DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4920#0004
Introduction,
At a remote period the island of Cyprus was colonized from the main-land, and an
early mention of it occurs in the reign of Thothmes III., when it was called Amasi or
Amasia, the word Kefa, formerly considered to be its appellation, having been proved by
the bilingual tablet of Euergetes L, found at San, to be the name of Phoenicia, not Cyprus.
As it brought tribute to the Egyptian monarch it might have been conquered by him,
but the sending of tribute does not necessarily prove it conquered, as even at that period
it may have been governed by native princes. The Phoenicians, also called Kefa, exhibited
evidence of high civilization in metallic work, and the hypothesis that Cyprus was first
colonized by these people from Sidon, or Tyre, is highly probable. If any work of their
art of so old an age exists, is doubtful, and it is difficult to point to any which by a
remote possibility could be referred to it. Nor can any Phoenician inscription be
discovered earlier than that of Mesa, of Moab, about B.C. 900, and the oldest found in
Cyprus is four centuries and a half later. The various statuettes and engraved stones
found in Cyprus are also not older than the sixth century B.C., so that it is extremely
doubtful if any of the sculptures can be referred to an older period than the sixth or
seventh century B.C.
Nor can they be referred to so remote a date as B.C. 1500, or the age of Thothmes
III. That monarch indeed received tribute from Cyprus, which it appears was called Amasi
or Amasia, at the time. There is, however, a long interval before any subsequent mention
of Cyprus is found in Egyptian annals.
Probably the Phoenicians first colonized the island, or, at all events, the sea-coast;
for we have no trace of earlier or aboriginal inhabitants, and their dynastic rulers, called
Cinyradae, from Cinyras, ruled at the time of the Trojan war. Cinyras, the ruler of
the island, or a part of it, at the time sent a present of a cuirass to Agamemnon, and
promised the assistance of a naval contingent; but even Cyprus at the time was on a
At a remote period the island of Cyprus was colonized from the main-land, and an
early mention of it occurs in the reign of Thothmes III., when it was called Amasi or
Amasia, the word Kefa, formerly considered to be its appellation, having been proved by
the bilingual tablet of Euergetes L, found at San, to be the name of Phoenicia, not Cyprus.
As it brought tribute to the Egyptian monarch it might have been conquered by him,
but the sending of tribute does not necessarily prove it conquered, as even at that period
it may have been governed by native princes. The Phoenicians, also called Kefa, exhibited
evidence of high civilization in metallic work, and the hypothesis that Cyprus was first
colonized by these people from Sidon, or Tyre, is highly probable. If any work of their
art of so old an age exists, is doubtful, and it is difficult to point to any which by a
remote possibility could be referred to it. Nor can any Phoenician inscription be
discovered earlier than that of Mesa, of Moab, about B.C. 900, and the oldest found in
Cyprus is four centuries and a half later. The various statuettes and engraved stones
found in Cyprus are also not older than the sixth century B.C., so that it is extremely
doubtful if any of the sculptures can be referred to an older period than the sixth or
seventh century B.C.
Nor can they be referred to so remote a date as B.C. 1500, or the age of Thothmes
III. That monarch indeed received tribute from Cyprus, which it appears was called Amasi
or Amasia, at the time. There is, however, a long interval before any subsequent mention
of Cyprus is found in Egyptian annals.
Probably the Phoenicians first colonized the island, or, at all events, the sea-coast;
for we have no trace of earlier or aboriginal inhabitants, and their dynastic rulers, called
Cinyradae, from Cinyras, ruled at the time of the Trojan war. Cinyras, the ruler of
the island, or a part of it, at the time sent a present of a cuirass to Agamemnon, and
promised the assistance of a naval contingent; but even Cyprus at the time was on a