DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4856#0064
58
a half from the village of Episkopi. It was approached by gates on the north, west,
and south, on the western side from the sea. The whole extent of this elevation is covered
with the debris of buildings, granite columns, etc., and in the centre lies the mosaic
pavement under which Cesnola claimed to have found his great treasure. At the
northern end is a small theatre, and about a mile thence along the cliff are the ruins of
the temple of Apollo Hylates. Towards the end of the excavations the remains of a
small temple were unearthed in a ravine running northwards from the Acropolis,
including a rubbish-heap full of terracotta statuettes. An inscription which was also
found suggests that this temple may have been dedicated to Demeter and Core.
The tomb-area is very extensive. Beginning with the rock-cut tombs, many
hundreds of which are seen in the south wall of the Acropolis, long ago explored and
emptied, tombs of all periods are found over the low-lying ground extending about
half a mile south of the Acropolis, and in less numbers on the hill-slopes along the
bridle-road to Paphos. An entirely new necropolis was also brought to light on the
Limassol road, east of the village of Episkopi, the remains discovered in which were
mainly of the Mycenaean period.
The excavations took place on two sites (A and B) on the level ground south of the
Acropolis ; one in the narrow valley to the north (C) ; one near the Limassol road, half a mile
east of Episkopi (D) ; and along the side of the hill above the Paphos bridle-road between
the Acropolis and Episkopi (E). The site marked D was the one that yielded Mycenaean
remains, and the best Greek tombs were found on site B ; those on site E were nearly all of
Roman date, and those on sites A and C contained little but common Cypriote pottery.1
THE TOMBS.
The most common type of tomb much resembles that of Amathus, viz., an approxi-
mately square cave about nine feet each way, with a vertical shaft of eight to twenty
feet, or a staircase when the tomb was on the side of a hill, and with a more or less rude
doorway. This description, however, only holds good of the local Cypriote or Roman tombs.
Those containing Greek objects, and some of the Roman tombs, were of a different character,
while those of the Mycenaean necropolis were again of a distinct type. Although none were
equal in size to the large tombs at Amathus, yet some of the Roman tombs were extremely
large and elaborate {e.g. Nos. 60, 76, no, 113, 114). The tombs containing Greek
objects (10, 26, 73, 83) were merely cut in the earth, and consisted of ramifying passages.
The Mycenaean tombs were of two types, and answer to those of Hagia Paraskevi near
Nicosia and other places, as described by Duemmler.2 The commoner variety consists of
an oven-shaped chamber a few feet below the surface, generally with a stone in front of it;
the depth varies from two to ten feet, and the tomb is generally very small and irregular
1 For a record of previous excavations on this site, see Myres and Richter, Cyprus Mus. Cat. p. 6,
and references there given.
2 Athenische Mittheilungen, xi. (1886), p. 215 (with plate).
a half from the village of Episkopi. It was approached by gates on the north, west,
and south, on the western side from the sea. The whole extent of this elevation is covered
with the debris of buildings, granite columns, etc., and in the centre lies the mosaic
pavement under which Cesnola claimed to have found his great treasure. At the
northern end is a small theatre, and about a mile thence along the cliff are the ruins of
the temple of Apollo Hylates. Towards the end of the excavations the remains of a
small temple were unearthed in a ravine running northwards from the Acropolis,
including a rubbish-heap full of terracotta statuettes. An inscription which was also
found suggests that this temple may have been dedicated to Demeter and Core.
The tomb-area is very extensive. Beginning with the rock-cut tombs, many
hundreds of which are seen in the south wall of the Acropolis, long ago explored and
emptied, tombs of all periods are found over the low-lying ground extending about
half a mile south of the Acropolis, and in less numbers on the hill-slopes along the
bridle-road to Paphos. An entirely new necropolis was also brought to light on the
Limassol road, east of the village of Episkopi, the remains discovered in which were
mainly of the Mycenaean period.
The excavations took place on two sites (A and B) on the level ground south of the
Acropolis ; one in the narrow valley to the north (C) ; one near the Limassol road, half a mile
east of Episkopi (D) ; and along the side of the hill above the Paphos bridle-road between
the Acropolis and Episkopi (E). The site marked D was the one that yielded Mycenaean
remains, and the best Greek tombs were found on site B ; those on site E were nearly all of
Roman date, and those on sites A and C contained little but common Cypriote pottery.1
THE TOMBS.
The most common type of tomb much resembles that of Amathus, viz., an approxi-
mately square cave about nine feet each way, with a vertical shaft of eight to twenty
feet, or a staircase when the tomb was on the side of a hill, and with a more or less rude
doorway. This description, however, only holds good of the local Cypriote or Roman tombs.
Those containing Greek objects, and some of the Roman tombs, were of a different character,
while those of the Mycenaean necropolis were again of a distinct type. Although none were
equal in size to the large tombs at Amathus, yet some of the Roman tombs were extremely
large and elaborate {e.g. Nos. 60, 76, no, 113, 114). The tombs containing Greek
objects (10, 26, 73, 83) were merely cut in the earth, and consisted of ramifying passages.
The Mycenaean tombs were of two types, and answer to those of Hagia Paraskevi near
Nicosia and other places, as described by Duemmler.2 The commoner variety consists of
an oven-shaped chamber a few feet below the surface, generally with a stone in front of it;
the depth varies from two to ten feet, and the tomb is generally very small and irregular
1 For a record of previous excavations on this site, see Myres and Richter, Cyprus Mus. Cat. p. 6,
and references there given.
2 Athenische Mittheilungen, xi. (1886), p. 215 (with plate).