DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25181#0011
Ancient Tombs in the Island of Cyprus.
133
being found in the neighbourhood of three several temples, from which inscrip-
tions in the Cyprian characters have been excavated, are tolerably convincing
proofs that they were the last resting-places of the indigenous Cyprians. The
theory that they were the tombs of the Phoenicians would seem to be untenable,
as neither historical notices nor the presence of Phoenician inscriptions warrant
the belief that that people ever established themselves in any numbers beyond
the comparatively narrow limits embraced by the territories of Citium, Idalium,
and Tamassus, and for a very brief period at Salamis. The valuable historical
chronicle of the Book of Genesis, which dates from a time before the Phoenicians
set foot in the island, informs us that a people known under the ethnic appellation
of Kittim (Citium), a son of Javan of the race of Japhet, first colonised Cyprus,
Javan being the progenitor of the Yunan, or Ionians, Yunan being the term by
which the Greek race are to this day designated amongst most Eastern nations.
Evidence in support of this statement is supplied by the pottery found in great
abundance in this class of cemeteries, the ornaments and emblems traced on
which bear a striking analogy to primitive Ionic Greek art. I believe my friend
Mr. B. JEL Lang, whose long residence in Cyprus led him to give his special
attention to this subject, was the first to establish, in an unpublished work on the
ancient history of that island, that its primitive inhabitants-were Aryan and not
Semitic in race, according to the commonly received opinion of its being peopled
by Phoenicians. This view I found subsequently confirmed by the independent
researches of so great an authority as the ftev. Professor Bawlinson, who argues
the question at length in an article in the January number of the Sunday at
Home for 1869. I take the present opportunity of acknowledging my great
obligations to Mr. Lang for many valuable suggestions contained in this paper.
To return to our main subject. The pottery of this class of tombs is separated
by a wide gulf from that previously described, all the characteristic forms of
which now pass out of sight. The artists rely entirely on colour for ornamenta-
tion, the use of lines for that purpose scratched on the surface being abandoned.
The colours employed are black, brown, yellow, red, and purple, the three former
of which only are fast colours, the red being easily washed off with water. The
ground is a pale fawn colour, except in certain vases specified hereafter, where
it is red, and the clay is neither so fine nor thin as in the pottery last described.
The fawn-coloured ground, however, is produced, especially in the case of the
large amphorse, by dipping the vessel in a wash of that colour, the ground imme-
diately beneath the surface being a brick red.
The characteristic forms are—1st. The amphora (PI. XIII.), standing from
133
being found in the neighbourhood of three several temples, from which inscrip-
tions in the Cyprian characters have been excavated, are tolerably convincing
proofs that they were the last resting-places of the indigenous Cyprians. The
theory that they were the tombs of the Phoenicians would seem to be untenable,
as neither historical notices nor the presence of Phoenician inscriptions warrant
the belief that that people ever established themselves in any numbers beyond
the comparatively narrow limits embraced by the territories of Citium, Idalium,
and Tamassus, and for a very brief period at Salamis. The valuable historical
chronicle of the Book of Genesis, which dates from a time before the Phoenicians
set foot in the island, informs us that a people known under the ethnic appellation
of Kittim (Citium), a son of Javan of the race of Japhet, first colonised Cyprus,
Javan being the progenitor of the Yunan, or Ionians, Yunan being the term by
which the Greek race are to this day designated amongst most Eastern nations.
Evidence in support of this statement is supplied by the pottery found in great
abundance in this class of cemeteries, the ornaments and emblems traced on
which bear a striking analogy to primitive Ionic Greek art. I believe my friend
Mr. B. JEL Lang, whose long residence in Cyprus led him to give his special
attention to this subject, was the first to establish, in an unpublished work on the
ancient history of that island, that its primitive inhabitants-were Aryan and not
Semitic in race, according to the commonly received opinion of its being peopled
by Phoenicians. This view I found subsequently confirmed by the independent
researches of so great an authority as the ftev. Professor Bawlinson, who argues
the question at length in an article in the January number of the Sunday at
Home for 1869. I take the present opportunity of acknowledging my great
obligations to Mr. Lang for many valuable suggestions contained in this paper.
To return to our main subject. The pottery of this class of tombs is separated
by a wide gulf from that previously described, all the characteristic forms of
which now pass out of sight. The artists rely entirely on colour for ornamenta-
tion, the use of lines for that purpose scratched on the surface being abandoned.
The colours employed are black, brown, yellow, red, and purple, the three former
of which only are fast colours, the red being easily washed off with water. The
ground is a pale fawn colour, except in certain vases specified hereafter, where
it is red, and the clay is neither so fine nor thin as in the pottery last described.
The fawn-coloured ground, however, is produced, especially in the case of the
large amphorse, by dipping the vessel in a wash of that colour, the ground imme-
diately beneath the surface being a brick red.
The characteristic forms are—1st. The amphora (PI. XIII.), standing from