not climatic change, were ultimately responsible for the disappearance of the island's endemic fauna, which we know arrived during the Pleistocene epoch (Swiny 1988). A coherent sequence of carbon-14 dates indicates that Aetokremnos was occupied two millennia before the floruit of the aceramic Neolithic period. It is not known whether the island remained inhabited in the interim or if the colonists departed after hunting the hippopotami and elephants to extinction. It should be noted that Aetokremnos is perhaps not the only site where these animals were exploited. Several so-called Pleistocene faunal deposits that have also yielded artifacts, shells, and burnt bones must now be reinvestigated. Aceramic Neolithic Cyprus The aceramic Neolithic settlements, of which about a score are currently known (Held 1982), tended to be located in naturally protected positions. Petra tou Limniti, located on the northwest coast, was not an island during the Neolithic period, but it was certainly a promontory. Equally isolated was Rizokarpaso-
Andreas-Kastros is a Rizokarpaso-Cape forthefirstpermanent goodcandidate Neolithic settlement on Cyprus. oped chipped stone industry,does not exhibit close ties with its likely parent cultures on the mainland. The presence of Anatolian obsidian, however,provesthat contacts with the outside world were maintained. Kalavasos-Tenta and KhirokitiaVounoi were both protected at an early stage by stout perimeter walls. It has been arguedthat these walls existed more for psychological purposes than because of a real need for defense (LeBrun 1984:20-21).
Cape Andreas-Kastros,a good candidate for the first permanent Neolithic settlement on the island. It is believed that a small community, strongly dependent on marine resources, lived here in ratherunsubstantial circular huts (LeBrun 1981). Nevertheless, sickle blades and querns indicate that agricultural products were the mainstay of the diet, which was supplemented by small quantities of sheep, goat, pig, and fallow deer. Cypriot archaeologists agree that all the mammals recordedat the early prehistoric sites were, intentionally or not, imported, since the endemic Cypriot species of hippopotami and elephants had become extinct. The architecture at KhirokitiaVounoi (Dikaios 1953;Le Brun 1984) and Kalavasos-Tenta(Todd1987), type-sites for the aceramic Neolithic, consisted of large, circular,selfcontained or clustered structures, which were probablyinhabited by the same family units. The dead were buried in the fetal position in small oval pits, sunk below the habitation floors. The few funeraryofferings that have been discoveredusually consist of shell and stone bead necklaces or flattened, quern-like objects that were placed over the skull or the thorax (LeBrun 1984: figures 42, 43). Spacebetween buildings was hardly used except as passageways.The interior of some structures was mostly occupied by substantial but enigmatic twin piers that often left little living space. One such pier had a stylized human figurewith outstretchedarms painted in red pigment (Todd1981).
low bench. In one example the bench had two large seats flanked on one side by two or more smaller ones, which suggests that these dwellings were constructed for a family unit. The pottery of this period, which was decoratedwith bold patterns on a white background,known as Red-on-Whiteware, differs from the so-called Combed ware diagnostic of Sotira-Teppes. Other artifacts are generally similar to those alreadymentioned in the section on aceramic Neolithic; only the fine Ceramic Neolithic Cyprus stone bowls are missing. No burials A gap exists between the aceramic were discoveredat Vrysi,which is and the ceramic Neolithic, which is not surprisingsince the cluster of shallow pits with inhumations derepresentedby more than 60 sites. void of funeraryofferings found at Ongoing researchhas reducedthe hiatus to about 1,000 years and it Teppeswas some distance from the may well disappearcompletely after main settlement. further excavations or the discovery Importantfaunal, botanical, and of new settlements. Sotira-Teppes, environmentalstudies have suggested with its spectacularlocation atop a that Vrysiwas a prosperouscomhill commanding a view of the south- munity, well-adaptedto the Mediterern coast, is the type-site for the ranean environment. Of note is the period. It was excavatedbetween probablecultivation of the olive and 1947 and 1956 by PorphyriosDikaios, the crushed condition of many grape the archaeologistwho laid the founda- seeds, suggesting that some form of tions for Cypriot prehistoric studies wine was made. (Dikaios 1961). A contemporarysite at Ayios Chalcolithic Cyprus Epiktitos-Vrysi,on the northern Accordingto the limited available coast of the island, was established evidence, the transition from the on a small headland (Peltenburg Neolithic to the Chalcolithic period In its it earliest cut in Cyprus was both gradualand was phase, 1982). off from the coastal plain by a defen- peaceful. sive ditch and wall that protected In 1966, when Hector Catling the small, irregular,one-room, wrote a chapter about Cyprus in the wooden structures built in hollows. Neolithic and Bronze Age periods This architecturaltradition resulted for the revised second edition of the out of a need for protection, but CambridgeAncient History, a mere whether it was for protection against four pages were devotedto the Chalthe elements or other humans is un- colithic. Since then, this period has
The aceramic Neolithic culture of Cyprus, with its famed stone bowls and distinctive human and animal representations but undevel-
clear. The better preserved later phases consist of stone-built structures containing a hearth situated in an off-central position in front of a
been revealed as one of the island's most dynamic, original, and artistically productive. Our knowledge of Chalcolithic Cyprus goes back
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Khirokitia-Vounoiis a type-sitefor the aceramic Neolithic period in Cyprus.The original excavations by PorphyriosDikaios can be seen tracing their way up the side of the hill. A Frenchexpedition led byA. LeBrun is currentlyuncoveringthe shoulder between the two rocky outcrops.
These distinct animal representationsare typical of the aceramic Neolithic culture but do not exhibit any signs of influence from the mainland. Obsidian fromAnatolia proves, however, that there were contacts with the outside world. Photographcourtesy of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus,and the VasilikosValleyProject.
to EinarGjerstad'swork in 1934 at Kythreaand Lapithos and Dikaios's excavations in 1936 at ErimiPamboula,but the period really came into its own with E. J.Peltenburg'sresearchfrom 1976 onward (Peltenburg1985).His excavations at Lemba-Lakkousand KissonergaMosphilia (Peltenburgand others 1987)have revealeda thriving and innovative culture that was varied in its artistic expression.
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Although the inhabitants reverted to the less flexible module of circular architectureand the sporadic use of intramuralburials, they fully exploited the availablenatural materials. The flat-roofedhabitations, up to 12 meters (about39 feet) in diameterwith raisedcentralhearths and fine plaster floors, were subdivided by partitions into separate activity areas. Other structures, reservedfor storage,were crowdedwith
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
large jars,which suggests that, for the first time in Cyprus,the economy was capableof producinga surplus. The ground stone tools
-
axes,
adzes, and pounders-were fashioned with skill and displayedan elegance that can hardly have been unintentional; perhapsthe appearanceof copper tools with their fine angular profiles was responsible for some of these changes. It is not known whether metalworking skills were
This piece, made of hard, white limestone, was found near Teppes,the first CeramicNeolithic settlement excavated on the island. Depending on the angle from which it is viewed, the figurinemay resemble a kneeling quadruped, a sitting human or an erect phallus. This last interpretation links it to a stylized anthropomorphic/phallicfigurine excavated at Teppes(Dikaios 1961).The figurineis 14.2 centimeters tall.
Chalcolithic potters made a greatervariety of wares than did their Neolithic predecessors.These figures show bold red motifs on a white background,characteristicof Chalcolithic pottery.
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TheChalcolithic periodis bestknownfor itshighlystylized cruciform figurines. introduced from abroad or were an indigenous development. The Chalcolithic period is best known for its highly stylized cruciform figurines, usually made of serpentinite, but increasingly supplemented by new shapes in limestone and terracotta. The search for serpentinite, which was favored for personal ornaments and figurines, may have led to the collection of similarly colored nodules of green native copper or malachite at any one of the ore deposits surrounding the Troodos massif. The earliest metal objects are small and simple in shape and could easily have been forged from native copper. Smelting, melting, and casting would come later. Unlike the ceramic Neolithic pottery tradition, which was restricted to a few shapes and wares, the Chalcolithic potters expanded their repertoire in terms of form and surface treatment. Red-on-White
Since 1976, excavations byE. J.Peltenburgof the University of Edinburghat Lemba-Lakkous and Kissonerga-Mosphiliahave revealed the Chalcolithic period to be one of Cyprus'smost dynamic and artistically productiveeras. Evenfor a period of renowned artistic creativity, this enigmatic anthropomorphicvessel stands out as an achievement. Photographscourtesy of the PieridesMuseum.
Evidence of FertilitySite Found at Mosphilia recentlyuncovered Bolgersaid. Some of the figurines have Archaeologists the remains from a ritual cerebellies and are on
enlarged sitting mony involving birthing and fertility birthing stones, which were used to in Mosphilia, a settlement on Cyprus help deliver children. One of the figudating to between 4000 and 2500 B.C.E. rines even shows a child, painted red, that has been under excavationfor the emerging from between the legs of its mother. past 10 years. "ThesearesignificantandastonishThe figurines were found in or ing finds,"projectdirectorDiane Bolger near a largebowl, which the researchsaid in the January6, 1990 issue of ers believe is a model of a building Science News. "Aceremony in which previously found at Mosphilia, Bolger the objects were deliberately burned, said. The model contained a swivel broken and taken out of circulation door on the side and had representations of a rectangularhearth and radiapparentlytook place." Includedin the find is a groupof 18 ating partitions inside. stone and pottery figurines, most of Though the function of the buildwhich portray women. The heads of ing that the model supposedly duplimany of these figurines have been cates is unclear, Bolger said later broken off, probably deliberately, Cypriot cultures used circular build-
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ings with central hearths as birthing houses. Besidesthe modelandfigurines,the archaeologists discoveredfire-cracked and ochre-stainedstones, stone tools, a triton shell and stackedpottery vessels in the pit. Because of the location of the pit and the number of artifacts found in it, Bolger said the ceremony was most likely a public occasion. Researchers at the University of Edinburghin Scotlandarestudyingthe figurines more closely in an attempt to understandbetter the ritual ceremony. "Wealso need to consider why the social customs that led to ritual activities at this site wereput to rest afterthe Chalcolithic period ended" around 2000 B.C.E.,Bolger said.
ware, decoratedwith a wide arrayof bold, abstractmotifs, is the most characteristic of all Chalcolithic pottery. A recent discovery at Mosphilia epitomizes the rangeof artistic expression and wealth of cultural material that has been preservedfrom this period (Peltenburgand others 1988).A ritual deposit was found in a small, oval pit that was dug into the whitewashed floor of a building dating to the Middle Chalcolithic. This pit was packedwith fire-cracked and red, ochre-stainedcobbles surroundingseveral Red-on-White bowls and large sherds. The biggest vessel, 37 centimeters (morethan a foot) in diameter, was filled with stone and pottery figurines as well as an apparently heterogenous assemblage of artifacts consisting of: a conch shell, a stool or altar and a cone made from clay; a series of ground stone tools; a flint blade;and assorted pebbles. There were nearly 30 objects in all, and more figurines were wedged around its flat base. The bowl had a central hearth, internal divisions, and an opening for the entrance complete with a pivoting door. It was clearly meant to imitate structures actually excavatedat Mosphilia. The most elaborate figurines represented women in labor,suggesting that the shrine might have been associated with reproductionand fertility. The model and many of the assorted objects appearto havebeen intentionally damaged-the model was even smearedwith a thin coat of buff clay. Such treatment of ritual objects suggests some kind of deconsecration prior to their deposition in the pit (Peltenburg and others 1988: 45). The bowl and assorted figurines invite an immediate comparison
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185
Both sides of a gaming stone dating to the Middle BronzeAge that was discoveredat EpiskopiPhaneromeni.Top:the flat grindingsurface of a saddle quernis pecked with threeparallel rows of 10 shallow depressions. Toone side are two largerhollows, presumably to hold the taken or sparegaming pieces. This is interpretedas a Cypriotversion of the Egyptiangame Senet. Bottom: the rough undersideof the quern shows a spiral of hollows used in a different game called Mehen. During the BronzeAge, most of the houses in southern Cyprushad a Senet board, but Mehen boards were rare.
with the so-called SacredEnclosure from a tomb at Bellapais-Vounous dating to the late EarlyCypriot period (Dikaios 1940: 118 and following). It must be remembered,however, that almost a millennium and different depositional histories separate the two objects. The end of the period is marked by changes in the material culture, perhaps due to the arrivalof new ideas brought by refugees fleeing the destructions recordedat many Anatolian sites at the end of EarlyBronze II. The timing is certainly opportune if these upheavals are to be dated to around2400 B.C.E. (Yakar1985:213 and following), which is slightly later than the terminal phase of the Chalcolithic in western Cyprus (Peltenburg1985: 16, table 2). EarlyBronze Age Cyprus Despite almost a century of systematic excavation on the island and the pioneering work of J.R. Stewart, our view of Cypriot culture in the EarlyBronze Age remains incomplete. Prior to the work at SotiraKaminoudhia(Swiny1986),knowledge of the period was primarily deduced from rich and varied funeraryofferings (Stewart1962). Breakswith the preceding Chalcolithic period were radical, especially in such basic concepts as house form, burial customs, ceramic tradition, and the high-technology field of metallurgy.One important development, highlighted by recent archaeological surveys (Catling 1963; Swiny 1981),was a steady increase in the island'spopulation. Whereasdiagnostic Chalcolithic material has been located at 80 separate sites, a conservative estimation would put the number of Cypriot settlements at 270 in the Early and
186
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
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Bronze theEarly Age,the During drawCyprus industry helped copper isolation. outofitsprevious the contemporaryproduction of ceramics. The dead were buried in cemeteries located a short distance from the settlements wherever a suitable expanse of bedrock could be located. Most of the rock-cutfunerarychambers were entered by way of a bathshaped depression (dromos)and sealed by a large stone slab. They contained numerous ceramic and a few metal offerings and were carefully arrangedaroundthe contracted body,which faced east. Reuse of the chamber (bymembers of the same family?)was not uncommon. Unfortunately, the slightly later terracotta
Middle Bronze ages (Swiny 1989). The introduction of metal tools, cattle and equids (asses or horses) probablyhad a profoundeffect on artisanal production as well as agricultural practices and was perhaps responsible for the increase in population. Many of these developments are recordedat Sotira-Kaminoudhia, the earliest BronzeAge settlement/ cemetery complex on the island to be investigated systematically (Swiny 1985). A ready supply of awls, chisels, flat axes, and knives would have enabled more sophisticated woodand leatherworking, and the manufacture of razors,tweezers, dress pins and copper ornaments surely had an effect on the personal appearance of the inhabitants. Of greatest significance for Cypriot society during this period was the arrivalof cattle, first noted at Kaminoudhia. The ox-drawnplow would have increased agriculturalproduction for the same expenditure of time, thereby enabling the farmerto create a food surplus and providinghim with the option to engage in other activities, including the pursuit of leisure. Although an equid was reported at Sotira-Teppes(Dikaios 1961: 136), the species was apparentlyabsent during the Chalcolithic period (Croft 1986).Even if the identification at Teppesis correct, this species must have been reintroducedin the EarlyBronze Age. The availability of pack animals would have revolutionized overlandtransportand increased the potential for exchange between communities with access to different products. Models of equids with
If Kaminoudhiais representative of the island-wide EarlyBronze Age, it suggests that the inhabitants lived in undefended settlements consisting of tightly packed, rectilinear units that were usually approached by narrowcorridors.No specific plan was preferred,but two-room habitations large enough to accommodate a family unit were the norm. Functional analysis of individual units has failed to isolate specific activity areas. Rectangularhearths, low benches, and lime plaster bins were common, and they became ubiquitous throughout the Bronze Age. Ground stone artifacts of all types were common, and chipped stone continued to be favoredto make sickle blades and other domestic tools, as suggested by the even scattering of flints throughout the settlement. Metalwork, on the other hand, developedrapidlyin terms of availability,type and complexity. In some respects the same may be said of the ceramic assemblage. Not much is known about metal production in Cyprus during the EarlyBronze Age except that the copper-baseartifacts were certainly indigenous, and the industry was probablyresponsible for drawing Cyprus out of its previous isolation. Copper objects cast in open molds were sometimes alloyed with imported tin (Swiny 1986a:32) or Cypriot arsenic. As this period progressed, the variety and size of the tools and weapons increased. If the island'searly metal objects can be generally viewed as funcquantity and variety of the Nahal
Middle Bronze Age Cyprus The Middle Bronze Age in Cyprus experienced a continuation of the precedingperiodwith minor changes in the ceramic and metal repertoires, settlement patterns, and burial practices (Astr6m 1972).A gradualincrease in wealth, the emergence of a stratifiedsociety, and growingforeign contacts were notable developments (Swiny 1989),but these failed to cause island-wide upheavals.Fortified sites, restricted to the center
panniers, or baskets, and plowing scenes were deposited in Cypriot graves dating to this period (Morris 1985: figures 326, 327, 499, 500).
Mishmar Treasure cult objects (BarAdon 1980) is known from Cyprus this lack of creativity, though not ability, is certainly inapplicable to
and eastern part of the island, were an exception rather than the rule. Two major excavations, AlambraMouttes (Coleman and others 1983
tional- nothing resembling the
models - such as the BellapaisVounous shrine - that provide such
insight into some aspects of Cypriot life during this period do not represent recognizable funerarycustoms. Only in respect to its art does this period show a regression. The static, highly stylized, plank-shaped figurines and the naive but informative terracottamodels do not compare with the powerful, lively representations of figurines dating to the Chalcolithic period.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
187
A double plank-shapedred polished figurinefrom the CypriotMiddle BronzeAge. Not enough settlements from this period have been excavated to know if these stylized figurines were strictly funeraryor if they served otherpurposes.Photographcourtesy of the Triantafilledes Collection and StuartSwiny.
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with references)and EpiskopiPhaneromeni (Swiny 1986),have increased our understandingof Middle BronzeAge Cyprus.These oneperiod settlements and associated cemeteries without sequences of statistically reliable carbon-14 dates, however,have failed to providea satisfactorily coherent picture. For that we must wait for the results of future excavations at a rangeof sites that were occupied during this littleknown early phase of Cypriothistory.
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Bibliography Astr6m, P. 1972 The Middle CyprioteBronzeAge. The SwedishCyprusExpedition, volume IV IB.Lund:The Swedish Cyprus Expedition. Bar-Adon,P. 1980 The Cave of Treasure.The Findsfrom the Cavesin Nahal Mishmar.Jerusalem: IsraelExplorationSociety. Catling, H. W 1963 Patternsof Settlement in BronzeAge Cyprus. OpusculaAtheniensia IV: 129-69. 1966 Cyprus in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Periods.In CambridgeAncient History,second revisededition, Fascicule43. Cambridge:Cambridge University. Coleman, J.E., and others 1983 Cornell Excavationsat Alambra, 1982. Reportof the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1983:76-91. Croft, P. 1986 The MammalianFauna.Pp. 202-208 in LembaArchaeological Project Vol.I. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology,LXX:1. Gothenburg: Paul Astr6m'sForlag. Dikaios, P. 1936 Excavationat Erimi, 1933-1935. Reportof the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1936: 1-81. 1940 The Excavationat Vounous-Bellapais in Cyprus, 1931-2. Archaeologia LXXXVIII: 1-174. 1953 Khirokitia:Final Reporton the Excavation of a Neolithic Settlement in Cypruson Behalf of the Department of Antiquities 1936-1946. Oxford:OxfordUniversity Press.
Toolssuch as awls, chisels, knives and flat axes were abundant in the EarlyBronzeAge and would have enabled more sophisticated leather- and woodworking. The inhabitants also had the luxury of such items as razors,tweezers, dress pins, and even earrings,all shown in this photograph.
1961 Sotira.Philadelphia:The University Museum. Gjerstad,E. 1934 Finds and Results of the Excavation in Cyprus 1927-1931.In The Swedish CyprusExpedition,volume I. Stockholm:The Swedish Cyprus Expedition. Held, S. 1982 The EarliestPrehistoryof Cyprus. Pp. 6-11 in An Archaeological Guide to the Ancient KourionArea and the AkrotiriPeninsula, edited by H. W.Swiny.Nicosia: Department of Antiquities of Cyprus. Le Brun,A. 1981 Un site neolithique preceramiqueen Chypre:CapAndreas-Kastros. Memoire no. 5. Paris:Editions Recherchesur les civilizations. 1984 Fouillesrecentesia Khirokitia(Chypre) 1977-1981.Memoireno. 41. Paris:Editions Recherchesur les civilisations. Morris,D. 1985 The Art of Ancient Cyprus.Oxford: Phaidon Peltenburg,E. J. 1982 Vrysi:A SubterraneanSettlement in Cyprus:Excavationsat Prehistoric Ayios Epiktitos Vrysi1969-73. Warminster:Aris & Phillips Ltd. 1985 LembaArchaeological ProjectVol. 1. Studies in MediterraneanArchaeology, LXX:1. Gothenburg:Paul Astr6m'sForlag.
2. Studies in MediterraneanArchaePeltenburg,E. J.,and others 1987 Excavationsat Kissonerga-Mosphilia ology, LXXIV:2. Nicosia: Paul 1986. Reportof the Department of Astr6m'sForlag. 1986a The Philia Culture and its Foreign Antiquities of Cyprus,1987: 1-18. 1988 Kissonerga-Mosphilia1987:Ritual Relations.Pp. 29-44 in Acts of the InternationalArchaeological SymDeposit, Unit 1015.Reportof the Department of Antiquities of posium "CyprusBetween the Orient and the Occident';edited by V KaraCyprus,1988:43-52. Schaeffer,C. F.A. georghis.Nicosia: A. G. Leventis 1936 Missions en Chypre1932-1935. Foundation. Paris:LibrairieOrientalistePaul 1988 The Pleistocene Faunaof Cyprus Geuthner. and Recent Discoveries on the Akrotiri Peninsula.Reportof the DepartSimmons, A. H. 1988 Test Excavationsat Akrotiriment of Antiquities of Cyprus,1988: 1-14. Aetokremnos (SiteE).An Early PrehistoricOccupation in Cyprus: 1989 FromRoundHouse to Duplex:A Reassessmentof PrehistoricCypriot PreliminaryReport.Reportof the BronzeAge Society.In Proceedings Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1988: 15-24. of the International Conference Stewart,J.R. "EarlySociety in Cyprus,"edited by 1962 The EarlyBronzeAge in Cyprus.Pp. E. J.Peltenburg.Edinburgh:Edinburgh 205-389 in The Swedish Cyprus University. Todd,I. A. Expedition,volume IV IA. Lund: The Swedish CyprusExpedition. 1981 A Cypriot Neolithic WallPainting. Swiny,S. Antiquity 55: 47-51. 1981 BronzeAge Settlement Patternsin 1987 Excavationsat Kalavasos-Tenta. SouthwestCyprus.LevantXIII:51-87. VasilikosValleyProject6: Studies in 1985 Sotira-Kaminoudhiaand the ChalcoMediterraneanArchaeology,LXXI:6. Nicosia: Paul Astr6m'sForlag. lithic/EarlyBronzeAge Transitionin Yakar,J. Cyprus.Pp. 115-24 in Archaeology in Cyprus1960-1985,edited by V. 1985 The LaterPrehistoryof Anatolia: The Late Chalcolithic and Early Karageorghis.Nicosia: A. G. Leventis Foundation. BronzeAge. BARInternational 1986 The Kent State UniversityExpediSeries, 268. Oxford:BAR. tion to Episkopi-Phaneromeni.Part
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189
The Early
Mosaics Christian
of Cyprus Michaelides byDemetrios Roman hespectacular
mosaics that have been discoveredthroughout Cyprus during the past 25 years have overshadowedthe later, Christian mosaics of the island. Christian mosaics, in fact, are being found just as frequently,in secular as well as religious buildings, and are actually more numerous. Moreover,in spite of the fact that they are mainly geometric and generally without representationsof the human figure, they are equally important.' Figuralrepresentationsare virtually absent from the decoration of both secular and religious buildings of the early Christian period in Cyprus.The fifth-century mosaics of The First Bath of Achilles from the Villa of Theseus at Nea Paphos2 (Daszewski 1972:204-10, plate 37b, 1988: 72-75, figures 35 and 36; Michaelides 1987a:44, number 50, plate XXXI, 1987b:247, 1.7.f,plate LXI:5)and The Toilet of Venus from the baths of a house at Alassa This mosaic from the Complexof Eustoliosis unusual in that it shows a human figure.It is the bust of Ktisis, who personifies the Foundation or the Building Power,and belonged to a family of similar personifications,such as Power,Manliness and Renewal, that were popularin the fourth century.All photographs courtesy of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus.
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Below: A fragmentoff a panel from the nave of the Basilica of Chrysopolitissaat Nea Paphos.In it can be seen a deer drinking water in a flowery meadow. Above is an inscription quoting Psalm 42:1.Above:Another mosaic decoration from the Basilica of Chrysopolitissashows early geometric designs of the Christian era.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
193
The only fully excavatedsecularbuilding
belongingto the earlyChristianperiodis the Complex of Eustoliosat Kourion.
plate XXVIII).Severalmosaic inscriptions in this building are of particularinterest. One states that the building has girt itself with the veneratedsymbols of Christ, while another mentions Eustolios as the benefactor and apparentlycompares his return to his native Kourionwith late fourth century C.E.The other the visits to the city of its former creafeature mosaics known living as patron, Apollo. Such inscriptions tures, such four-leggedanimals, illustrate the perseveranceof the inanimate birds and fish, as well as kantharoi. pagantradition as well as this cruobjects like baskets and With but a few notable exceptions, cial, albeit late, period of transition from the old beliefs to the new relithese symbols are secondary and gion (Mitford1971:numbers 201-06; mostly decorative, although some are imbued with strong religious see, also, Bagnalland Drew-Bear symbolism. One such motif is repre- 1973:238-43). As far as the rest of sented by the pair of sandals depicted the decoration in this complex is in the north aisle of the Basilica of concerned, the only unusual eleAyiaTriasat Yialousa (Papageorghiou ment is the representationof the 1967:4-9; Michaelides 1987a:39-40, bust of Ktisis, personifying the Foundation or the Building Power, number 44, plate XXVIII).In Chriswhich occupies the most prominent tian times this pagansymbol often decoratedbath building, but also place in the frigidarium of the baths came to symbolize pilgrimage,both (Michaelides 1987a:42, number 47, in this world and from this world to plate XXIX, 1987b:241, E.2).It the next. belongs to a large family of similar personifications, such as Power, Floor Mosaics Manliness, and Renewal, that became popularin the fourth cenThe only fully excavatedsecular tury, when their symbolic meanings building belonging to the early were backed by philosophical ideas. Christian period is the Complex of This is the only example of its type Eustolios at Kourion (Rupp1982; Michaelides 1987a:40-42, numbers in Cyprus,but the genre is quite Its common in many parts of the Chris45-47, plates XXVIII-XXIX). tian world, especially in the eastern mosaic decoration, which is preMediterraneanand most notably at dominantly geometric and dates to the early fifth century c.E., has little Antioch, where severalpersonificato distinguish it from that of contions, including that of Ktisis, have been found, dating from the fourth temporarychurch buildings. Difto the sixth centuries C.E.3 ferent species of fish and numerous Of the early mosaic floors birds (guinea-hen,dove, pheasant, magpie, partridge,duck, and others) decoratingCypriot churches, only those from the first phase of the are representedin the various de(Hadjisavvasin Karageorghis1985: 952, figure 89; Michaelides 1987a: 45, number 51, plate XXXII,1987b: 239, A.1, plate LX:4)are the only known secular mosaics of Cyprus that carrythe old tradition of mythological representationsbeyond the
signs. They are, however, of secondary significance even though some, or all, may have a symbolic meaning (Michaelides 1987a: 41, number 45,
194
Basilica of Chrysopolitissa at Nea Paphos, dating to the fourth century and depicting Christian allegories, can be considered as figural repre-
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
sentations. The human figure was rigorouslyavoided,however,probably because in the late fourth century, after the brief flowering of figural art during the reign of Constantine, the iconoclastic tendencies of the early Christian Church became more strongly manifest. Iconoclasts considered the placing of sacred images and the human figure on floors as blasphemous. This view eventually led to the Iconoclastic Controversies, which lasted from 726 to 843 C.E.,
and banished all figural works of art from the decoration of churches. The floor decoration of the nave of the fourth-centuryphase of the Basilica of Chrysopolitissa included a series of figural panels, of which two have come to light (A. Papageorghiou in Karageorghis1976:47, 1977: 776-79, figure 114;Michaelides 1987a:34-5, numbers 36 and 37, plate XVI, 1988:92-3). Both are fragmentary,but their messages cannot be missed. One represents a deer drinking water in a flowery meadow.Above it is a Greek inscription quoting the first verse of Psalm 42: "Asthe hart [male red deer] panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God," which makes the symbolic meaning of the scene quite clear. The remnants of the adjacentpanel show a ram and a vine laden with bunches of grapeswhile an inscription from John 15:1,"Iam the true vine"explains the allegorical meaning of the panel. A second inscription tells us that the mosaic was made as a result of a vow of Hesychios, an otherwise unknown donor.This is one of many such inscriptions from the early Christian buildings of Cyprus which remain an as yet poorly explored source of important information on the makers and the commissioners
Some of the early Christianmosaics of
Cypruswere probablydestroyedwhile manybuildingswere redecorated. of such mosaics, as well as on the buildings they decorate. The remaining decoration of the fourth century phase of the basilica is geometric, as is that of the later phases. An examination of the patterns used during these different periods serves to illustrate how geometric decoration, from a rather reservedand somewhat heavy start in the fourth century, had developed into a light but rich and exuberant style by the sixth century. This development is illustrated by the pattern consisting of intertwining cables, guilloches, or other such linear motifs that form a regularsuccession of large circles and curvilinear octagons separatedfrom each other by smaller circles. The design has a long history; in Cyprus it is found in the House of Dionysos at Nea Paphos,dating from the late second or early third century C.E. Here the version is quite elaborate, with all the compartments (large and small circles and curvilinear octagons) occupied a variety of geometric fillers and objects, mainly household utensils (Michaelides 1987a: 18, number 13, plate VI, 1988: 139, figure 60; Daszewski and Michaelides 1988:30-1, figure 18). The design graduallybecame tighter and the secondary circles so small that they left no room for decorative fillers. In the fourth-centuryphase of the Basilica of Chrysopolitissa, the pattern was made plainer in all respects: traced by simple cables, filled with very stylized motifs, and renderedwith a very limited variety of colors (Megaw 1976a: 11,plate VI; Michaelides 1988: 139, figures 13 and 19). A much more closely knit version, without elaborate fillers, is found in the mosaics of the fifth/ sixth-century phase of the building
under the Basilica of Soloi (TranTam Tinh 1985: 16, figure 68; Michaelides 1988;figure 61). The fifth-century example from the EpiscopalBasilica at Kourion (Michaelides 1988:figure 62), meanwhile, with inserts that are much reduced in variety and size, has the lightness and intricacy that are characteristic of this and other similar interlace designs of the sixth century. It is also very similar to an example in the baptistery of the Churchof Zahraniin Lebanon(Chehab 1958, 1959:plate LII).The best example of the very widespread,evolved form of this design can be seen in two floors from Basilica A at Ayios Yeoryios of Peyia, a site on the southwest coast of Cyprus. One is in the nave, and the other in the baptistery (Michaelides 1988:figures 63 and 64). Of particularinterest is the fact that this last example is practically identical to a similarly dated pavement from the House of the Phoenix at Antioch (Levi 1947:plate CXXXV). This precise motif is not found in the sixth-century phase of the Basilica of Chrysopolitissa, but other patterns are found here that belong to the same family. One of these consists of interlacing cables forming a network of circles and diamonds separatedby curvilinear octagons (Megaw 1976a: 17, figure 30; Michaelides 1987a:47, number 54, plate XXXIII,1988:figure 23). An even more complicated interlace pattern that belongs to this characteristically sixth-century group is seen in the baptistery of Basilica A at Ayios Yeoryiosof Peyia (Megaw 1976a: 16-17, figure 19;Michaelides 1987a: 50, number 59, plate XXXVI, 1988:figure 67). It consists of a network of squares linked with each other and interlocked with distorted, cross-like curvilinear motifs,
a complex design that finds a close parallel in the Church of Ghine in Lebanon(Chehab,1958, 1959:plate CI:2).In fact, the closest parallels to the Roman and early Christian mosaics of Cyprus are found in countries along the eastern Mediterranean coast, especially in Syria, Lebanon,and Israel.These connections naturally evolved as a result of political and administrative factors, as well as the geographicalproximity of the island to the eastern Mediterraneancoast. It is surprising,however, that the closest parallels come from the area aroundAntioch, (modern-dayAntakya in Turkey),a city whose church was opposed by the Church of Cyprus throughout the early Christian period. The long fight of the Church of Cyprus against the Church of Antioch's claim of supremacy came to an end only in 488 C.E.,when the Byzantineemperor Zenon confirmed the complete and absolute independence of the Church of Cyprus. With regardto figural decoration, the two fourth-centurypanels from the Basilica of Chrysopolitissa are unique among the early Christian mosaics of Cyprus. Others must have existed but have not yet been excavatedor do not survive. Some were ravagedduring the Iconoclastic period, while others were destroyed during the rebuilding or redecoration of many of these buildings in the fifth and sixth centuries. Redecoration was often necessitated by earthquakesbut must have also been dictated by changes in fashion. For example, with the greateravailability of highly prized marble in the sixth century, several earlier mosaic floors, especially those decorating important parts of a building, were covered up by new marble pavements. These
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
195
Opposite page: Another sixth century example was found in the Basilica of Chrysopolitissa. The pattern is not the same, but it is similar to that found at Basilica A at Ayios Yeoryiosof Peyia.
These mosaics were found in Basilica A at Ayios Yeoryiosof Peyiaand date to the sixth century.By then, geometricdesign had evolved almost into an art form, as these beautiful examples attest. Left: This one was found in the Baptistery,while the other example below shows an even more complicated interlace pattern.
196
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
par .r . .?
.
.:
Yeoryiosof Peyia. In this now remote part of the island, in an as yet unexplored township, the name of which is still unknown, three basilicas were excavatedmore than 30 years ago. Each building was lavishly decoratedwith bases, columns, and capitals, all made of Proconnesian marble and all worked in the area aroundConstantinople and exported ready-madeto Cyprus.The excavation at Basilica A has, moreover, brought to light chancel screen panels, or offering tables, reliquaries, and an ambo (akind of pulpit) also made of Proconnesian marble?Parts of the floor decoration of this basilica and its baptisteryhavebeen preserved and they constitute one of the most important series of mosaics on the island. These mosaics, together with the marble furniture of all three buildings, make these basilicas one of the best representativesof the sixth century metropolitan style in
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were made either of large,plain slabs, Nothing similar to the figural or of differently colored marbles cut decoration in the allegorical panels in differentshapes and fitted together from the basilica of Chrysopolitissa can be seen in the following period. so as to form complex geometric In the sixth century, however,there sometimes figural)designs. (and This is a technique known as opus was, to a certain extent, a revival of the emblema type of composition sectile. This can be observed in the and a subtle return to the figured Basilica of Chrysopolitissa, where the fourth-centuryallegorical panels representations of earlier times in the nave were coveredin the sixth (Kitzinger1965:349-51). This can best be seen at Basilica A of Ayios century by opus sectile floors.
reflecting on the building program initiated by the great Byzantine emperorJustinian.In the surviving decoration there is a rich variety of complex geometric designs, while three differentparts of the basilica include representations of birds, fish, and other animals. The first is in the atrium where, in the center of a series of ratherbanal and somewhat colorless geometric designs, there are four rectangularpanels, arrangedtwo by two, each representing a rampantanimal facing the center. At the top there is a wild boar and a bear;below a lion and bull (Michaelides 1987a:48-49, number 56, plate XXXIV,1988:94-95, figure 9). It is not clear if these animals symbolize something, but similar representations- iconographically and stylistically- have
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
197
Manybuildingsof this era had lavish mosaic decorationson their walls, but these rarelysurvivedto modern times. been found in several sites in the eastern Mediterranean,including the fifth/sixth-century Basilica of Leontios at Awzaci in Lebanon (Chehab 1958, 1959: 127, plate LXXXVII).The same idea is also seen in the floor decoration of the sixth-centuryBasilicasof Masticharis and Skandarionon the island of Cos (Pelekanidesand Atzaka 1974:plates 40 and 45). The meager remains of a series of animal representationshave been found in the nave of Basilica A at Ayios Yeoryiosof Peyia. The decoration originally consisted of a rainbow cable forming 40 small panels, each containing an animal and a tree. Only a few of these were found intact, and most have since disappeared(Michaelides 1987a:49, number 57, plate XXV,1988:95-97, figure 10).Those that remain have rather crude depictions of deer and lions that contrast with the much finer quality of the remaining decoration. A. H. S. Megaw has suggested (1976a:15)that these animal panels must be part of an allegory of the PeaceableKingdomof Isaiah 11:6-7: "Thewolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopardshall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together;and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." A similar idea lies behind the decoration of the floor of the bema, the part of the church containing the altar (Michaelides 1987a:49, number 58, plate XXXV,1988:97-98,
small geometric motifs. Larger animals or objects were avoided probablybecause of their size. This decorative scheme, which started in pagantimes, eventually came to symbolize the Christian paradisea very apt theme for this part of the basilica. The representationof sea creatures is not uncommon, but the excessively largenumber and variety found here must be attributed to the fact that this is the basilica of a harbortown. It is clearly for the same reason that the basilica also included a marble ambo bearing an inscription, which states that it was put up "forthe blessing of sailors" (Megaw 1974: 72, figure 18, 1976a: 16).A similar floor design is found in the cemetery basilica near Ayia Varvaraat Amathous (Michaelides 1988: 81, n.3, 129),but the best examples of this kind of decoration are found along the eastern Mediterranean coast. One particularly splendid specimen is the fifth-century mosaic of the StridingLion at Antioch (Levi1947:plate LXXIVa).6 WallMosaics A small transeptbasilical adjoining the baptistery of Basilica A of Ayios Yeoryioshas preservedthe only known Cypriot example of figural wall opus sectile. Verylittle of it survived,but enough remains to show that the decoration included representationsof flowers,jewelled crosses, and standing figures of Saints (Megaw1976a:20, figure 34; see also Asemakopoulou-Atzaka 1980: 106, 147, plate 53c,d;Michaelides 1987b:240, B.1,plate LXI:3). Most of the buildings I have
walls. This kind of decoration was more costly and much richer because it was made with more expensive materials, including differently colored glass tesserae and tesserae of gold, silver, mother-of-pearl,and other materials. Moreover,free as it was from the restrictions imposed on floor decoration, wall decoration had much more complex and important figural representations.Rarely have such mosaics survived into modern times for two primaryreasons: because the walls they decorated have long since collapsed and because such decorations were systematically destroyedduring the Iconoclastic era.The only substantial survivorsfrom this period are found in areas that for some reason were kept out of the controversiesor were too far awayfrom their center, Constantinople. One large groupis found in Ravennaand Rome, Italy.These mosaics have been touched up and restoredto such a degree,however, that it is difficult to visualize their original aspect. Forexamples of untamperedByzantine wall of the preIconoclastic period, which reflect the style of the metropolis, we must turn to the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai and to a few churches in Cyprus. These escaped destruction because the Arab presence on the island, from the seventh to the tenth century, meant that the decrees of the Byzantine emperorswere not effective there. Until 1974, Cyprus was in the unique position of having four early Christian buildings in which part of the original wall decoration in mosaic had been preserved.Two
figure 11). Here, a stylized floret trellis is filled with a great variety of small creatures, such as birds and fish, as well as fruit, baskets, and
mentioned, as well as many others where mosaic floors have been found, must have had an even more lavish mosaic decoration on their
of these, however, have since been either partly or totally destroyed. The less well-preserved are now exhibited at the Kourion Museum
198
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
The mosaicsof Lythrankomi andKitiare amongthe most importantmonuments of Cyprus. in Episkopi. Dated to the late sixth century C.E., they decoratedthe eastern wall and the central niche of a side chapel of the EpiscopalBasilica of Kourion.The surviving fragments show the meager remains of the figures of two church fathers and an archangel (Megaw 1976a:24-25, figures 43 and 44, 1976b:347, 371, 1985: 192-95, figure 12;Michaelides 1987b:240-41, C.1, plate LX:1). Another example is the partially preserved,early-seventh-century conch mosaic in the apse of Panayia tis Kyrasat Livadhia.This mosaic depicted the Virgin Marywith her arms raised towardheaven, against a golden backgroundmade of tesserae set in a series of superimposed scales. A small fragment on the adjacent south wall may have been part of the figure of an archangel(Papageorghiou 1966: 19, figure 10;Megaw and Hawkins 1976:363-66; Megaw 1985: 195-98, figures 14-16; Michaelides 1987a:56-57, number 71, plate XLI, 1987b:242, G.1). The best preservedof the early Christian wall mosaics of Cyprus were the sixth-century conches and intrados of the apses of the Churches of PanayiaKanakariaat Lythrankomi (Papageorghiou1966: 17-19, figure 9; Sacopoulo 1975;Megaw and Hawkins 1977;Megaw 1985: 174-84, figures 2-5; Michaelides 1987a:54-55, numbers 67 and 68, plates XXV and XL, 1987b:242, H.l.a and b) and PanayiaAngeloktistos at Kiti (Papageorghiou1966: 17, figure 8; Megaw 1985:184-92, figures 6-11; Michaelides 1987a:55-56, numbers 69 and 70, plates XXVIand XLI, 1987b:240, C.1).The villages of Livadhiaand Lythrankomiare in
decoration of these buildings, as well as that of many other churches in this part of the island, has been systematically damagedor destroyed. The mosaics of Panayiatis Kyras,for example, have disappearedcompletely, and those of PanayiaKanakaria have been looted and, to a great extent, destroyed (R.Cormack in Vander Werff1989:28). Mosaic fragments from the church at Lythrankomi were the focus of a recent legal battle in Indianapolis,Indiana, where the fragments were put up for sale after they had been carelessly removedfrom the walls of the church and illegally exported,first to Europe and then to the United States. The court ruled that the purchase of these mosaics had been illegal and orderedtheir return to the Church of Cyprus. The mosaics of Lythrankomi and Kiti are among the most important monuments of Cyprus, their significance going well beyond the shores of the island. Not only are such works extremely rare,they also preserveunique iconographic features. The mosaics in the conch (the domed roof of the semicircular apse) of PanayiaKanakariashowed the enthroned Virgin Marywith Christ on her knees inside a mandorla (a shining aureole. Two archangels stood on either side in a landscape of palms and other trees against a golden background.The intrados (interiorcurve of an arch)was decorated with 13 medallions set in a vegetal band. The central medallion has not survived,but it probably depicted a cross, while the six medallions on either side depicted the TwelveApostles. The rather
unique feature in Byzantine art. It may represent the "womanclothed with the sun"describedin chapter 12 of the Book of Revelations,in which case the apostles would be the "crown of twelve stars"that witnessed Christ and the Virgin Mary.This is by no means certain, however,and the true meaning of this mosaic is much debated. The best preservedof all these apse mosaics is the one decorating the Church of PanayiaAngeloktistos at Kiti. The Virgin Mary is depicted in the conch, standing on a stool which is depicted in such a way so as to make her appearas if standing in mid-air.She is of the well-known Hodegetria type, and is holding Christ in her left hand. The archangels stand beside her against a gold background.Michael is on her right and Gabriel on her left. They are dressed as philosophers and have wings made of peacock's feathers-a symbol of immortality. Each holds a scepter and offersa globe surmounted
northern Cyprus in an area that since 1974 has been occupied by the Turkish Army. Unfortunately, the
adult-looking Christ is very unusual, but the most important element is the aureole around the Virgin, a
Council of Nicaea of 431 c.E. These wall mosaics are among the finest expressions of early Chris-
by a cross - an emblem of world
dominion-to Christ and the Virgin. The composition is completed by a representationof the Fountainof Life on the intrados,where pairs of ducks, beribbonedparrots (aPersian symbol of terrestrialpower),and deer are shown drinking from a series of fountains. This is yet another allegorical representationof Psalm 42, alreadyencountered in the fourthcentury decoration of the nave of the Basilica of Chrysopolitissa at Nea Paphos.One especially important and rarefeature of this mosaic is the fact that the Virgin Mary is named HAGHIAMARIA (SaintMary),a title conferredupon her after the
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
199
This chargingbear dates to the sixth century and was found in the atrium at Basilica A at Ayios Yeoryiosof Peyia. The mosaic also had representationsof a wild boar,lion and bull. The symbolization of these animals is unclear.
tian art that have been found to date. Together with other examples of church decoration, such as the marble furniture and mosaic floors of the basilicas at Ayios Yeoryios of Peyia, they reflect the spirit of their time and, moreover, illustrate the administrative, religious, and cultural orientation of Cyprus toward Constantinople in the sixth century C.E.It was as a result of the provincial reorganization by the emperor Justinian, in fact, that the governor of Cyprus ceased to function under the Comes orientis (Count of the Orient) at Antioch and came under the direct control of the central government of Constantinople, thus
200
breaking the age-long link between Cyprus and Antioch. These works also illustrate the end of a long mosaic tradition on Cyprus, which started in the late fourth century B.C.E.and, after spanning more than 900 years, came to an abrupt end with the Arab invasions of the early seventh century C.E. Notes 'The main works on the Roman mosaics of CyprusarebyW.A. Daszewski (1977, 1985, 1988),W.A. Daszewski and Demetrios Michaelides (1988),and Demetrios Michaelides (1986, 1987a, 1987b, 1989).On the early Christian mosaics see, primarily,S. Pelekanides and P.Atzaka (1974:138-52, numbers
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
132-49, plates 124-41),E.Hadjichristophi (1986),and Demetrios Michaelides (1987a, 1988). 2NeaPaphosis the site of modern-day KatoPaphosusually referredto as Paphos. Palaepaphos(old Paphos)is the site of modern-dayKouklia about 15 kilometers (about9 miles) southeast of Paphos. 3The personification of Ktisis is found in the Constantinian Villa, the House of Ge and the Seasons, the House of the Sea Goddess, and the House of Ktisis (Levi1947:255, plates LXIc, LXXXII,CXXXII,and LXXVa). 4Some discussion of the inscriptions in the early Christian mosaics of Cyprus can be found in J.-P.Caillet (1983). 50n the architectureand decoration of these buildings see, primarily,A. H. S. Megaw (1960:348, plates XXXIXand XL,
1974: 71-72, figures 16, 18, and 19, 1976a). 6In Lebanon there is the fifthcentury example in the Church of Khaldee and later ones in the Villa at Awzaci and the Church of Beit-Mery (see Chehab 1958-1959: 109-10, 126, 166, plates LXVI, LXXXV,and CVI).
Bibliography Al
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This mosaic dates to the second quarterof the sixth century and was found at Panayia Kanakariain Lythrankomi.
,
Atzaka, P. 1980 E Technik& opus sectile stan entoichia Mndmeia4). diakosmses (Byzantina Thessalonicae: InstitutumByzantinis Studiis Provehendis. Bagnall,R. S., and Drew-Bear,T. 1973 Documents from Kourion:A review article.Phoenix27:99-117and213-44. Caillet, J.-P. 1986 Pr6sentationmaterielle, formulaires, indications de surfaceou prix: quelques donn6s socio-6conomique des d6dicacespriv6esde pavements de mosaique i la fin de l'Antiquit6 (Occidenteurop6en,Balkans,r6gions 46gennes,Asie Mineure, Chypre).In Colloque International:'Artistes, Artisans et ProductionArtistique au MoyenAge,"Universit6de Haute Bretagne,Rennes 2-6 mai 1983, edited by X. Barraland L. Altet. Paris:Picard. Chehab,M. 1958- Mosaiques du Liban. Bulletin du 1959 Mus6e de BeyrouthXIVand XV. Paris:LibrairiedAmeriqueet d'OrientAdrienMaisonneuve. Daszewski, W.A. 1972 Polish Excavationsat Kato(Nea) Paphosin 1970 and 1971.Reportof the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1972:204-36. 1977 Nea PaphosII. La Mosaique de Thisbe. Etudes sur la mosaique avec representationsdu Labyrinthe,de Thisbe et du Minotaure.Warsaw: PWN-Iditions Scientifiques de Pologne. 1985 Dionysos der Erl]ser: Griechische Mythen im spiatantikenCypern. Mainz. Philippvon Zabern. 1988 FiguralMosaics from Paphos:Subject, style and significance. Pp. 13-77 in Mosaic Floorsin Cyprus(Biblioteca di Felix Ravenna3), by W.A. Daszewski and D. Michaelides. Ravenna:Edizioni del Girasole. Daszewski, W.A., and Michaelides, D. 1988 A Guide to the PaphosMosaics. Nicosia: Bankof CyprusCultural Foundationand the Departmentof Antiquities of Cyprus. Hadjichristophi,E 1986 Les pavementsen mosaique dans les 6glises Paldochratiennesa Chypre. Cahiers Chypriots5: 9-15.
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Karageorghis,V. 1976 Annual Reportof the Department of Antiquities. 1977 Chroniquedes Fouilles et Decouvertes Archdologiquesa Chypreen 1976. Bulletin de Correspondance Hillenique CI: 707-79. 1985 Chroniquedes Fouilles et Decouv6rtesArchdologiquesa Chypreen 1984. Bulletin de Correspondance Hillenique CIX:897-967. Kitzinger,E. 1965 Stylistic Developments in pavement mosaics in the Greek Eastfrom the Age of Constantine to the Age of Justinian.Pp.341-51 in "LaMosaique Greco-Romaine,Paris29 Aofzt3 Septembre1963. Paris:Editionsdu Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Levi,D. 1947 Antioch Mosaic Pavements.Princeton, NJ:PrincetonUniversity Press. Megaw,A. H. S. 1960 EarlyByzantinemonuments in Cyprus in the light of recent discoveries.Pp.346-51 in Akten des XI. Internationalen Byzantinisten KongressesMunich 1958. 1974 Byzantinearchitectureand decoration in Cyprus:Metropolitanor Provincial?Dumbarton Oaks Papers
1987a CypriotMosaics (CyprusDepartment of Antiquities, PictureBook No. 7). Nicosia: Departmentof Antiquities of Cyprus. 1987b A Catalogueof Hellenistic, Roman and EarlyChristianmosaics of Cypruswith representationsof human figures.Reportof the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1987: 239-52.
1988 Mosaic pavementsfrom early Christian cult buildings in Cyprus. Pp.81-153 in Mosaic Floorsin Cyprus (Biblioteca di Felix Ravenna,3), by W.A. Daszewski and D. Michaelides. Ravenna:Edizionidel Girasole. 1989 Cypriotmosaics: Localtraditions and external influences. Pp. 272-92 in Acts of the Conference,"Early Society in Cyprus,"Edinburgh13-16 April 1988, edited by E. J.Peltenburg.
Edinburgh: University Edinburgh Press.
Mitford,T.B. 1971 The Inscriptionsof Kourion.Phila-
delphia:AmericanPhilosophical Society.
A. Papageorghiou,
1966 t Palaiochristianik6kai Byzantine Techn6tbsKyprou.Reprintedfrom Apostolos Varnavas.Nicosia: 28: 57-88. Anagennesis. 1976a Interiordecorationin early Chris1967 t Palaiochristianikekai Byzantine tian Cyprus.Pp.3-20 in Rapportset Archaiologiakai Techneen Kypr6 kata ta ete 1965-66. Reprintedfrom Co-Rapports,XVe CongresInternational Varnavas.Nicosia: Byzantines, Apostolos d'Etudes Athknes, 1976. Anagennesis. 1976b Excavationsat the EpiscopalBasilica Pelekanides,S., and Atzaka,P. at Kourion.Dumbarton Oaks Papers 1974 Syntagma t6n Palaiochristianik6n 30: 345-74. ps~phidot6ndaped6n tbsHellados I. Nesiotik? Hellas (ByzantinaMn61985 Mosaici parietaliPaleobizantinidi Cipro.Pp. 173-98 In XXXIICorsodi meia 1).Thessalonicae:Institutum CulturasullArte Ravennatee BizanByzantinis Studiis Provehendis. tina, "Ciproe il MediterraneoOrien- Rupp,D. W. tale."Ravenna23-30 Marzo 1985. 1982 Eustolios Complex-Area VI. Ravenna:Edizionidel Girasole. Pp. 132-39 in An archaeological guide to the ancient Kourionarea Megaw,A. H. S., and Hawkins, E. J.W. and the AkrotiriPeninsula,edited 1976 A fragmentarymosaic of the orant Virginin Cyprus.Pp.363-66 In by H. WyldeSwiny.Nicosia: Department of Antiquities of Cyprus. Actes du XIVeCongresInternational d'tudes Byzantines, Sacopoulo,M. 1975 La Theotokosa'la mandorle de Bucharest, 1971,volume 3. 1977 The Churchof the PanagiaKanakaria Lythrankomi.Paris:Maisonneuve& Larose. at Lythrankomiin Cyprus:Its TranTamTinh, V. Mosaics and Frescoes.Washington: 1985 LaBasilique.Soloi: Dix Campagnes DumbartonOaks Center for Byzantine Studies. de Fouilles (1964-1974),volume 1. Sainte-Foy:Les Presses de l'UniverMichaelides,D. site Laval. 1986 A New OrpheusMosaic in Cyprus. Vander Werff Pp. 473-89 In Acts of the International Archaeological Symposium 1989 InformationReportof the Cultural "CyprusBetween the Orient and the Heritageof CyprusPresentedby the Committee on Cultureand EducaOccident."Nicosia 8-14 September tion to the ParliamentaryAssembly 1985, edited by V.Karageorghis. Nicosia: Departmentof Antiquities of the Council of Europe6 July. Document6079. of Cyprus.
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7-
iscover
~4iEbica1
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are Eachyearmanynew discoveries madethatenrichourunderstanding of therootsof Westerntradition. Sinceit firstreported thediscovery of theDeadSeaScrollsin 1947, hasbeenfirst BiblicalArchaeologist on thescenewith fascinating reports of thelatestfieldwork.Published by theJohnsHopkins quarterly Presson behalfof the University AmericanSchoolsof Oriental BAcontinuesthistradition Research, of timely,challenging articlesthat and set thepaceforscholars laypeoplealike. To placeyoursubscriptionor renew a currentsubscription,completethe form below and returnit to the JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress, JournalsPublishingDivision (JHUP), 701 W. 40th St., Suite275, Baltimore, MD 21211.Individualordersmust be prepaidby checkor money order drawnon a United Statesbankor by VISAor MasterCard.To placean orderby creditcard,dial our toll-free number,1-800-537-JHUP Maryland residentspleaseadd5%salestax. o $19.95individuals O $30.00institutions enclosed E Checkormoney-order O MasterCard O Visa Card number
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an6th
Cyrs
Bikai byPatriciaMaynor Theverystrong between relationship andUgarit Cyprus wasbasedon the tradeof copper. ithalittleprompt-
ing, a fisherman in Tyreor Sidon will give instructions on how to reach Cyprus in a small boat: "Yougo north as far as Tripoli, then turn west. Soon you will be able to see both the mountain of Lebanonand the Troodos.Keepgoing, and in the morning you are in Larnaca."This recital has the ring of antiquity. Surely it is very ancient, for no later
than 1650B.C.E.therewereorganized
tradecontacts between the Canaanite city-states and the ports of Cyprus. The basis of the trade was copper. The very strong relationship between Cyprus and Ugarit, the majorCanaanite port of the Late BronzeAge, was undoubtedly based on that trade. After the upheavals that began the IronAge and destroyedUgarit, the descendants of the BronzeAge inhabitants of Canaan (the Phoenicians of the Greeks)retainedpolitical
*80
This chalice-shaped vessel was probably a stand for an ostrich egg, which for the Cypriotswas imbued with strongreligious symbolism. The stand dates to the eighth century B.C.E.Photograph courtesy Vassos
Karageorghisand the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
203
poweroveronly a narrowcoastal strip between the sea and the Lebanon range. Soon, however,their influence extended across the Mediterranean. Formany years it was thought that this expansion did not begin until about 800 B.C.E.because very little
early Phoenician material had been found overseas.A few years ago, tomb excavations at PalaepaphosSkales, near modern Paphos,yielded quantities of eleventh-century-B.C.E. Phoenician pottery-evidence of more than just rarevisits (Bikai1983). It is significant that Skales is not on the side of Cyprus facing the mainland but at the western end of the island. Phoenician ships calling there were probablyalreadyusing Cyprus as a staging base on a route leading fartherwest. Phoenician Activity on Cyprus
The finds at Palaepaphos-Skales serve as a warning that all the evidence isn't in yet on the activities of the Phoenicians in Cyprus or elsewhere in the Mediterranean.However,it now seems likely that at the beginning of the IronAge entrepreneurs from the majorPhoenician ports-Arwad, Byblos, Sidon and
oils, spices, or wines that were important in Cypriot funeraryrites, the No fall of been opened by important enough to be purchased Ugarit. from foreign suppliers. One tomb at later than the tenth century, trade Amathus yielded a unique vessel between Phoenicia and Amathus, near modern Limassol, was flourish- that may have been a stand for an ing. Again, the finds at Palaepaphos- ostrich egg. In funeraryrites ostrich Skales consisted mainly of ceramics eggs undoubtedly carriedthe same in tombs, but their presence in many symbolism - rebirth - as the modern Easteregg. There is evidence from different tombs suggests a trading aroundthe Mediterraneanthat the station. Phoenicians not only used these Most of the ceramics found in the tombs at Palaepaphos-Skales eggs in their own rituals but that and at Amathus are of three main they also had an economic interest in the trade in decoratedeggs. types - storage jars, jugs, and pilgrim Ostrich eggs may seem an exotic flasks. All of these vessels can be commodity to be trading,but the closed, so they probably contained Tyre -
204
moved into markets that had
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
7tvo examples of ivoryplaquettes dating to the seventh century B.C.E.Opposite: This
sphinx, with blue paste cloisonne decoration, was found in the throne excavatedat Tomb79 in Salamis. Above: Thispiece shows floral decorations and was also found in Salamis. Finds such as these representsome of the best examples of Phoenician art found on Cyprus.
DuringtheIronAge, theroleof the in Phoenicians Cyprusshiftedfrom tradeto outright colonization. posed that the ostentatious grave goods found in the Salamis tombs should be seen as "consciouspolitical statements"by the first Cypriot kings (1987:156).Not everyoneagrees with this interpretation.Anthony Snodgrass(1988: 10-11)has written that the tombs may be the statements of long-establisheddynasts ratherthan "abid for legitimacy by arriviste monarchs."Whatevertheir political significance, these grave goods are some of our finest examples of Phoenician art, including exquisite ivory carvings (Karageorghis1973). to Colonization FromTr'Iade The Phoenician role in Cyprus may have been confined initially to reguPhoenicians had to be creative when Lebaneseserve a similar role in the lar stops by ships from Tyreand it came to exchange goods. Exceptfor Middle East;they supply luxury other mainland cities. Ship captains in skills as well as technical Lebanese coast had relathe goods timber, natural few probablydealt directly with Cypriot resources;Cyprus, insurance, banking, engineering, tively merchants or, in time, with Phoenion the other hand, had copper,but it, and architecture. cian middlemen living in Cypriot B.C.E. the ninth the forested. Phoenician was century By too, heavily mainland tradershad established merchants wanting copper had to ports. At some point in the IronAge, have something else to give in trade, just such a relationship with Salamis, however,the strategy shifted from trade to outright colonization. We for the royaltombs there contained so they manufacturedfinished to Phoenician carved cloth may never know what the immediate luxury imports dating ivory, goods-jewelry, cause was, but we can speculate that and the bronze with beyond. eighth century Tyrianpurple, dyed David W.Rupp (1987, 1988)has pro- severalfactors came into play. table vessels, and bottled oils. They The first may have been that the probablyalso supplied services, par- posed that the formation of Cypriot excellent economic condition of the oriental states on the role a we as kingship ticularly architects, know they played from the contract model resulted from economic pres- Phoenician city-states combined sures from the Phoenicians for large with centuries of peace led to overKing Solomon gave them to build the temple at Jerusalem.Todaythe quantitites of materials. He also pro- population, a potential catastrophe Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
205
A two-handled bronzebowl fromAmathus, also dating to the eighth century B.C.E.
for a people with so little land. Island Tyreduring this period coveredno more than about 40 acres, yet had to feed a growingpopulation. There were two possibilities: acquire a largeragriculturalbase on the mainland or expand into other markets in orderto acquire capital to buy foodthe economic strategy of modern Hong Kong.Phoenician city-states seem to have considered land acquisition as more trouble than it was worth (Frankenstein1979: 268). Thus in 1 Kings 9:10-14, Hiram rejects Solomon'soffer of 20 towns in Galilee in favorof payment with 120 talents of gold, presumablybecause gold doesn'tneed to be governed. Earlierhe had accepted payment in the form of wheat and oil (1 Kings 5:8-11; see 2 Chronicles 2:10);in a later period Tyrewould make similar arrangementswith Herod (Acts 12:20). Another possible impetus for colonization was that the Assyrians to the east were beginning to menace
206
the Phoenicians with demands for tribute. The Phoenicians seldom fought invaders,preferringinstead to pay tribute and go on about their business. The rareinstances when this wasn'tso were, of course, spectacular. Diodorus of Sicily reported that 40,000 Sidonians in effect committed mass suicide in 351 B.C.E.by burning their city to resist an attack by the Persianking ArtaxerxesIII (Library of History, 16.45.3-6; see
Welles 1963).Tyre'sbravestand against Alexander the Great in the summer of 332 B.C.E.resulted in
8,000 deaths accordingto Arrian (AnabasisAlexandri 2.24.4; see Robson 1967)and the transformation of Tyrefrom an island into a peninsula. The more common response was to pay the tribute then cover the loss by expandingtrade with the tribute-takers.Ensuring access to new sources of raw materials to sell to the Assyrians may have led to colonization (Frankenstein 1979).
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
Finally, although we now talk about Phoenicia as we might referto Assyria or the Roman Empire,there never was such a single entity on the coast. Each city-state had its own king and was jealously independent. In a later period, for example, ships from Arwad,Byblos,and Sidon participated in Alexander'ssiege of Tyre. Competition among the citystates may have led to a desire to protect overseasmarkets from each other with permanent representatives. The evidence to date on this is very sparse,but it may be that while Tyreclaimed the eastern part of the Cypriot market, merchants from Sidon, Byblos, and Arwadwere more active in other areas.Forexample, an inscription dating to the fourth century B.C.E.(Gjerstad1979:243) associates the gods of Byblos with a temple in Lapithos,a site in the north; the same inscription mentions a dedication to Osiris, who is also associated with Byblos. Some finds at Amathus, such as a large anthropoidsarcophagus(Karageorghis 1988: 165),have closer parallels at Sidon and Arwadthan elsewhere. Additionally,Phoenician pottery from sites such as Amathus and Ayia Irini is not as specifically Tyrianas that found at Kition and Salamis. This (nowvery slight) evidence may hint at a competition among these Iron Age multinational corporations that led to colonization. Tyrewas probablythe first of the coastal city-states to make this move, as there is a tradition passed down through Menanderof Ephesus and Josephus (Jewish Antiquities, 8.146, see Thackeray and Marcus 1950; and Against Apion. 1.119, see Thackeray 1961) that Hiram I of Tyre had to put down a rebellion of the Itykaians at the beginning of his
MostscholarsnowidentifyItykaia withKitionin Larnaca rather thanUticain Tunisia. tecture; nevertheless, it may illustrate some features of mainland temples built by Tyrianssuch as the temple of Solomon at Jerusalemand the temple of Melqart at Tyre.The temple at Kition (roughly 110feet by 72 feet) measures 33.5 meters by 22 meters and thus is largerthan the one at Jerusalem,which measured 27 meters by 9 meters (roughly88 feet by 29 feet). The Jerusalemtemple was divided into three sections: the vestibule or ulam; the main room or heykal; and the holy-of-holies or debir. The temple at Kition (Karageorghis 1976: 96-100), has no real ulam, and the heykal consists of a large,pillared room with a roof on the north and south but open in the center. There is a holy-of-holies with three doors at the western end. This debir is 22 meters wide but only 2.5 meters deep (approximately72 feet by 8 feet);its floor was about 1 meter higher than the floor of the heykal. At one time it may have contained three statues that were reachedby steps. There was a raised floor also at Jerusalem,but the debir was 9 meters (about29 1/2feet) square.Bothtemples had an altar for offerings in front of the debir. reign, or around 969 B.C.E.Most schol- seems to have prospered,as in the ars now identify Itykaia with Kition ninth century it expandedto enOutside of the center entrance in Larnacaratherthan Utica in Tuni- compass a nearbytemple site at to the debir at Kition were two freesia (see Katzenstein 1973: 84-86). If Kition-Kathari,which the local pop- standing columns. Accordingto this is correct, a Tyriancolony at ulation had abandonedyears before. Herodotus (The Histories 2.44; see Kition may have been in existence as Excavationsby VassosKarageorghis S61incourt1954),the temple of early as the eleventh century. ExcaMelqartat Tyre,which Hiram I built, (1976)have shown that the Tyrians vations by MargueriteYon at the site rebuilt the BronzeAge temple and had two columns, "oneof pure gold, called Kition-Bamboula in Larnaca used it for half a millennium. the other of emerald, shining with have turned up materials that may great brilliancy at night."(It is interdate to the tenth century (Bikai1987: The Phoenician Temple and Colony esting to note that the fishermen numbers 70, 586-87). Ongoing exca- at Kition who travel today from Tyre to Larnaca vations by the Frenchwill probably The temple at Kition is the largest continue a tradition that says the found. Parts ever materials that will Phoenician the yield temple gold column from the temple of clarify were reused structure between and Kition the of earlier relationship Tyre Melqart is in the sea; each insists his in this early period. The colony and probablyinfluenced the archigrandfather or some other relative
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In thefirstpartof theirhistory, thecolonistsat Kitionwerenot of Tyre. independent A view from the southeast of the temple of Astarte at Kition. Thealtar and holy-of-holies, or debir,are at the far end.
actually saw it.) Perhapsthe two columns were outside of the temple, as indicated in a relief from Nineveh (Harden1962:plate 50). Further, H. JacobKatzenstein (1973:87) has suggested that the shining emerald column (probablyglass or crystal with lights inside) functioned as a lighthouse; if so, it would have been useless unless it was situated outside. The temple at Jerusalemhad two bronze pillars named Boaz and Jachin. 1 Kings 7:15-22 does not indicate where they were located, but in a sixth-century prophecy about the restoration of the temple, Ezekiel 40:49 locates them on the outside. Most reconstructions of the Jerusalemtemple incorporatethat suggestion. Finally, several small models of shrines have two pillars on the outside (forexample, Karageorghis 1976:figure 106). The pillars at Kition are therefore a puzzle. The builders of the Kition temple knew the temple at Tyre,and one would expect them to have behavedin the imitative manner of emigrants, particularly in regardto religious architecture. Perhapsthe Nineveh relief and the small models should be interpreted as portrayalsof a debir and not of an entire temple. Further,perhapsboth Ezekiel's description and Katzenstein's suggestion about a lighthouse should be disregardedin favorof the evidence from Kition that the sacred pillars were not outside the temple. Sacrifices at Kition, as at Jerusalem, took place on a large altar outside of the eastern entrance. When the numerous gifts that wor-
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shippers had brought to the site had accumulated, they were buried in largepits with the bones of the sacri ficed animals. The buried offerings at Kition and those at the Phoenician shrine of Sareptaare quite similar- figurines, beads, and Egyptianizing amulets (Karageorghis 1976;Pritchard1988). Only small parts of the habitation and industrial areas aroundthe Kition temple have been excavated, but metallurgy was likely the most important activity of the colony. The industrial quartermust have been busy with copperworkers making jugs, bowls, tools, and armaments. Evidence of such activity elsewhere in Cyprus comes from a Phoenician inscription found in a fifth-century tomb near Alassa, a copper-producingregion near Limassol. It refersto a metal worker called Melekram, a name related
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to Melqart, the city-god of Tyre. Melekram apparentlywas a Phoenician working near the source of his raw materials(Gjerstad1979:243-44). Many decoratedmetal bowls and plates producedby Phoenician craftsmen working in Cyprus and sold locally as well as overseashave been preserved.These bowls display the mixture of Egyptianand Assyrian motifs that is the hallmark of Phoenician art (Markoe1985). In the first part of their history, the colonists at Kition were not independent of Tyre,as we have learned from an inscription that refersto "the governorof Qarthadast,servant of Hiram."Qarthadast,the "new city,"is usually identified as Kition, and the Hiram involved is Hiram II of Tyrewho reignedfrom around 739 to 730 B.C.E.In contrast, an in-
scription from the fourth century mentions a "ministeror ambassador
of Tyrewhose name was Eshmounadon"(Karageorghis1976: 115).So until late in the eighth century, Tyre controlled Kition directly; soon thereafterthe Assyrians became more directly involved, as inscriptions in Assyrian carvedon a stela of SargonII found in Larnacahave shown. Tyregraduallylost direct control of this colony, and from the seventh through most of the fourth century B.C.E.Kition was an indepen-
dent Phoenician kingdom. This does not mean that Cypriot relationswith the mainlanddeclined. They continued, as demonstratedby pottery found in both Phoenicia and Cyprus that is so similar the term Cypro-Phoenicianis often used to describe it. The pottery, in fact, shows that cultural forces were moving in both directions. Phoenician Influence on Cyprus Lackinglarge-scaleexcavations in Lebanon,we are as yet uncertain what influence Cyprus had on the mainland, but we know that Phoenician influence on Cyprus extended to areas other than pottery. Shrines and tombs across Cyprus reflect Phoenician influence in architecture, the goods found in them, and, most important, the deities to whom the shrines were dedicated (Karageorghis1988: 162-63; Gjerstad 1979:241-48). At Meniko, for example, a shrine was dedicated to Baal Hammon, a god particularly associated with Carthage.At Komissariato in Limassol a sanctuarywas used by a fertility cult; in it were found votive figurines similar to those from the western Phoenician colonies. These two examples indicate that, during this era, Cyprus interacted not only with the mainland ports but also with their west-
Cyprus,1979:230-54. Harden,D. 1962 The Phoenicians. New York:Praeger. Karageorghis,V. 1973 Excavationsin the Necropolis of Salamis III. Series:Salamis 5. Nicosia: Departmentof Antiquities of Cyprus. 1976 Kition:Mycenaeanand Phoenician ern colonies. Greek influence on Discoveries in Cyprus.London: Thames and Hudson. Cyprus was also on the rise. Snod1988 Cyprus.Pp. 152-65 in The Phoenigrass has pointed out that, contrary cians, edited by S. Moscati. New to the portraits of conflict often York:Abbeville. painted by modern scholarship, Katzenstein,H. J. "thereare plentiful signs of friendly 1973 The History of Tyre.Jerusalem: Schocken. relations between Greek and Phoenician"peoples (Snodgrass1988:19-20). Markoe,G. 1985 Phoenician Bronzeand SilverBowls Unlike the earlier mainland from Cyprusand the Mediterranean. kings, the later kings of Kition acSeries:University of CaliforniaClassical Studies 26. Berkeley:University quired land;by the fourth century of CaliforniaPress. the areaof the former colony grew to Pritchard,J.B. include Idalion and Tamassos.Dur1988 SareptaIV:The Objects from Area ing the Persianperiod, other PhoeniII, X. Beirut:LebaneseUniversity. cian dynasties ruled at Lapithos, Robson,E. I., translator Marion, and briefly at Salamis, but 1967 Arrian,Anabasis Alexandri. Series: LoebClassical Series.Cambridge, Phoenician political control came to MA, and London:Harvardand an end soon after Alexander the Heinemann. Great crushed the Persianempire in Rupp,D. W the second half of the fourth century 1987 Vivele roi: The Emergenceof the The strongrelationshipbetween B.C.E. State in IronAge Cyprus.Pp. 147-68 in WesternCyprus:Connections, Cyprus and the mainland continued, edited by D. W.Rupp.Series:Studies however,and continues to this day. in MediterraneanArchaeology77. The Larnacaairportis often Lebanon's Gothenburg:Paul Astr6m'sF6rlag. main link to the outside, but the 1988 The "RoyalTombs"at Salamis only way to get there from Lebanon (Cyprus):IdeologicalMessagesof Powerand Authority.Journalof is by boat. The fishermen of Tyre MediterraneanArchaeology 1(1): and Sidon have made many trips to 111-39. Larnacain recent years. S61incourt,A., translator 1954 Herodotus,The Histories. Baltimore: Bibliography Penguin. Bikai, P. Snodgrass,A. 1988 Cyprusand EarlyGreekHistory 1983 The Importsfrom the East.Appendix 2 in Palaepaphos-Skales:An Iron (FourthAnnual Lectureon History and Archaeology).Nicosia: Cultural Age Cemeteryin Cyprus,by V.KaraFoundationof the Bank of Cyprus. georghis and others. Konstanz: Thackeray,H. St. J.,translator Universtitsverlag. 1987 The Phoenician Potteryof Cyprus. 1961 Josephus,Against Apion. Series: Nicosia: A. G. LeventisFoundation. LoebClassical Library.Cambridge, MA, and London:Harvardand Frankenstein,S. Heinemann. 1979 The Phoenicians in the FarWest: A Function of Neo-AssyrianImperiThackeray,H. St. J.,andMarcus,R., translators alism. Pp. 263-94 in Powerand 1950 Josephus,JewishAntiquities. Series: LoebClassical Library.Cambridge, Propaganda:A Symposiumon Ancient Empires,editedby M. T. Larsen. MA, and London:Harvardand Heinemann. Series:Mesopotamia7. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag. Welles,C. B., translator 1963 Diodorus of Sicily, Libraryof History. Gjerstad,E. 1979 The Phoenician Colonization and Series:LoebClassical Library.Cambridge,MA, and London:Harvard Expansionin Cyprus.Reportof the and Heinemann. Department of Antiquities in
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ofGodasan heportrayal
Standing Befo reOnec
God Votive Sculpture
and
the
Cypriot
Religious Tradition byJoanBretonConnelly
An example of a terracottafrom the cult place at Ayia Irini. More than 2,000 statues dating to the seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E.
were found there by the Swedish CyprusExpedition.Photograph courtesyof the Medelhavsmuseet.
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i
i.
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artisan, specifically as a modeler of clay, is a significant image in the Bible (Genesis 5:1).It enabled ancient readersand listeners to visualize the creation of Adam in terms of their own human experience in a world where potters, coroplasts (modelers of clay figurines),and clay figurines were a part of daily life. The ancient audience could identify with the creative process experienced in everydaytasks such as modeling, building, weaving, and even bread baking. The human body provideda handy referenceto measure proportion and shape in daily work.' God's use of his own image as a model in creating man is perfectly understandable in the context of God's role as an artisan. The portrayalof man as matterdust or clay- is a significant image as well, one that is cited repeatedly in the Book of Genesis: "Fordust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return"(3:19).The dust imagery is extended to the act of procreation, as God tells Abram,"Iwill make thy seed as the dust of the earth;if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered"(13:16).God later tells Jacob"thyseed shall be as the dust of the earth"(28:14). Woman, on the other hand, is modeled from bone material, Adam's rib.Annie Caubet (1989)has recently elucidated the feminine connotation given to ivory,a form of bone, in the ancient sources -translucent, white, and smooth to the touch. She has demonstratedhow this erotic, feminine material, which is used for luxury items such as drinking cups, musical instruments, and beds, is consistently mentioned in derogatory
The votive statuesgive the prayer concrete form and ensure that it will be repeatedcontinuously before the god. terms in the Bible? The dust, however, is considered good. The individual bits of dust are infinitesimal and identical, repeatedover and over again in an unfathomable quantity. The metaphor of God as an artisan and man as material was used to help the ancient audience comprehend the incomprehensible mystery of creation. After all, when ancient man tried to give form to his gods, he often turned to his own image as a model. The difficulties we have in distinguishing early representations of votaries from representations of the gods they worshippedis due, in part, to an ambiguity that probably existed for the ancients themselves. God creates man in God'simage, and man, in turn, creates God in man's image. Our discussion of votive art must begin here, as it has everything to do with the creation story: the relationship of artist to material to form and the concepts of likeness, imitation, and repetition. The Use of Statues for Prayer The tradition of dedicating the image of the worshipperbefore the god is a very ancient one, attested in Sumeria from the first half of the third millennium. At Tell Asmar, the alabasterstatues from the sanctuary of Abu (Spycket1981:52-75, plate 37), which stand motionless with their hands clasped and large eyes transfixed,provokequestions that apply to the votive statuary that follows through the millennia and across the continents. How does one distinguish god from king from priest from worshipperin these elusive, generic images? Only when the statues are inscribed, as that of King Iku-Shamagondedicated to the goddess Ninni-zaza in her sanctuary at Mari (Spycket1981:57, figure 86),
Some early examples of Mesopotamian votive statues from the Templeof Abu at TellAsmar dating to the first half of the third millennium.
can we know with certainty that a figure was intended to represent a man, or a man of special rank, rather than a god or a nameless worshipper. The votive statues from Tell Asmar and those that followed from A''ur, Mari, Nippur, and other sites, however, are not meant to representthe worshipperas much as the prayerof the worshipper.They give the prayer concrete form and ensure that it will be repeatedcontinuously and in perpetuity before the god. Inscriptions attest to the fact that the statue may not have just representeda prayer but was considered a living entity, with a personal name, who prayed for the worshipper.Many examples can be cited for statues prayingon behalf of Gudea (Thureau-Dangin 1905: 104-133; SollbergerandKupper 1971: 117,II C 4).
The concept of using a statue for a prayeris particularlyimportant for our understandingof votive art. First, it diminishes the importance of the specific features of the worshipper, allowing for sameness or similarity among mass-produced images. Second, it stands behind two fundamental characteristics of votive art- quantity and repetition. Because more is better when it comes to prayer,the worshipperis compelled to repeat the prayerover and over again. Herein lies the power of the word, the belief that the act of saying the word makes it so. Repetition of the word or prayeris a spiritual dynamic practiced across the great world religions, ranging from the Hindu mantra to the rosary and litanies of Catholicism. The votive statue is the tangible, con-
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A limestone relief from Golgoi, dating to the fourth century B.C.E.,shows the various
stages of ritual activity. At top is a line of devotees approachinga seated divinity and at bottom arepeople dancing and drinking wine while listening to a flute player. Photographcourtesyof the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cesnola Collection; Purchasedby subscription,1874-76.
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crete form given to the word;its very presence makes the prayerexist, and its repetition makes the prayerexist even more so. The motivations for the prayersbehind the statues were diverse and remain a matter of speculation: a request for intervention; an offeringof thanks for requests granted;a manifestation of initiation; a commemoration of some rite of passage.It is likely that statues were dedicated for any and all of these reasons. We can be no more specific in attaching intent to votive offerings than we can be in reading
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the minds and hearts of the devotees who presented them. Situated at the crossroadbetween East and West, Cyprus from its earliest days was open to vastly different influences in both religion and art. A native fascination with cult practice can be detected, however,in several objects unique to Cyprus that explicitly depict the act of worship and the roles of the players involved. The famous Vounous bowl, dating to the early Bronze Age, shows an earthenwarepot transformed into an open-airsanctuary
One of the most distinguishing
characteristicsof Cypriotvotive art is the quantity in which it survives.
tuaries the representationof the worshippergrew in scale, quantity, prominence of position, and permanence of material to make up a vast corpus of votive art unparalleled in
thousands of clay and stone offerings phasized, a featurepossibly inherited have been excavatedfrom the island's from Near Easternprecedents. The shrines and favissae. The cult place front was more carefully detailed at Ayia Irini was filled with more than the back, which was left smooth than 2,000 terracottastatues and sta- and was not meant to be seen once it tuettes offeredduring the seventh was deposited in the sanctuary.The and sixth centuries B.C.E.(Gjerstad Ayia Irini sequence is bound by cer1935:642-824, platesCLXXXVII-CCL,tain conventions, both technical and 1948: 94-211, 339-61, 424, 456; Sjbq- stylistic, that reflect the tradition of vist 1932).The statues were found in a local workshop. Terracottaproducsitu placed in a semicircle arounda tion throughout the island is characstone altar and organizedaccording terized by the distinct tastes and to size with smaller figurines in techniques of local and regional front and largerstatues, measuring schools, which can be systematically identified (see, for example, Caubet up to 60 centimeters (about2 feet), at back. Quality of craftsmanshipand and Yon 1988: 1-16). detail of representationtended to At Ayia Irini, variation within the standardformula was achieved correspondwith the gradationof scale. Smallerfiguresreceivedcursory through changes in costume and treatment, whereas largerfigures equipment. Although most of the were worked with great care (T6rnk- votaries depict soldiers, a wide repervist 1972:47). The differentiation of toire of helmet types, corselet arscale probablyreflects, in part, the rangements, and weapons break the means of the worshipper;large-scale monotony of the army and individofferingswere availablefor well-to-do ualize the ranks (Tdrnkvist 1972: 7pilgrims, while small, mass-produced 54). Indeed, variation in headgear votives were affordableto those who may well reflect actual differentiahad less to spend. The relationship tion in military dress indicating of art and industry to price tag and rank, division, or special function purchaserseems to have remained a corps such as cavalry,infantry,or constant aspect of votive art in the archers.These variations endured centuries that followed. into the Hellenistic period at KourThe Ayia Irini terracottasreflect ion, where terracottahorse riders many constants that have enduredin continued to wearconical and crested the Cypriot votive tradition, most helmets, flat berets, pointed caps, and headbandsjust like their archaic importantly those of formula and variation. The formulaic pose, with predecessors (Youngand Young 1955; the worshipperstanding straight and Buitron 1983: 228-31). Not all the holding his arms closely to his sides, Ayia Irini figures portraysoldiers: was established early.The worshipSome wearchitons, fringedmantles,or per usually held an offering or attrib- tunics; some carrydaggersand are ute. Largervotives were fixed on thought to be priests;others carryanimals and arethought to be dedicants. roughly finished plinths, while smaller figurines rested on their Ambiguity persists, and although
the ancient world. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Cypriot votive art is the quantity in which it survives; thousands upon
own columnar skirts. The faces were worked in greater detail than the generalized, stock forms of the bodies, and the eyes were often em-
filled with doll-like figurines of the deity and worshippers,complete with attendants preparingbulls for sacrifice and a noninitiate peering inquisitively over the temenos wall (Vounous,T22, number 26; Dikaios 1940: 1-161, plates VII,VIII;Masson 1969: 54, plates IX, X, figures 55-57). The desire to show the rites of devotion, to depict the worshipperin the act of prayer,is characteristically Cypriot. While other cultures preferredto keep silent or ambiguous on religious rites -perhaps in fear of retaliation, as with the Eleusinian mysteries- Cypriot artists depicted cult activity with surprisingclarity and detail? A limestone relief of late classical date from Golgoi (Myres 1914:number 1870, Metropolitan Museum of Art 74.51.2338) shows worshippersin progressivestages of ritual activity honoring Apollo: Two women, two boys, and a couple with a small child approachthe seated divinity who holds out a libationbowl to receive a drink offering;men and women are dancing at lower left while banquetersdrink wine and enjoy the music of a flute playerat lower right. Despite the difference in time and in medium, the spirit of this work is much the same as that of the Vounous bowl; the age-oldfascination with the ritual act was still alive in the Cypriot consciousness.
The CypriotVotiveTradition At the island'sgreatIronAgesanc-
some distinctions can be made, they cannot be fully understood. God, king, priest, and pilgrim cannot be distinguished with certainty.
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This limestone votarystatue came from the sanctuaryof Apollo at Golgoi. The inscription on his forearmreads "Iam from Tamigoras." Photographcourtesy of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art, The Cesnola Collection;Purchasedby subscription, 1874-76.
miniature models of monumental stone sculptures. In all probability both situations existed. Small votives in both materials were carried long distances for dedication at Samos, Rhodes, and Naukratis, as well as in Syria and Phoenicia (Schmidt 1968:4-8, 85-86, 122-29). As with terracottas,stone sculptures were made in small, medium, and large sizes. Large-scalestone votives eventually replacedtheir terracotta equivalents because they offered greaterpossibilities for size, modeling, and permanence. Small terracottas continued to be producedwhile stone votaries grew to larger-than-life proportionsby the Hellenistic period. Differentiation in the Votive Repertoire Differentiation increased over time for both deities and votaries, although certain ambiguities endured. By the end of the sixth century B.C.E., Herakles, Zeus Ammon, Bes, and other divinities were recognizable due to their unmistakable costumes, attributes, and poses. Difficulty perBy the end of the seventh and sists in distinguishing the island's early sixth century B.C.E.,workshops that served the sanctuaries of the most populardivinities, Apollo and MesaoreaPlain were producingterra- Aphrodite,from the devotees who cotta votives and limestone statues aspiredto resemble them. The probcarvedfrom the soft, chalk-like stone lem of identification is further comof the local sedimentary deposits. plicated by the possibility that priests and priestesses dressed in ritual vestSculptureswere roughedout at the limestone beds close to the sanctuments designed to make them look aries, as unfinished statues found in like the divinities they served. Long, corkscrew curls, a scroll, or pen quarriesnear Idalion attest. Early sometimes help to identify Apollo, on, certain figure types were duplicated in terracottaand limestone and the company of Eros ensures versions, as illustrated by the ornate- Aphrodite'sidentification. These ly dressed female figures from Arsos examples are rare,however,and requirea good state of preservation (Gjerstadand others 1937: 594-96, for the all-important attributes to be plates CLXXXV,CLXXXVI).It is sometimes difficult to tell whether read. If severed or fragmentary heads stone sculpture follows terracotta are found without their body, it is types or whether terracottaspresent difficult to distinguish god from
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A votive statue from the sanctuary of Apollo at Voni.The wooden tablet in his left hand has an inscription that identifies the votary as Kilikas. The inscription reads "Kilikas,the son of Stasikrates,set me up."Photograph courtesy of the BritishMuseum.
Differentiationin the dress of votaries was expanded duringthe late archaic
period(520 to 480 B.C.E.). temple, servant from worshipper,as the elusive and beautiful head from Arsos attests. Differentiation in the dress of the votary was expandedduring the late archaic period (520 to 480 B.C.E.) to reflect the diversity of ethnic populations, regional political affiliations, and tastes of those worshipping at the Pan-Cypriansites (Vermeule 1974:286-89). The sanctuary of Apollo at Golgoi yielded statues of votaries wearing carefully differentiated Egyptianizing,Levantinizing, Hellenizing, and native Cypriot costumes. The renderingsappearto be caricaturesof ethnic costumes ratherthan authentic replicas. The compulsory Cypriot T-shirtis portrayedalong with the Egyptiankilt and the Greek himation, observing the native requirement for modesty in dress, again a conservative Eastern element. In reportinghis 1862 season at Golgoi, Luigi Palma di Cesnola remarkedthat sculptures were groupedwithin the temple structure accordingto ethnic type: Votariesin Greek costume were clustered together along the west wall with Egyptianand Assyrian types similarly arranged(1877: 152, 159).The careful arrangementof the Ayia Irini figurines accordingto size suggests that the organization of votives within the shrine was an important concern to those directing the ritual activities. We do not know precisely how many statues were dedicated in the sanctuary at Golgoi, which enjoyed continuous activity to the Roman This mature male votaryis carryinga lustral branchin his righthand and an incense burner period. In June of 1870, Johannes in his left hand. Photographcourtesy of the Doell (1873)catalogued more than MetropolitanMuseum of Art, The Cesnola 750 sculptures from Cesnola's exca1874-76. Purchased Collection; by subscription, vations of the site, giving a reliable minimum count. The flattened, unfinished backs of the statues are in
keeping with Cesnola'splan of their placement, lined up in rows against the sanctuarywalls (Cesnola 1877: 139).Indeed, this placement corresponds with that recordedfor other open-airsanctuaries excavatedin the nineteenth century and accounts for the consistently flat backs of Cypriot votive statues (Ohnefalsch-Richter 1893).Recent excavationsat the sanctuary of Apollo at Tamassos indicate that smaller votives were plastered into the stucco of the interior temple wall.4 This allowed the use of all availablespace and helped alleviate some of the squeeze in what must have been a vast accumulation of offerings.Another solution to overcrowdingwas to dump the old votives into favissae within the temenoi to make room for new dedications. Classical male votariescommonly wear short-sleeve tunics under their himatia, as an example from Idalion shows. The laurel wreath was the standardheaddressfor adult males, perhapsto be associated with the worship of Apollo. The dedicant presents offerings depicted in some detail, with birds and round incense boxes among the most populargifts. Details of coiffure, dress, and offerings are subordinate,however,to the fundamental requirements of the formula established from archaic times: arms held closely to the sides, feet close together, and eyes looking straight ahead. A generic drapedmale from the sanctuary of Apollo at Voni is identified by an inscription in Cyprosyllabic script preservedon what appearsto be a wooden tablet held in his left hand:"Kilikas,the son of Stasikrates,set me up"(Nicolaou 1971: 12-13, plate VIII;Masson 1961: 265, number 251). This is a rare example of an inscription preserved
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The Cypriotscontinued to use the votive statueslong afterthe traditionhad lost popularityon mainlandGreece. Votivesfrom the Hellenistic period include representationsof children, including this example of a young girl. Photographcourtesy of the Fitzwilliam Museum.
Votivecandles and wax figures are still a common sight in Cypriotchurches.Theeffigies varyfrom life-size statues to variousparts of the body, such as legs, heads and stomachs.
with its statue; more often, inscribed bases are separatedfrom the statues they once supported(OhnefalschRichter 1893:3, 4, numbers 1-3). Only the addedinscription can identify the mass-producedstock votive as the offering of a specific person. The Kilikas dedication presents the rareopportunity to view datableletter forms together with sculptural style. The stiff, archaic style of the figure makes it appearolder than its epigraphicdate at the end of the fifth century B.C.E.This demonstrateswhy it is so dangerousto date Cypriot statues on the basis of stylistic comparison with works from the Greek mainstream. There was a distinct stylistic lag on Cyprus, caused by numerous factors:the formulaic characterof its statuary,the conservative nature of religious art, the remoteness from international sculptural centers, and the indigenous Cypriot artistic tradition. By the Hellenistic period, the votive repertoireexpandedto include well-defined types for the different ages of the dedicants:Toddlertemple boys and one known girl squat with one leg angled up; pubescent males often wear a Horus lock, probably about to be cut, while older youths sometimes wear Macedonian military dress;pubescent girls wear high-belted chitons and often show braidedhair; mature male votaries wear himatia over short-sleeve tunics, are wreathed, and regularly carrylustral branches and incense burners;adult female votaries are heavily draped,their heads always veiled, sometimes offeringball-shaped fruits and sometimes accompanied by children. Age differentiation may reflect stages of dedication to the god: presentation at infancy, rite of passage at puberty, entry into adulthood.
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The age-old dynamic between repetition and variation endures throughout the history of Cypriot votive statuary. Despite differences in sex, ethnicity, age, and details of dress or accessories, votives adhere to the strict formula of their types, maintaining a certain sameness in their difference. This fundamental precept is particularly potent in the paradox produced by the combination of the native tradition with the style of the Hellenistic koine. Hellenistic votaries appear to show individualized, portrait-like features, but they are actually generic, just like their archaic and classical predecessors. The seemingly individualized votaries can be fit into types based largely on head shape and coiffure; they reflect a contemporary taste for portraiture yet are meant to represent, rather than depict, the individual worshipper (Connelly 1988). Only the addition of an inscription on the statue's base can identify with certainty the individual behind the votive, or rather, behind the prayer. Recognition of the primary function of the statue as an embodiment of a prayer diminishes the relationship between votive statuary and the motivation for true portraiture. The phenomenon of generic specificity is special to Cyprus, where religious conservatism allowed the votive statue to survive long after it had lost popularity in mainland Greece. Having their prayers perpetually offered in the form of statues before the divinity was of paramount importance to the ancient Cypriots. Only by understanding this fundamental belief can we approach an explanation of the artistic forms that served it. Continuity of cult practice allowed for continuity in meaning, type, and production of
votive statuary. Repetition of sameness allowed for continuity in likeness; variation repeated itself until difference approached similarity. The eternal prayer continued. Today, votive candles commonly reflect the last vestiges of this age old tradition. There are, however, a few churches in Cyprus where fullsized wax figures are offered as the devotee's prayer. The stiff forms are strictly frontal with arms at sides and legs together. The modeling is rough, and the features are generalized, except for the eyes, which are emphasized with fasolia, a type of large white bean. In the little church of Agios Xenophontos (or Agios Tsorenos as the villagers call it) at Mazotas near Larnaca, such life-sized statues lean against the sanctuary wall. Crudely modeled out of brownish bee's wax, the generic forms of indeterminate sex carry identifying inscriptions. Scrawled on rough paper and stuck on with pins are the names of the worshippers, their weights5, and most importantly, their prayers. Notes 'Forthe use of the distal phalange of the little finger as a basic module for building the Polykleitan canon, see RichardTobin (1975:307 and following). Tobindemonstrateshow all proportions of the human body can be determined without mathematical calculations simply by observing nature and using a cordwith knots. Of course, the use of the width of the hand as a unit for determining measure and proportionin Egyptian art is well known. 21 wish to thank the D6partement des Antiquit6s Orientales au Mus6e du Louvreand especially the Conservateuren-chef, Annie Caubet, for allowing me access to researchfacilities and for the benefit of many helpful discussions in
the course of preparingthis work. 3The detailed renderingof ritual equipment, such as the spool-shapedincense boxes or burners invariablyheld, thumb on top, by male votaries of classical and Hellenistic date is in direct contrast with the covert nature of mainland Greek scenes of ritual activity. ContemporaryGreek votive reliefs show devotees veiled in heavy mantles raising swathed fists as they approachthe divinity and suggest an intentional ambiguity in the representationof ritual acts and gestures. The recent discoveryat Kissonergaof a building model containing terracotta and stone figurines allows us to trace the representationof cult activity back to the Chalcolothic period (Peltenburgand others 1988:45-50, plates IV-V). 41 want to thank Dr. Hans-Giinter Buchholz, the excavator,for sharing this information with me. 5Theweight of the wax statue equals the weight of the worshipper.I thank Gloria Kassianidesfor her kindness during my visit to Mazotas.I am very grateful to Dr. A. Papageorghiou,acting director of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,for providingme with useful information on the role of anathemata in the Greek OrthodoxChurch.
Bibliography Buitron, D. 1983 Excavations in the Archaic Precinct
at Kourion.Reportof the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1983: 228-31. Caubet, A. 1989 Pygmalion et la statue d'ivoire.
Recueil GeorgesRoux, Lyon:Maison de l'Orient. Caubet, A., and Yon, M. 1988 Un culte de la grande-Deese a
Lapithos.Reportof the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1988: 1-16. Connelly, J.B.
1988 VotiveSculptureof Hellenistic Cyprus. Nicosia and New York: The Department of Antiquities of Cyprus and New York University Press. di Cesnola, L. P.
1877 Cyprus:Its Ancient Cities, Tombs and Temples. London, New York: John Murray. Dikaios, P. 1940 Excavations at Vounous-Bellapais in Cyprus. Archaeologia. LXXXVIII: 1-174. Doell, J. 1873 Die Sammlung Cesnola. Series:
Memoires de lAcademie Imperiale
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des Sciences de St. Petersbourg.VIIe: No. 4. Gjerstad, E.
1935 The Swedish CyprusExpedition, volume II. Stockholm: The Swedish Cyprus Expedition.
1948 The Swedish CyprusExpedition, Volume IV Stockholm: The Swedish Cyprus Expedition. Gjerstad, E. and others
1937 The Swedish CyprusExpedition, Volume III. Stockholm: The Swedish Cyprus Expedition. Masson, O.
1961 Les Inscriptionschypriotessylla-
biques. Paris: Editions de Boccard. "Croyances et Sanctuaires a l'epoque prehistorique," Chypre a l'aube de son histoire. Archaeologie Vivante 2(3).
1969
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 3 - 1989
Editor: ROGERW. MOELLER
NORTH AMERICAN ARCHAEO
Myres, J.
1914 Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus.New
CONTENTS
York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nicolaou, I.
1971 CypriotInscribedStones. Nicosia: Department of Antiquities of Cyprus. Ohnefalsch-Richter, M.
1893 Kypros,the Bible and Homer.Berlin. Peltenburg, E.J. and others 1988 Kissonerga-Mosphilia 1987: Ritual Deposit, Unit 1015. Report of the
Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1988:43-52. Schmidt, G.
1968 KyprischeBildwerke aus dem Heraion von Samos, Samos VII. Bonn: R. Habelt. Sj6qvist, E. 1932 Die Kultgeschichte eines cyprischen
Poverty Point Adaptive Systems in the Lower MississippiValley: SubsistenceRemainsfromthe J. W.Copes Site H. Edwin Jackson
Surfaceand SubsurfacePatternsof ArchaeologicalMaterialsat FortFillmore, New Mexico EdwardStaski What Lies LurkingBelow the Soil:Beyondthe ArchaeobotanicalView of FlotationSamples LucindaMcWeeney
Evidence for a PrehistoricPetroglyphTrailMapin the SierraNevada. II.Two Additional "GlyphMaps" WillisA. Gortner
Temenos.ArchivfMrReligionswissenschaft. 30: 308-59. Sollberger, E. and Kupper, J.R.
Directoryof ArchaeologicalSocieties
1971 InscriptionsRoyalesSumerienneset Akkadiennes. Paris: Editions du Cerf. Spycket, A.
1981 La Statuairedu Proche Orient Ancien. Series: Handbuch der Orien-
talistik. Leiden:E. J.Brillo. Thureau-Dangin, E
1905 Les Inscriptionsde Sumeret dAkkad. Paris. Tobin, R. 1975 The Canon of Polykleitos. American
Journalof Archaeology,79: 307-21. Tornkvist, S. 1972 Arms, armour and Dress of the Terracotta Scupture from Ajia Irini
Cyprus.MedelhavsmuseetBulletin. Vermeule, C.C. 1974 Cypriote Sculpture, the Late Archaic and Early Classical Periods: Towards a More Precise Understanding.
American Journalof Archaeology.
Published quarterly, this is the only general journal dedicated solely to North America. The North American Archaeologist surveys all aspects of prehistoric and historic archaeology within an evolutionary perspective, from Paleo-lndian studies to industrial sites. It accents the results of Resource Management and Contract Archaeology, the newest growth areas in archaeology, often neglected in other publications. ISSN 0197-6931 INSTITUTIONALPRICE: $87.00 INDIVIDUAL PRICE: $36.00 (Paid by personal check or credit card.) Add $4.50 for postage in the U.S.A. and Canada and $9.35 elsewhere. Subscription per volume only (4 issues), must be prepaid in U.S. dollars on a U.S. bank. Prices subject to change without notice.
y
78: 287-90. Young, J.M., and Young, S.H.
1983 TerracottaFigurinesfrom Kourionin Cyprus. Philadelphia.
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Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
BaywoodPublishingCompany,Inc. 26 Austin Avenue, P.O. Box 337, Amityville, NY 11701
Past
Present
The
Potters Village
of by
Cyprus Gloria
Potterydatingis
an essentialtool
of archaeological research.
London
Imost acentury ago,Sir
This photographis around 60 years old and shows a potter workingin the courtyardof her Kornoshome. Photographcourtesy of the Joandu Plat Taylorarchivalmaterial at CAARI.
FlindersPetrie developed a system to date pottery based on changes in ceramic style (Petrie 1891).Pottery dating has since become an essential tool of archaeologicalresearch.The chronologicalvalue of pottery derives from changes in form and surface finish. Each archaeologicalperiod has its own ceramic style or styles. Changes in style contribute to an understandingof social issues, such as how, where, by whom, and for whom the pots were made (Franken 1986: 7; London 1985, 1987a). In addition to recognizing chronological distinctions,can we identify wares made in differentbut contemporaneous communities? For instance, can we determine if two cooking pots belong to differentpottery manufacturingcenters operating at the same time ratherthan two different archaeologicalperiods? These questions can be addressedby ethnoarchaeologists who study traditional potters to observe pottery techniques passed down from one generation to the next (Kramer1985;
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
219
After grinding the clay, the Kornospotters add water to it and then push it througha pug mill, shown here, to force air from the clay The clay is used immediately without giving it time to age or sour. Unless otherwise noted, all photographsare courtesy of Gloria London.
Longacre1981;Watson 1980). Cyprus is an ideal location for such researchbecause pottery production has been a Cypriot industry for 7,000 years. Today,village potters continue to produce utilitarian .shapes-jugs,
juglets, jars, cooking
pots, pita plates, incense burners, ovens, flower pots- along with a
small percentageof wares for sale to tourists. Cypriot juglets destined for foreignmarketsresemblethe ceramic assemblages uncoveredthroughout the ancient Near East, and ruraland urbanpotters of today continue this millennia-old tradition of foreign trade.' As a FulbrightFellow in 1986, I lived in two pottery-producingvillages - Kornos and Agios Dimitrios
-
and conducted seven months of ethnoarchaeological study. I observed, photographed,and interviewed potters while collecting quantitative data on vessel sizes, proportions, quantities produced,numbers of pots fired together, sales and distribution. Kornos,which has a population of 1,800 and lies in the foothills south of Nicosia, has a 200-yearhistory of pottery production and supplies urban and ruralcommunities. In contrast, Agios Dimitrios (population 140),a remote village high in the TroodosMountains and a threehour drive from Kornos,serves a ruralclientele primarily. During my seven-weekstay in the mountains, I also visited Kaminaria (population200), a village not recordedin previous surveys,and Phini (population800), east of Agios Dimitrios. In Kaminaria,the pottery industry once involved as many as 20 potters. Unused kilns still stand among the houses in the village, where now only one potter continues the tradition. In Phini two women
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producewaresexclusivelyfor tourists. Morethan 25 yearsago,R. Hampe and A. Winter(1962:79)photographed a potter and her husband working in Klirou, southwest of Nicosia in the Troodosfoothills, but pottery is no longer manufacturedthere. The Potters Male and female potters flourished until four decades ago,but now the tradition is mostly carriedon by women (London1987b).Today23 traditional potters work in four villages- Kornos, Agios Dimitrios,
Phini, and Kaminaria.All of the potters are older than 50, and all but
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
two are women. In the past, men either made the full repertoireor specialized in the largest shapes, such as ovens (fourni),large storage jars (pitharia),and basins (dani).Today,one man in Kornosand another in Agios Dimitrios smooth and finish pots shaped by their wives, and the one in Agios Dimitrios also builds jars. In Kornos, 10 of the 13 potters belong to the KornosPottery Cooperative,which was formed in the mid-1950s. The other three work independently.The Cooperativesells clay to its members while the private potters acquire clay from other
Maleand femalepottersflourisheduntil four decades ago, but now the tradition is mostly carriedon by women. Ten Waysto Use a Sherd recycling is regularly Residential practiced in each of the potteryproducingvillages.Forbrokenpottery, this means that every sherd and crackedpot can be reused. Sherdsare not found in large quantities near the potters' workspace. Instead, the sherds are sold to builders, who use them as chinking material in stone walls to fill in the space between the stones, thereby creating a colorful and attractive building. Sherds are used as tempering material or filler forsun-driedbricks.Topreventtables from wobbling on the uneven stone and earth-packed floors, sherds are wedged under the table legs. Potters mix crushed sherds with water to create a paste for repairing broken pottery. Kiln doors and roofs are closed with sherds or broken pots. Potters use sherds to separate pots from the kiln floor and wall during each firing. They also use sherds to carry charcoal from their home to ignite the kiln. Sherds are found in vegetable gardens where they stand upright to protect young plants from wind. In cemeteries, sherds and broken pots protect candles from wind.
Ten ways to use Pitharia Pitharia are not simply storage containers. They serve a wide variety of domestic and industrial purposes.In the home pitharia once served as bath tubs and as saunas for new mothers. In the larder,they contain wine and dry foodstuffs. To make wine, grapesferment in pitharia. The jars are also used for the production of zivania, a Cypriote eau de vie, or brandy.In the courtyard,pitharia are placed on their sides and encased in mudbrick to serve as stoves. They might also be used as planters for small trees and plants. Broken pitharia serve as trash cans or wash basins for clothes.
sources. The cooperative members share a single kiln, but each private potter has her own. The five potters in Agios Dimitrios belong to two families of sisters. According to interviews with retired potters and nonpotters, however, ceramics used to be manufactured in more households. Until recently, male potters (pitharades) specializing in pitharia manufacture traveled throughout the Troodos area of vine cultivation to make large jars. A second category of itinerant potters from Kornos spent two or three months in the Troodos villages where they manufactured the full ceramic repertoire (London 1989).
Clay Preparation Local red and white clays, derived from gabbroic sources, provide an abundant and suitable raw material for open and closed handmade forms of all sizes. For the past 200 years,
Kornos potters have mined clay deposits within the village, but now a building contractor excavates clay from a hill 30 minutes away. In Agios Dimitrios, small quantities of clay are dug out of the surrounding mountain slopes and transported on the backs of donkeys. To a large extent, urban potters rely on imported clays and glazes for their wheel-thrown and molded wares. In the first step of preparation, the clay (chomah) is dried outside in the early morning sun. Large stones and pieces of organic material are removed prior to crushing. In Kornos, one woman uses electrical equipment to grind the clay for all members of the cooperative, and then each potter mixes her own clay with water-the ratio of clay to water is approximately 4:1 -and uses a pug mill to force air from the clay. Potters pile the clay in a pilos and use it immediately, not allowing it to age
Percentagesof pottery types producedin Kornosand Agios Dimitrios Vesseltype Jars Roundcooking pots Flat cooking pots Ovens Casseroles (no lid) Jugs Flowerpots Goat milking pots Incense burners Decorated pieces Pita plates Cooking pot lids Ashtrays Miscellanea
Ibtal
Kornos (N = 1880) 1 11 1 4 15 7 10.5 0 13 21.5 3 7 4 2
100%
AgiosDimitrios (N = 686 pots) 47 6 0 7 3 19 1.5 1 1.2 2 3.6 5 2.2 1.5
100%
Note: Jarsand jugs form a largerpart of the production in the mountain pottery than in Kornoswhose wares aregearedfor a more urban clientele.
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This photograph,taken about 50 years ago, depicts a skafi, which is used for mixing clay and water. Photographcourtesy of the Joandu Plat Taylorarchivalmaterial at CAARI.
or sour. Beforeworking with the clay, it is blessed by prayers. In the mountain villages potters and their spouses, using a wooden stick (koupanior matsola), manually pound a mixture of red and white clays together for 15 to 30 minutes. It is then passed through a metal sieve for 20 minutes. The potters mix the clay powderwith water in a shallow wooden trough (skafi),using either a long-handled,wooden shovel or their feet. Three-and-a-halfbuckets of powder,mixed for 15 minutes with the shovel, produce a small pile of clay one meter in height. A photographtaken in Kornosmore than 50 years ago depicts a skafi, but now only privatepotters use them. ManufacturingTechnique To manufactureall forms, one basic technique prevails in all villages. Potters combine hand modeling with coiling and scrapingto create each piece. They use a small turntable, trochos, that can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise with the side of the foot. It is not a kick wheel, however;the pottery is not wheel thrown. All shapes- open and closed, largeand small-are coil built. The first step involves centering a solid cylinder of clay on a "bat" held securely by three dabs of clay on the trochos. The bat is made of bark (fellos),wood, or stone (marmaro). The potter forces a small hole into the cylinder with one finger, then her knuckle and finally her fist. By enlargingthe opening, she creates a flat-basedform with thick lower walls. Coils increase the height in a process known as the interrupted technique of manufacture. The potter rolls the clay between her hands to create a short, snake-like band of clay, or coil. Each coil is added in-
222
dividually to increase the height of the pot. Drying intervals, during which the potter removes from the trochos the incomplete form on the bat, interruptwork on each piece. Forsmall and medium-sized vessels, stage one involves shaping the full height-from base to rim-by adding coils to the initial form modeled from the cylinder of clay. Larger pieces are built halfway up and allowed to dry before addingmore coils. Everypotter always has many pots at various stages of manufacture. Initially the lower bodies are quite thick. All vessels, except the smallest, are often bound with rope, wool, string, or strips of cloth during the first two stages. The rope supports the wet clay and is removedbefore the excess clay is scrapedfrom the lower bodies. Although all of the rope'sphysical traces disappear,its
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
use is the origin of intentional incised patterns mimicking rope marks that are common to modern and ancient domestic wares. To complete the last step in stage one, potters in Kornos incise a pattern on the vessel's shoulders and/orrims, after which the pot is set aside to dry slightly. In the second stage, small and medium pots are repositioned on the trochos so that handles can be added to each jug (kouza),cooking pot (kourelli,koumnoudi tou klefticou, tsouka, andpiniada), juglet (ellinakia or touristika), and incense burner (kapnistiri).Once the rim and shoulder aresufficiently dry,but not totally dry,they can supportthe weight of the heavy handle. (Wetclay does not adherewell to dry clay.)To make these same shapes, potters in Agios Dimitrios and Kaminariafirst add handles and then decoratethe upper body and allow the pieces to dry
Pottersare always working on more than one piece at a time, as the three jars shown in various stages of manufacturein Agios Dimitrios attest. While the pieces are drying, strings are wrappedaround the lower part to keep them from collapsing. After brief drying periods, the potters walk aroundeach piece to add more clay and increase the height. The potter uses a metal rod to measure the height of the pieces.
further.After two drying periods, which last from minutes to days depending on the humidity, it is safe to remove the strings. In stagethree the excess clay from the lower body and base is scraped away.To complete a juglet, the potter holds the piece in her hand to thin the base and pinches a clay coil into place for the ring base. Although the juglet is rotatedin the hand, the base is symmetrical and even. When creating a largepiece, the potter first opens a large cylinder of clay and graduallyincreases its height by adding coils. This process can last several days or even a week before a flower pot (glastra),jar (koumna),or oven (fourni)is finished. Few potters are able to lift the heavy clay to return it to the trochos after it is removedfor the first drying period, so they add more coils, one or two at a time, by walking around the piece. Firing
In stage three, the potters unwind the string from the pots beforescrapingaway the excess clay from the base. The bases must be dry beforethe potter can complete this stage.
Firingpottery is a delicate procedure for which the Cypriot potters display great expertise. Earlyin the morning 100-400 leather hardpots are stacked in the kiln (kamini). Largerpieces stand directly on the grid-likefloor of the upper chamber.Cooking pots, jugs, jars,and smaller objects fill in every void aroundthe largershapes to fully utilize the kiln space. Each member of the Kornos
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Tocomplete an oven, the Kornospotter walks around the piece repeatedly to smooth the rim. She uses wooden tools to smooth and finish the upperbody and rim. After the lower wall is sufficiently dry,a hole is cut and a spout-like accessory is added to serve as a flue. In the foreground,an oven is drying. Once dry,it will be turned upside down so the potter can scrape the base.
Pottery Cooperativeuses the communal kiln to fire her own wares every second or third week; potters sometimes share the kiln with older women who produce fewer objects, or with the one cooperativemember who specializes in small, intricate multiple vases and juglets. The privatepotters in Kornos start the kiln fire using the traditional method. Three pine cones are carefully arrangedin a triangle at the mouth of the fire box. With an incense burner containing hot charcoal and olive leaves, which have been blessed in church, the potter makes the sign of the cross three times over the pine cones. She then sprinkles leaves and coals over the cones, adds twigs, and the fire starts. In Kornos,olive wood is preferred, although any availablewood can be used; the best wood produces the least fumes, smoke, and ash. Members of the KornosPottery Cooperative, on the other hand, use a kerosenesoaked cloth to ignite the fire. Firinga kiln requiresmost of the day.A small controlled fire, fueled with twigs, dries the pots for several hoursbeforelargerbranchesareadded. Largelogs, 15 centimeters (almost 6 inches) in diameter, are added between eight and ten hours after the fire is started, and they create a roaringfire that will last for two or three hours. The potter peers into the small openings, called eyes, of the kiln to determine when the pots acquire the desired color. To close down the kiln, the logs are pulled out of the fire and doused with water to be sold later as charcoal. Pots are left in the kiln overnight, until transportation can be arranged, as the kiln is the safest place for the fragile, fired wares. Potters formerly traveled to vil-
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pots; the sources of regional diversity in ceramic forms and decoration; and the production rate. Material correlatesof the pottery industry and pottery production locations. Most sites of ancient pottery production have remained undetected, despite advances in archaeological techniques. Buildings are known from every archaeological period, but little evidence of pottery manufacturinghas been identified. What clues might archaeologists look for to uncover such evidence? Today,traditional pottery manufacturingin Cyprus, a cottage industry, is found throughout the residential areasof the village, such as in the courtyardsor in small, windowless rooms attached to the main structure.In the case of the Kornos Pottery Cooperative,manufacturing takes place at the edge of the village. Severalfactors contribute to the lage fairsto sell their pots or exchange dearth of artifactsfrom pottery prothem for agriculturalproducts.Potduction in domestic settings. In the ters from Agios Dimitrios would summer months, pottery is made in visit the western part of the island in domestic courtyards,where other late summer or early autumn, and chores are carriedout as well -the those of Kornoswould go to the east- workspace is multifunctional. In ern area.Today,potters in Agios November, with the onset of the Dimitrios hire a truck or a driverto rainy season, all evidence of potterydeliver the wares to their ruraland making disappearsas the potter preurbancustomers-private individuals pares her courtyardfor winter (Lonand shopkeepers.In Kornos,shopdon 1989).Neither clay nor wood are keepers drive up to the kiln as soon stockpiled, given the limited indoor as it is opened to purchase the entire area and the lack of storagespace, and only the kiln remains visible. load or part of it. Charcoaland wasters,or misfired are the two by-productsof potpots, Archaeological Implications The purpose of ethnoarchaeological tery production. The charcoal is sold and the wasters are few because of investigation is to recordthe traditional pottery industry before it dis- the minimal loss rate during firing and the reuse of sherds (see accomappearsand to seek the answersto specific issues related to archaepanying table). Perishable organic ological ceramics, such as: the mate- material-wood, bark, string, cloth, rial correlates of pottery production; and cane - decomposes. In Cyprus the disposal anddisposition of broken and the Philippines (London 1987a),
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
Above left: A member of the KornosCooperativeclimbs on top of the kiln to load one final casserole throughthe roof This is unusual, as most pots are stacked throughthe side door.Above right: In Agios Dimitrios, pots stacked throughthe roof are coveredwith bark and wooden poles. Above the wooden poles, sherds, old roof tiles and metal sheeting are added to create a roof and preservethe heat during the fire.
many of the metal tools and partsthin, iron scrapingtools, nails, and ball bearings of the wooden turntables - are reused, recycled, and reshaped artifacts,making it difficult to associate them exclusively with the pottery industry. Old unused kilns are dismantled, except for the lower part, to make room for new structures in the residential area, and the building materials -bricks
the Cypriot case study offer clues for archaeologists in search of ancient pottery work places. The domestic setting of this seasonal industry for the traditional full-time potter suggests that the remains of ancient pottery workshops might be identified within the confines of domestic courtyardsor in small, dark rooms lacking agriculturalor storage equipment. Despite the absence and stones - are reused. This same of winter stockpiling of clay, micropractice occurs in Egypt (Nicholson scopic analysis of the floor could and Patterson 1985). reveal the presence of unfired clay. What then characterizespottery- Unlike our disposable society, the production locations? Two aspects of recycling of objects in antiquity may
have been the norm. Tools found in a room used by potters would include fragments of reused and reshaped artifacts. Sources of regional diversity in the ceramics industry.The village potters of Cyprus produce a repertoire of coil-built, red-firingwares that can easily be distinguished from the wheel-throw brown-or white-firing wares made by the urbanpotters. Can one also identify in which of the village potteries the products were made? All village potters in Cyprus use locally availableclay, the same
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This Kornospotter, who specializes in small, decoratedpieces, holds a juglet in her hand while smoothing the surface with a cane tool.
manufacturingtechnique, and create wares with incised decorations, but it is possible to identify differences in an industry spreadamong three villages (excludingPhini, where tourist-orientedwares predominate). This is important for the study of ancient pottery.If one can understand differences in the traditional
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pottery industry today,the same criteria may assist in identifying diversity in ancient wares within an archaeologicalperiod. Despite an overallhomogeneity of vessel shapes and surface treatments, regional diversity permeates all aspects of pottery making. Intervillage variation includes clays,
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
equipment, decoration, repertoire, kilns, and the distribution of the finished products (London1987a).In Kornos,potters use red clay; those in the mountains mix red and white clays. Forthe past 50 years, if not longer, turntables in Kornoshave had a squarehead; those used in the mountains have had a round head. Of greatersignificance, differences in the tools used for decoration result in decorativemotifs indicative of each village. The spliced cane tool creates a rosette pattern found exclusively in Kornos. A roulette pattern is typical of other Kornospotters but not those of the mountain communities. In Agios Dimitrios, potters decoratepots with combed, solid, or slashed zigzags. The Kaminariapotter prefers complex, combed patterns, and she alone decorates the lids of cooking pots. Although the tools, fashioned from organic materials, would not survive archaeologically, their imprint in the clay revealsthe origin of the pots and the tradition of their makers. Not only does the decoration vary for each village, but nuances in the orderof applying the handle and decoration differentiatethe wares.In Kornos,the potters apply handles after decoratingthe shoulder;this interrupts, smears, and coverspart of the incised pattern. In the mountains, handles are attached before decoratingthe piece, and the potters carefully arrangethe incised pattern between the handles. This small but important detail enables one to determine the regional derivation of incised wares without chemical or mineralogical testing. Other features allow one to identify the origin of a pot. Handles on cooking pots vary from village to village. One can
Chronologicaldifferencesin pottery can be detectedby excavatingsites thatspanthe centuries. distinguish between wares made in separatebut contemporaneous communities by looking for subtle surface nuances. Regional variations in the repertoire, manifest in the vessel types producedand the quantities made, reflect the diversity of lifestyles in Cyprus today.Fortheir urban and rural clientele, Kornospotters make a higher percentageof flower pots and decoratedpieces than do the potters in the Troodos,where the ruralcustomers need jars and goatmilking pots (galeftiria).The two distinct markets for Kornosand Agios Dimitrios pottery are the result of differences in the lifestyles of the present-dayCypriot, not of lesser knowledge or skill on the part of the potter. Kiln shapes and their locations are other variablefactors.In Kornos, kilns are square-bodied,built on level ground, and have permanent roofs and a side door through which pots are usually stacked. In Kaminaria, Agios Dimitrios, and Phini, the top-loadingcircular kilns lack a permanent roof and are built adjacent to a slope to facilitate loading. After the pots are stacked, old roof tiles, sherds, and metal sheeting are addedto create a roof and preserve the heat, while the outermost layer of bark and wood serves as additional fuel to that placed below in the fire box. A study conducted 25 years ago shows that the Klirou kiln has a permanent roof and a side door (Hampe and Winter 1962:plate 45), a squareheaded turntable and rosette patterns are used (Hampeand Winter 1962:
the Kornostraditions with her to 522 of which are cooking pots. From Klirou. In contrast, the homogeneity Kornosalone, 10,000 to 11,000 coilof the mountain potteries is striking. built pots, 3,000 of them cooking Ethnoarchaeologicalstudy sug- pots, can be sold during the sixmonth pottery-makingseason. gests that, for the past 200 yearsand maybe longer, given the wide Sources of variation in traditional of subtle in difference all asrange pottery.In Cyprus, pottery made in of two retwo contemporaneous villages varies pects pottery makingtraditions in the gional emerged sufficiently in the tools, raw matesouthern part of the island. A lowrials, decoration, and type frequency land tradition, in the Troodosfootto make it easy to recognize the two at Kornos and until hills, prevails geographicallydistinct yet coexistat Phini is recently Klirou. village ing traditions. These differences are the center of the mountain tradition not chronologically significant. To where the potters from Agios Dimithe contrary,they serve to highlight trios learned the craft. the contemporaneity of two regional Have there always been two traditions. one in the lowland and A second source of variation traditions, another in the mountains, or were concerns stylistic changes and modithere many more traditions?Was fications of the repertoire.Those are pottery once made in every village or indicative of time ratherthan origin in every household at certain periods or place of manufacture.Jugswith of history or was the work confined incurving rims represent an older to a relatively small number of version of the ones made today with locations? flaring rims and necks. Ring bases Forexample, in the Middle Cyno longer appearon jugs,only juglets. The roulette-incised patterns from priot I period (around1900 to 1800 Kornoshave almost disappearedbut B.C.E.), pottery production was the domain of craft specialists (Herscher are still made by the oldest practic1975: 44) and probablywas not caring potter. The multifunctional ried out in every village. Potters who pitharia (see accompanying sidebar) lived in a few communities sold or are in decline as are the decorative tradedtheir wares for basic commo- motifs - rope molding, names, dates, and other patterns - found on the dities, perhaps at village fairs as in the recent past (Christodoulou 1959: large jars.Two-handledjugs (stamni) and goat-milking pots are rarely 101-2; London,Egoumenidou, and made today.These changes represent Karageorghis1989:65). The paucity of excavatedkilns and pottery work- chronological distinctions resulting from developments within the inshops might be indicative of the small number of places producing digenous society. In the study of ancient pottery, pottery,both in the past as in the present. changes in the decoration, modificaCana handfulof pottery-producing tions of vessel forms, and the gradual communities supply the entire disappearanceof shapes from the
plate 48: 5 and 49: 6), and the vessel is decorated before adding the handle. The potter, born in Kornos where she learned to make pottery, brought
population? What is the output of each potter and each village? Based on the quantitative data, 1,880 pots are produced in Kornos each month,
repertoire are usually understood as evidence of the passage of time. In Cyprus, these chronological markers can also help explain the social and
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cC
A
0
D
0
20CM
Conclusion Ethnoarchaeologicalstudy of traditional Cypriot potters helps reveal the factorsthat influence variation in ceramic form and finish. Some of the differences have chronological implications while others relate to the place of origin, family ties, and the accepted tradition of making pottery. Why do the potters decorate their wares?To make them look better was one response. Why do potters use specific patterns and not others? The patterns in the clay and the vessel shapes are a permanent statement expressing community, belonging, and continuity. Forthe archaeologist,homogeneity and variation in pottery provide evidence not only of the manufacturingtradition but also of the economic and social catalysts that stimulate changes in ceramic form and finish.
Acknowledgments As traditional potters are gradually disappearingin all parts of the economic relationship between the Cookingpots fromAgios Dimitrios (A), world, I appreciatethe help of everyKaminaria and Kornos(C and D) illustrate one who contributed to this ethnopottery-producingcommunities and village and (B), regional styles. Pottersin Agios their clientele. Differences in pottery Dimitrios create archaeological study of Cypriot zigzag patterns with a result from transformationsand dif- pointed tool. In Kaminaria,the potter covers potters. Financial support from the wares with intricate combed patterns, ferentiation within the society rather her FulbrightCommission guaranteed and she alone decorates the handles on than from external influences. As completion of the project, and I want cooking pots and lids. Kornospotters use the the older potters decrease in number, rosette patterns (C)and roulettepatterns (D), to thank the late Renos Kamenos, as well as combing. Pointed handles so do certain incised patterns and former Executive Director of the predominatein Agios Dimitrios, square or vessel forms. As the ruralpopulation flattened shapes characterizeKaminarialids, FulbrightCommission, as well as diminishes, so does the need for spe- and short bell-shapedhandles typify Kornos his successor, Daniel Hadjitoffi. cooking pot lids. Only Kaminariapots have cific objects once made of clay. VassosKarageorghis,Director of the convexlids; all others are concave and Forarchaeologists,chronological into the vessel mouth. In Kornos,the fit Department of Antiquities, genedifferencesin pottery can be detected decoration continues under the handle, but rously offeredencouragement and on pots made in the mountain villages, the sites that the censpan help, and his dedication to preservby excavating decoration is set between the two handles. turies. But to recognize nontemporal ing the archaeologicaland historical differences related to social distinclandscape of Cyprus will enrich tions it is important to excavate future generations. sites that the The Cyprus American Archaespan contemporaneous physical landscape. To reconstruct ological Research Institute (CAARI), ancient societies requiresboth. which provides a forum for visiting
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est in the traditionalpottery industry. Hampe and Winter (1962)gavean excellent although brief description of the Cypriote traditionalpotters, as part of their survey of Mediterraneanpotters. Among those who have visited the potters in the last two decades are R. H. Johnston(1974),M. Yon (1985),and R. E. Jones (1986).
Franken.Newsletter of the Department of PotteryTechnologyLeiden, No. V. 1987b CypriotePotters:Past and Present. Reportof the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus,1987:319-22. 1989 On Fig Leaves,ItinerantPottersand PotteryProductionLocationsin Cyprus.Pp.65-80 in CraftInteractions in Ceramics,edited by scholars, served as my home when I P.E. McGovernand M. R. Notis. was not in the villages. Stuart Swiny, Series:Ceramics and Civilization, Director of CAARI, stimulates and Bibliography Number IV,edited by W D. Kingery. Christodoulou,D. encourages research and assists in Ohio: American Westerville, 1959 The Evolution of the RuralLand all ways possible, and yathoulla Ceramic Society. Use Patternin Cyprus.Bude,CornMoustoukki, whose ceaseless efforts London,G., Egoumenidou,F.,and wall: GeographicalPublications. contribute to the ambiance and the Karageorghis, V. Franken,H. J. 1989 TraditionalPotteryin Cyprus. success of everyone working at 1986 Introduction.Pp. 7-32 in Pottery Mainz:Philippvon Zabern. and Potters- Past and Present, 7000 CAARI, is invaluable. My thanks Longacre,W A. in Years Ceramic Art Jordan, of also to the trustees of CAARI and 1981 KalingaPottery:An Ethnoarchaeedited by D. Hombs-Fredericqand the American Schools of Oriental ological Study.Pp.49-66 in Pattern H. J.Franken.Series:AusstellungResearch. of the Past, edited by I. Hodder,G. skatalogeder Universitat Tubingen Issac, and N. Hammond. Cambridge: Among those who assisted my No. 20. Tubingen:Attempto. CambridgeUniversity. research in many different ways, I Hampe, R., and Winter,A. Nicholson, P.,and Patterson,H. in 1962 Bei und Tbpfern Tipferinnen Kreta, would like to thank Peter Allen, 1985 Potterymaking in UpperEgypt:An Messenien, und Zypern (reprintedin Robert Bullard, Frosso Egoumenidou, ethnoarchaeologicalstudy. World Mainz: von Zabern. Philipp 1976). 17:222-39. Pamela Gaber, Rick Gann, Andreas Archaeology 1965 Bei Tapfernund Zieglern in Sudieditor Nicolas, A., and Ann Georgides, Lula and Michael talien, Sizilien und Griechenland 1984 Winesof Cyprus.A study by GioIerodiaconou, loanes Ionas, Frank (reprintedin 1976).Mainz:Philipp vanni Mariti,translatedby G. Morris. von Zabern. Kouskey, Jack Sears, Linda and Athens: Nicolas. Herscher,E. Donald Sharpes, David Stronach, Ohnefalsch-Richter,M. H. 1975 New Lightfrom Lapithos.Pp.39-60 1913 Griechische Sitten und Gebriiuche Judith Stylianou, Valentino Charain The Archaeologyof Cyprus:Reauf Cypern.Berlin:Reinerand lambous, Anita Walker, and Gillian cent Developments, edited by N. Vohsen. Webster. Robertson.ParkRidge,NJ:Noyes. Ohnefalsch-Richter,M. To the potters, my hosts, and the Johnston,R. H. 1891 Parallelenin den Gebrauchender 1974 The CypriotePotter.Pp. 131-39 in Alten und der jetzigen Bevolkerung village presidents, who shared with American Expedition to Idalion, von Cypern.Pp.34-43 in Verhandme their homes, hospitality, and Cyprus:FirstPreliminaryReport, der Berlineranthropologischen lungen in I expertise pottery production, Seasons of 1971and 1972, edited by Gesellschaft. thanks. In an efsincere L. E. A. E. and G. express my Stager, Walker, 1893 Kypros,the Bible and Homer. fort to preserve the traditional potWright.Series:Supplementto the London:Asher. Bulletin of the American Schools of W M. E tery of Cyprus, I assembled a collecPetrie, Oriental Research18. Cambridge, 1891 Tellel-Hesy (Lachish).London:A. P. tion of traditional pottery for the MA:American Schools of Oriental Wattfor the Committee of the PalesMuseum. Cyprus Research. tine ExplorationFund. The editorial assistance of E. R. Jones, A. Pieridou, 1986 Greek and CypriotePottery.Series: Lydie Shufro and Pauline Albenda 1960 TraditionalCypriotePottery.KipriaFitch Occasional Laboratory Papers is acknowledged with thanks and kai Spoudai 85-96. (Greek). Number 1. Athens: The British Taylor,J.du Plat, and Tufnell,O. appreciation. School at Athens. 1930 A PotteryIndustryin Cyprus.AnKramer,C. cient Egypt 119-21. Notes 1985 Ceramic Ethnoarchaeology.Annual Watson, P. J. Review of Anthropology14: 77-102. 1An early referenceto local pottery 1980 The theory and practiceof ethnoproductioncan be foundin the eighteenth- London,G. A. archaeologywith special referenceto 1985 Decoding Designs: The Late Third the Near East. Paldorient6: 55-64. century writing of G. Mariti, an Italian Millennium B.C.Potteryfrom Jebel M. priest sent to Cyprus to learn about the Yon, Qa'aqir.Ph.D. dissertation.Tucson: wine industry,who refersbriefly to the 1985 Ateliers et traditionsc~ramiques. University of Arizona.Ann Arbor: Pp. 103-14 in Chypre.La vie quotiMax of Kornos 1984: potters (Nicolas 58). University Microfilms. dienne de l'antiquiti 2nos jours. Ohnefalsch-Richter(1891, 1893)along 1987a Regionalismin TraditionalCypriote Series:Actes du colloque Musdede with MagdaOhnefalsch-Richter(1913), Ceramics.Pp. 125-36 in A Knapsack l'Homme. Paris:Centre National de du Plat and 0. Tufnell Full of Pottery.Archaeo-Ceramological J. Taylor (1930), la RechercheScientifique. and A. Pieridou (1960)have shown interMiscellanea Dedicatedto H. J.
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Book
Reviews
Benchmarksin Time and Culture:An American, British, French,German, and Introductionto PalestinianArchaeology, Israeli schools. This series of essays is edited by JoelF Drinkard,Jr.,Gerald L. especially valuable for two reason;first, Mattingly, and J.Maxwell Miller, 487 pp. each essay gives special attention to those individuals who have had a part in Atlanta, Georgia:Scholars Press, 1988; $44.95 (hardcover),$29.95 (softcover). shaping the history of the individual schools, and, second, each essay provides a review of the sites and excavationprojThis volume, a festschrift honoring the late JosephA. Callawayfor his contribu- ects sponsoredby each group. PartTwo,which is made up of essays tions as a field archaeologistand biblical on the methods and techniques used in scholar, is edited by two of Callaway's former students, JoelE Drinkardand archaeology,includes essays on such GeraldL. Mattingly,along with a friend subjects (andtitles) as: the Excavationof and colleague, J.Maxwell Miller. The Tells, the Excavationof Low-levelSettlement Sites, and the Excavationof Burials festschrift is designed as a textbook for as well as Archaeological Surveys, students interested in taking a serious Ceramic Dating, RadiocarbonDating, look at archaeologyas a scientific disis of it a series More than Palynology,Remote Sensing, Computers essays, cipline. and ArchaeologicalResearch,and the a tribute to Callawayand the goal that was alwaysuppermost in his work- that Publication of ArchaeologicalReports. The information in this section is very the excavationof a site be based on the use of properscientific excavation practicalin nature. Forinstance, in his methods and techniques. Best known for essay titled the Excavationof Tells, Gus his work at et-Tell,biblical Ai, Callaway W.VanBeek leads the readerstep by step believed that through the use of scienthrough the excavationprocess. He betific techniques and adequaterecording gins with a discussion of the nature of a tell and continues by dealing with site methods one could "establishfactual benchmarks"(see the preface)that selection, the selection of areas to be would assist those who wished to gain excavated,staff selection, funding, tell a better understandingof the biblical stratification, contour plans, test pits and trenches, excavatinglayers,excavatworld. These premises form the focal ing walls, balk removal,recordingthe point of these essays. The festschrift is made up of 23 esinformation, and the task of interpretation. The essays on Palynology (the which each had of contributors the says, some association with Callaway.These recoveryand study of pollen grains)and Remote Sensing (the use of sensors essays provideinformation in three mounted on satellites to pick up terresareas.PartOne presents the history of trial images that conventional photogthe development of the majornational schools that have been active in Syroraphycannot detect) illustrate some of the highly advancedmethods being used Palestinian archaeology;PartTwooutin archaeologicalresearch. lines the methods and techniques used PartThree is introducedby an essay in modern archaeologicalresearch;and titled the Impact of the "New ArchaePartThree discusses selected areasin which archaeologicalresearchhas been ology"in which William G. Dever discusses the shifting of the paradigmsof integratedin orderto bring about historical-culturalsyntheses. archaeologicalresearchfrom those prior to 1970, in which the majoremphasis Partone is introducedby an inforwas on techniques, to those that have demative essay titled Antecedents to ModernArchaeologyin which Miller veloped since 1970, in which the major defines archaeology,gives a chronoemphasis is on cultural evolution using a multidisciplinary and holistic approach. logical overview of the majorhistorical Other essays in this section illustrate periods from prehistorictimes to the how archaeologicaldatacan be integrated present, and reviews those who from early times to the present have attempted into other areasof study such as historical to locate and identify biblical sites. geography,sociocultural anthropology, settlement patterns,and epigraphy. This essay is followed by essays on the
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The festschrift concludes with an epilogue that includes a biographical sketch of Callaway'slife as well as a selected bibliographyof his writings. Benchmarks in Time and Cultureis a valuable resource for any student interested in archaeologyas it relates to Syria-Palestine.In addition to the 23 essays, the festschrift includes more than 1,200 bibliographicreferences,a glossary of terms for remote sensing, a glossary for the entire volume, a chart of archaeologicalperiods of Syria-Palestine, a map of archaeologicalsites in Palestine, and an index of authors and an index of sites. The majorweakness of the festschrift is its readability.Some of the essays are so compact that the beginning student will have difficulty moving through them. Fortunately,that is not true of all the essays. Some contributors providecharts, photographs,or other aids that are extremely helpful, such as Amihai Mazar'sessay titled Israeli Archaeologists,which includes a chart of archaeologicalexcavationsconducted by Israeli archaeologistsplus several photos of some of the majorfinds. Although readabilityvaries, all of the essays contain information that is important for those trying to understand Palestinian archaeologytoday.Because the festschrift is, in essence, a onevolume encyclopediapackedwith information on Syro-Palestinianarchaeology, it should be seriously considered as a text by those who teach in this area. The festschrift is also a fitting tribute to a man who was an encouraging friend and a challenging professor. I found Callaway,who was supervisorof my graduateprogram,to be both. His commitment to archaeologyand the new insights it providedfor biblical studies was always apparentin his work. The high expectations and goals he set for himself were the same as those he set for his students. The excitement he had for the "New Archaeology"was contagious, but equally importantwas the personal concern that he and his wife, Sarah,had for his students; duringtimes of family crisis, they were there to embrace and encourage.Although Joe's untimely death in August 1988 has robbedus of a dearfriend and admired
an adherentof the Albright school is made abundantlyclear. Of interest in this connection is Freedman'scontention that "thefollies and fallacies of Freudian,Darwinian, and Marxianapproaches to the Bible have been self evident"(page42). Regrettably,he The Scholarshipof William Foxwell neither defines nor clearly explains Abright:An Appraisal(HarvardSemitic Albright'srelationship to these alternaStudies Number 33), edited by Gus tive historiographicalschools. VanBeek, 73 pp. Atlanta, Georgia: W. Delbert R. Hillers offers a revealing Scholars Press, 1989; $16.95. analysis of Albright'sphilological achievements, noting their sources of scholarly William FoxwellAlbright must be coninspiration and their impact on subsidered a central figure in the developsequent studies. A final essay,by Van ment of twentieth century Near Eastern Beek, concentrates on Albright'sconstudies, and his scholarly reputation still tribution to archaeology.After reviewing looms large.A critical assessment of his Albright'sachievements in excavation work is thereforequite welcome and is technique and technical description, Van Beek providesa pointed criticism of provided,to a certain extent, by this volume in which severalof Albright'smost Albright'stendency to infer clear eviprominent students describe his scholar- dence of military conquest (of the early ly contributions to the disciplines of Israelites,in particular)where the archaeepigraphyand paleography,history, ological recordwas ambiguous at best. philology, and archaeology. Here, perhaps,it might have been enReaderswill find, however,that lightening to compareAlbright'sarchaepraise is more plentiful than critical ological methods and assumptions to those of his contemporariesin other analysis. The 1984 symposium at which these essays were first presentedwas parts of the word, such as A. V.Kidder called Homage to William Foxwell or GordonChilde. It is neither accident nor coincidence Albright, a title that might have been the for that proceedappropriate published Albright'smemory is still deeply ings as well. It is evident that Albright's honored by American Protestant,Cathohold on the imagination and loyalty of lic, and Jewishscholars and by Israeli his students is still enormous almost 20 scholars as well. His greatest influence of since his death. each felt at a time when both Christian was years Although the contributorshighlights severalof theology and Middle Easternpolitical realities were undergoingdramaticchanges, Albright'smistaken assumptions and conclusions in the light of subsequent and his scholarship,conveyedto the nevertheless all discoveries,they express generalpublic in his popularlectures, their admirationfor Albright'slong and articles, and books, reacheda wide and multifaceted careeras a generalistreceptive audience. Clearly,Albright's ratherthan a narrowspecialist of any intellectual impact- as expressed in his field of ancient Near Eastern single eloquent defense of the historicity of the research. Bible, in his supportfor modern ChrisThis book will be of obvious intertian Humanism, and in his somewhat est to scholars alreadyfamiliar with unlikely celebrity status within Israelfar transcendedthe usual bounds of Albright'smost important achievements, yet its frequent technical discusscholarly activity. Unfortunately,these sions -which often assume much and largersocial, religious, and even political explain little - make it perhapsof limited dimensions of the man and his work are interest for general readers.Following only briefly addressedin this volume's Gus W.VanBeek'sbrief biographical essays, which rarelyventure beyond the essay, FrankMoore Cross details the particularsof Near Easternstudies. evolutionary frameworkdevelopedby Although this book succeeds in its avowedintention to providea competent Albright for the study of Hebrew and other ancient Near Easternscripts. scholarly postmortem useful to specialDavid Noel Freedmanoffers a wideists in reconstructingthe history of rerangingassessment of Albright'shistori- search, it ultimately fails to take up the cal thinking in which his own stance as far more ambitious challenge of placing
scholar, his contributions to SyroPalestinian archaeologywill long be remembered.Benchmarks in Time and Culturewill help us remember. LaMoineDeVries Southwest Missouri State University
Albright'scareerin the context of modern social and religious, as well as intellectual, history. Neil A Silberman Branford,Connecticut The Zealous Intruders:The Western Rediscoveryof Palestine, by Naomi Shepherd,282 pp. San Francisco:Harper & Row, 1988; $19.95 (firstpublished in 1987 by William Collins Sons & Co., Ltd., London). Naomi Shepherd'swork is the most recent attempt to describe for a popularaudience the nineteenth-century exploration of Palestine. It supplements the earlier works by YehoshuaBen-Arieh(1979)and Neil Asher Silberman (1982)and fills severalgaps in their treatments. The author is a journalist who has servedas political correspondentfor the New Statesman and has written A Refugefrom Darkness (1984),the story of WilfridIsrael and his efforts to aid Jewishrefugees duringWorldWarII. Zealous Intrudersis arranged thematically into eight chapters,which treat:Napoleon'sinvasion of Palestine in 1799 and the subsequent rediscoveryof the Holy Landby Europe;the adventures and contributions of early nineteenthcentury travelersto Palestine, such as Ulrich J.Seetzen and JohannL. Burckhardt;the role of exploration in Palestine in attempting to illustrate and confirm biblical accounts; competition among foreignconsuls in Palestine for influence in the region;the careerof Akil Aga, a prominent Bedouin chieftain who exercised enormous influence in Galilee and managedto play off Europeanand Ottoman officials against one another;the story of the nineteenth-century tourism industry in Palestine, led by the Thomas and JohnCook Company;the work of Charles Warren,EdwardHenry Palmer, Charles Clermont-Ganneau,and other "soldiersand scholars"who exploredthe land; and the interest of Christian millenialists in Jewishconversion to Christianity and return to Palestine. Although there is a bibliographyfor each chapterand a general one for the volume as a whole, the specialist will probablyfind the lack of endnotes annoying at times, since the author's sources for certain information are not always obvious. There is also a general index, which is helpful but suffers some
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
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,KM
omissions (forexample, Mount Gerizim, Jerusalem,and the WailingWallfrom page 190)and errors(forexample, Isaac Zachariahis listed as appearingon page 11 instead of page 111).Finally,there are eight pages of black-and-whiteplates and one page of maps. Shepherd'streatment usually seems even-handedand is always engaging,but its factual accuracycould havebeen improvedat some points by making greater use of the more recent secondaryliterature;for example, her description of the discoveryof the Mesha Inscription (pages 207-09) ignores the important article by SiegfriedHorn (1983).The most substantial contributions of Zealous Intruders,
however,arise from the author'swork with unpublished materials from the nineteenth century.Her treatment of Clermont-Ganneau(pages214-21) offers a fine example of this. The secondary literaturehas mostly ignoredhis unsuccessful attempt to remove the Gezer boundaryinscriptions that he had discovered.Shepherdexplains in greatdetail the personal animus and political intrigues that upset the Frenchman'sefforts to secure the inscriptions, and she seems to assess accuratelythe role that this event playedwithin the largercontext of Clermont-Ganneau'scareer. On the whole, Shepherd'sbook merits an enthusiastic recommendation as a well-written, illuminating, and intriguing account that arrangesmaterials aroundsignificant themes and tells many stories for the first time. It will interest the general readeras well as the specialist and should make a delightful addition to the readinglists for college courses on the archaeologyof Palestine. Moreover,it should encouragefurtherresearch in the history of this fascinating and important areaof study.
Amos, Hosea, Micah-An Archaeological Commentary,by Philip J.King, 176 pp. Philadelphia: WestminsterPress, 1988; $18.95 (hardcover), $13.95 (paper).
tecture, fortifications, and warfare; (chapter4) the cult; (chapter5) agriculture, plants, and animals; and (chapter6) banquets and high living. A map, chronological chart, and archaeologicalchart provideconvenient referencematerial. However,the map does not include all the sites mentioned in the text, and the chronologicalchart should haveincluded Egyptand at least the three prophetsand their approximatetime period. A few endnotes, brief glossary,selected bibliography,selected index, and scripture index are all helpful, though all could have been expandedwith the exception of the scriptureindex, which appearsto be complete. More than 40 illustrations also enhance the volume. King wisely chose to concentrate on three eighth-centuryprophetswhere archaeologicalinformation to illuminate them is abundant.His researchis extensive, thorough, and fully up-to-date. The book is written for nonspecialists in a nontechnical and interesting style, yet the results are so impressive that even specialists will not be able to bypass this book. The only significant weakness is the title. The term commentary raises the expectation that the book will follow the orderof the biblical text either verse by verse or unit by unit. King does this in discussing the historical setting, Amos' Oracles Against the Nations (pages4958), but the rest of the book is arranged topically andis not a commentary.Rather
Good archaeologicalcommentaries on the Bible are essential if we are to understand the Bible better. Yet, so far,such commentaries have appearedinfrequently and with disappointingresults. G. Cornfeld'sArchaeology of the Bible: Book by Book (1976)was quite limited andnot fully up-to-date.G. Baez-Camargo's it gives archaeological background information to illuminate Amos, Hosea, and Archaeological Commentaryon the Bible (1984)was also limited and not Micah. This criticism in no way limits it is real a fully up-to-date.Therefore, my enthusiastic recommendationof the pleasure to welcome this archaeological book, but I think a more accuratetitle "commentary." Philip King,who is a past would have been Amos, Hosea, Micahof the American Schools of ArchaeologicalBackgroundInformation. president Oriental Research,the Society of BibliJamesC. Moyer cal Literature,and the Catholic Biblical Southwest Missouri State University Association, is certainly well-qualified Bibliography for the task. Ben-Arieh,Y. 1979 The Rediscoveryof the Holy Landin After a brief prefaceand introducthe Nineteenth Century.Jerusalem: tion, King divides his material into six Magnes Press. chapters.The first chapterintroduces Horn, S. biblical archaeologyand how it illumiBOOKPUBLISHERS 1983 The Discovery of the Moabite Stone. nates the biblical text then sumPlease send all review copies to: briefly Pp. 497-505 in The Wordof the Lord marizes the books of Amos, Hosea and Dr. JamesMoyer Shall Go Forth.WinonaLake,IN: Micah. Chapter2 providesthe historical Eisenbrauns. Department of Religious Studies andgeographicalsettings of these biblical Silberman,N. A. Southwest Missouri State University books. In the last four chapters,King 1982 Digging for God and Country. 901 South National, Box 167 moves on to the material culture that ilNew York:Knopf. MO 64804-0095 Springfield, M. Patrick Graham luminates these eighth-centuryprophets. These treat: archichapters Emory University (chapter3)
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BODY, SOUL, AND LIFE EVERLASTING Biblical Anthropology and the MonismDualism Debate John W Cooper
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THE ACTUALITY OF ATONEMENT A Study of Metaphor,
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Biblical Archaeologist, December 1989
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ARCHBISHOP CRANMER'S IMMORTAL BEQUEST The Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England: An Evangelistic Liturgy Samuel Leuenberger
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DIAKONIA IN THE CLASSICAL REFORMED TRADITION AND TODAY Elsie Anne McKee McKee studies the Calvinist churches' teaching and practice of the service or diaconal ministry of Christians, focusing especially on its development in the Protestant Reformation and its redevelopment in the late twentieth century. Paper, $12.95
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CONFESSORBETWEEN EAST AND WEST A Portraitof Ukrainian CardinalJosyf Slipyj JaroslavPelikan
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THE STRUGGLEFOR AMERICA'SSOUL Evangelicals, Liberals, and Secularism Robert Wuthnow
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TERMINALCHOICES Euthanasia,Suicide, and the Right to Die RobertN. Wennberg
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