Published: June 18, 2018 By

Photograph of Cypriot jug, light buff clay with brown decoration, from the side against a neutral gray background.The is located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, and southest of Greece, ideally located to become a major link between the Aegean and the Near East. A history of extensive trade contact and numerous immigrations of foreigners resulted in a local culture which bore many signs of foreign influence.Ìý

The earliest evidence for human activity on Cyprus dates back to the Neolithic period, when seasonal hunters visited the island to hunt pygmy elephants and pygmy hippopotami.ÌýThe first significant contact with foreign cultures came during the Early Bronze Age (2,600-2,000 B.C.E.),Ìýwith a wave of new immigrants to the island. Some types of pottery from this period, specificallyÌý, resembles Anatolian wares, a similarity thatÌýhas led to the theory that immigrants from Anatolia (modern Turkey)Ìýwere the impetus for Early Bronze Age culture on Cyprus. These newcomers are also thought to have introduced more advanced metallurgical practices, which allowed for the manufacture of objects of copper and its alloy, bronzeÌý(1).ÌýThe island was famous in antiquity for .Ìý

Other artifacts dating from this period attest to the presence of trade contacts with Crete and possibly EgyptÌý(2).

Trade contacts continued to grow throughout the Middle Bronze Age (2,000-1,600 B.C.E.)Ìýand into Ìý(1,600-1,050 B.C.E.). This increase in trade spurred the development of a writing system for administrative and recordkeeping purposes and thus led to the emergence of what has been labeled by some scholars as a . Cypro-Minoan is labeled as such because scholars have compared it to theÌýÌýscript ofÌýCrete, home to the contemporary . This view is not universally supported and other evidence indicates Near Eastern influences on Cypriot culture, as well (3).

Around 1,400 B.C.E.,Ìý merchants, attracted by the potential for trade with the Near East, began immigrating to Cyprus. With them they broughtÌýMycenaean pottery, which introduced a plethora of new decoration schemes to Cyprus, including the MycenaeanÌýpictorial style, a famous example of which is the Ìý(4). Much of the Mycenaean pottery found on Cyprus seems to be importedÌýfrom the Greek mainland, but some scholars think there were Mycenaean potters living on Cyprus and interacting with local potters (5).ÌýThe existence of Mycenaean pots that imitateÌýtraditional Cypriot shapes supports this theory (6).

In the Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØArt Museum's collection is an Early Iron Age juglet from CyprusÌýthat demonstrates some of the blend of local and foreign influences in Cypriot art.

Ìýon the east coast of Cyprus,Ìýdating to the 8th and 7th centuries B.C.E., provide a perfect example of the island's central position between the Aegean andÌýthe Near East. The tombs contain a wealth of grave goods from both east and west (7).ÌýA largeÌýGeometric period Greek kraterÌýwas found alongside with local Cypriot wares, Phoenician goods executed in an Egyptian manner, and a number of locally made and importedÌýNear Eastern-style bronze objects (8).ÌýThe most impressive of these are two massiveÌýhammered bronzeÌýtripod cauldrons. One of them is decorated withÌýgriffin protomesÌýandÌýsiren attachments, decorations that suggest it may have been locally made with influence from North Syria orÌý, providingÌýa crucial link between tripodÌýcauldrons found in the Aegean and Italy and their supposed Near Eastern origins (9).Ìý

This essay was written to accompany aÌýcollection of Greek artifacts at the Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØArt Museum.Ìý

Collections of Cypriot Antiquities Online:Ìý

  • Ìýat the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
  • Ìýat the Institute of Cypriot Studies at SUNY Albany in New York

Footnotes

  1. Vassos °­²¹°ù²¹²µ±ð´Ç°ù²µ³ó¾±²õ,ÌýCyprus from the Stone Age to the RomansÌý(London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1982): 40-41.
  2. °­²¹°ù²¹²µ±ð´Ç°ù²µ³ó¾±²õ,ÌýCyprus from the Stone Age to the Roman:Ìý46.
  3. °­²¹°ù²¹²µ±ð´Ç°ù²µ³ó¾±²õ,ÌýCyprus from the Stone Age to the Roman:Ìý63-66.
  4. Emily Vermeule,ÌýMycenaean Pictorial Vase PaintingÌý(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,1982): 6-9.
  5. A. D. Lacy,ÌýGreek Pottery in the Bronze AgeÌý(London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1967): 167-168.
  6. °­²¹°ù²¹²µ±ð´Ç°ù²µ³ó¾±²õ,ÌýCyprus from the Stone Age to the Romans: 79.
  7. °­²¹°ù²¹²µ±ð´Ç°ù²µ³ó¾±²õ,ÌýCyprus from the Stone Age to the Romans​:Ìý112-113.
  8. °­²¹°ù²¹²µ±ð´Ç°ù²µ³ó¾±²õ,ÌýCyprus from the Stone Age to the Romans​: 130-134.
  9. Vassos °­²¹°ù²¹²µ±ð´Ç°ù²µ³ó¾±²õ,ÌýThe Ancient Civilization of CyprusÌý(New York: Cowles Education Corporation, 1969): 155-156.