Cyprus

• an island in the Mediterranean Sea, on the coast of Asia Minor, renowned for its fruitfulness, its rich mines, especially of copper, and for the worship of Venus, Mel. 2, 7, 5; Plin. 5, 31, 35, § 129; Cic. Att. 9, 9, 2; id. Fam. 15, 4, 15; Hor. C. 1, 3, 1; 1, 19, 10; Ov. M. 10, 270 et saep. —
• II Hence,
• • A Cȳ̆prĭus, a, um, adj., Cyprian: merces, Hor. C. 3, 29, 60: trabs, id. ib. 1, 1, 13: tellus, i. e. Cyprus, Ov. M. 10, 645: laurus, Plin. 15, 30, 39, § 127 et saep.— But esp. freq. Cyprium aes, also absol.: Cȳ̆prĭum, ii, n. (late Lat. cuprum, Spart. Carac. 9, hence), Engl. copper, Plin. 34, 8, 20, § 94; Isid. Orig. 16, 20, 2.—Hence,
  • • • • β Cȳ̆-prĭus, a, um, adj., of copper, copper-: in mortariis, Plin. 33, 5, 29, § 93: vas, id. 23, 3, 37, § 74 Jan. and Sillig (al. cypreo): in pyxide, id. 28, 8, 27, § 95; cf.: pyxide aeris Cyprii, Scrib. Comp. 37: pes Cyprios, in versification, ⏑ – ⏑ ⏑ –, Diom. 3, p. 479.—
      • b Prov.: Cyprio bovi merendam Ennius sotadico versu cum dixit significavit id quod solet fieri in insulā Cypro, in quā boves humano stercore pascuntur, Paul. ex Fest. p. 59, 4 Müll.—
      • c Subst.
      • • α Cȳ̆prĭa, ae, f., the Cyprian, i. e. Venus, Tib. 3, 3, 34; cf. Paul. ex Fest. p. 52, 6 Müll.—
        • β In plur.: Cȳ̆prii, ōrum, m., the Cyprians, Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 208; Curt. 4, 3, 11.—
  • B Cȳ̆prĭ-cus, a, um, adj., Cyprian: laurus, Cato R. R. 8, 2.—
  • C Cȳ̆prĭăcus, a, um, adj., the same: expeditio, Val. Max. 4, 3, n. 2: tauri, Capitol. Gord. 3 fin.—
  • D Cȳ̆pris, ĭdis, f., the Cyprian, i. e. Venus (in post-class. poetry), Aus. Epigr. 57; 106 al.

➳ acc. -on Ov. M. 10, 718 ; abl. -o Ov. M. 10, 270.

CYPRUS(Κύπρος: Eth. and Adj. Κύπριος, Κυπριακός, Κυπριεύς, Κυπρίτης, Cyprius, Cypriacus: Kibris), an island lying off the coast of Phoenicia and Cilicia.

The physical features and the legends connected with this chosen seat of Aphrodite, have given rise to a multitude of names. 1. Acamantis (Ἀκαμαντίς). 2. Amathusia (Ἀμαθουσία). 3. Aspelia. 4. Colinia. 5. Cerastis (Κερασρτίς). 6. Cryptos (Κρυπτός). 7. Macaria (Μακαρία). 8. Meïonis (Μηϊονίς). 9. Ophiusa (Ophiusia arva, Ov. Met10.229). 10. Spheceia (Σφηκεία).

According to ancient admeasurements the circuit of this island. amounted to 3420 stadia. (Strab. 14. p. 682.) Its greatest length from W. to E., between Cape Acamas and the islands called the Keys of Cyprus (Κλεῖδες), was, reckoned at 1400 stadia. (Strab. l. c.;Plin. Nat. 5.35; Agathem. 1.5.) The principal or SW. part of the island has the form of an irregular parallelogram, and terminates with a long narrow peninsula, running in a NE. direction. Its shape was compared fancifully by the old writers to a fleece (Agathem. l. c.), or to a Gallic shield (Hyg. Fab. 276). The surface of the country is almost entirely occupied by the elevated range of Mt. Olympus, whose culminating points reach the height of 7000 feet. The slopes descend both on the N. and S. shores: on the former side the chain is bold and rugged; on the S. side the scenery is still bolder, presenting a deeply serrated outline with thickly wooded steeps, which are broken by masses of limestone, or furrowed by deep picturesque valleys, in which grow the narcissus, the anemone, and ranunculus.

The mountains contained: copper (χαλκὸς Κύπριος, aes Cyprium), the most famous mines of which were to be found at Tamassus, Amathus, Soli, and Curion (Plin. Nat. 12.60, 34.20), as well as the nobler metals, gold and silver. The precious stones of Cyprus were famous in antiquity. They were: the adamas vergens in aerium colorem(Plin. Nat. 37.15),--whether this was the diamond seems doubtful, as it has been thought that Pliny was unacquainted with the real diamond (Dana, Mineralogy, p. 401);--the smaragdos(37.17), emerald; the chalcosmaragdos turbida aereis venis(37.19), malachite (?), or more probably red jasper; paederos(37.22), opal; achates(37.54), agate; and asbestos (Dioscor. 5.156). The land is described as flowing with wine, oil (Strab. p. 684), and honey (Plin. Nat. 11.14); and the fragrance of its flowers gave it the epithet of εὐώδης --the plaything (ἄθυρμα) of the goddess of Love. (Eustath. ad Dionys. Per. 508.)

Cyprus lies between Asia and Africa, and the flora and fauna of the island partake of the characteristics of both continents. A list of the plants, birds, quadrupeds, and fishes, found in Cyprus, is given in Walpole ( Turkey and Greece, vol. 1. p. 253, foll.). The Ferula Graeca--or νάρθηκα, as it is now called, with a slight alteration from the ancient name--is one of the most important plants of the island in respect to its economical uses. The stalks furnish the poor Cyprian with a great part of his household furniture; and the pith is used instead of tinder for conveying fire from one place to another, as taught by Prometheus of old. (Aesch. Prom. 109.)

The level tracts were in the neighbourhood of Salamis and Citium, the former was watered by the river Pediaeus, and the latter by the Tretus; but, as these streams are occasionally dry, marshes have in consequence been formed. Strabo (14. p. 682) begins his description of the island with Cape Acamas (Ἄκαμας), at the W. extremity of the island, which he describes as a thickly wooded headland, divided into two summits rising towards the N. (Comp. Ptol. 5.14§ 1; Plin. Nat. 5.31; Stadiasm. § § 282, 292, 293.) The modern name, after the celebrated metropolitan of Cyprus, is Haghios Epiphanios, which is shortened into St. Pifano. The next point, in a S. direction, is Drepanon (Δρέπανον, Ptol. 5.14.1: Trepano). Then the roadstead and harbour of Paphos (Πάφος). The cape which closes the bay of Baffoto the W. is the Zephyrium Promontorium (Ζεφύριον, Ptol. 5.14.1; Ζεφυρία ἄκρα, Strab. p. 683). To the S. is another headland, Arsinoë (Ἀρσινόη), followed by Phrurium (Φρούριον, Ptol. 5.14.1: Capo Blanco). At a little distance further inland was Hierocepia (Ἱεροκηπία, Strab. p. 684). Then follow Palaepaphos (Παλαίπαφος : Κυκλαor Κονυκλια), Boosura (Βοόσοῦρα : Bisur), Treta (Τρήτα : Tera), and Curium (Κούριον) with a port built by the Argives. Near this was the point of Curias (Κουρίας : Capo delle Gatte), at a little distance from which are some salt marshes which receive an arm of the river Lycus (Λῦκος, Ptol. 5.14.2). Amathus (Ἀμαθοῦς : Old Limasol), which next followed, was a Phoenician colony. Beyond was the little town of Palaea (Πάλαια, Strab. p. 683), at the foot of a mountain shaped like a breast (μαστοειδές), Olympus (Ὄλυμπος : Monte Sta. Croce). Citium (Κίτιον) was a large town with a harbour that could be closed; to the W. of it was the little river Tetius (Τέτιος, Ptol. 5.14.2: Tesis), and to the E. the promontory Dades (Δᾴδες, Ptol. l. c.: Kiti). A rugged line of coast follows for several miles along a bay which lies between this headland and that of Throni (Θρόνοι : Pila). Above Pedalium (Πηδάλιον : Capo della Grega), the next point on the E. coast, rose a hill with a temple consecrated to Aphrodite. The harbour Leucolla (Λεύκολλα : Porta Arnio dia e Lucola). Ammochostus (Ἀμμόχωστος, Ptol. 5.14.3; Stadiasm. § 287), near the river Pediaeus (Πεδιαῖος), a name which has been transmitted by corruption to the Venetian Famagosta. Further N. was Salamis (Σαλαμίς), Elaea (Ἐλαία, Ptol. l. c.: Chaulu-bernau), Urania (Οὐρανίης πέδον ἕδρης, Nonn. Dionys. 13.450), Carpasia (Καρπασία), and the promontory called Dinaretum, with the islands called the Keys of Cyprus (αἱ Κλεῖδες). The ironbound shore to the NE. was called the shore of the Greeks (Ἀχαιῶν ἀκτή : Jalousa), from the story that Teucer and his colonists had landed here. (Strab. p. 682.) On this coast, 70 stadia from Salamis, was Aphrodisium (Ἀφροδίσιον, Ptol. 5.14.4; Strab. p. 682), Macaria (Μακαρία, Ptol. l. c.), Cerynia (Κερύνεια), and Lapethus (Λάπηθος : Lapithoor Lapta). Cape Crommyon (Κρομμύων ἄκρα) was the most N. point of the island; near this were the towns of Cerbia (Κερβεία) and Soli (Σόλοι). The promontory of Callinusa (Καλλίνονσα) completes the circuit of the island. In the interior were the towns of Aepeia (Αἰπεῖα), Limenia (Λιμενία), Tamassus (Ταμασσός), Tremithus (Τρεμιθοῦς), Leucosia (Λευκωσία), Chytrus (Χύτρος), and Marium (Μάριον). An account of these places will be found under their several heads: most of the towns have now disappeared.

Cyprus seems to have been colonized by the Phoenicians at a very early period, and if we may trust the Syrian annals consulted by the historian Menander (J. AJ, c. Apion. 1. 18; comp. Verg. A. 1, 643), was subject to the Syrians, even in the time of Solomon. We do not know the dates of the establishment of the Greek cities in this island; but there can be no doubt but that they were later than this period, and that a considerable portion of the soil and trade of Cyprus passed from the Phoenicians to the Greeks. Under Amasis the island became subject to the Aegyptian throne (Hdt. 2.182); he probably sent over African colonists. (Comp. Hdt. 7.90.) On the invasion of Aegypt by Cambysses Cyprus surrendered to the Persians, and furnished a squadron for the expedition. (Hdt. 3.19.) It continued to form a part of the Persian empire, and was with Phoenicia and Palestine the fifth satrapy in the arrangement made by Dareius (Hdt. 3.91.) During the Ionian revolt the whole island, except Amathus, threw off the Persian yoke. The Cyprians were attacked by the Persians by land and sea, and after varying success, were defeated, and their leader Onesilus slain. After this the island was again subject to Dareius (Hdt. 5.104--116), and in the expedition of Xerxes furnished 150 ships. (Hdt. 7.90.) After the overthrow of the Persians at Salamis, a Grecian fleet was despatched to Cyprus and reduced the greater part of it. (Thuc. 1.94.) The Athenians sent out another expedition against it, but in consequence of a plague and the death of Cimon, the attempt was relinquished. (Thuc. 1.112.) The brilliant period of its history belongs to the times of Evagoras, king of Salamis, when Hellenic customs and civilization received a new impulse. He was succeeded by his son Nicocles; another Evagoras, son of Nicocles, was joined with Phocion, to recover Cyprus for the king of Persia, from whom it had revolted. (Diod. 16.42, 46.) Cyprus again became a tributary to the Persians, and remained such till the battle of Issus, when the several states declared for Alexander, and joined the Macedonian fleet with 120 ships at the siege of Tyre. (Arrian. 2.20.) They were afterwards ordered to cruise off the Peloponnesus with 100 ships along with the Phoenicians. (Arrian. 3.6.) When the empire of Alexander was broken up, Cyprus fell with Aegypt to the lot of Ptolemy. Demetrius invaded the island with a powerful fleet and army, defeated Ptolemy's brother Menelaus, and shut him up in Salamis, which he besieged both by sea and land. Ptolemy hastened to his relief with 140 ships; and after a sea-fight--one of the most memorable in ancient history, B.C. 306,--the whole island fell into the hands of Demetrius. (Diod. 20.47--53; Plut. Demetr. 15--18; Polyaen. 4.7.7; Justin. 15.2.) In B.C. 295, Ptolemy recovered the island, and it became from this time an integral portion of the Aegyptian monarchy. (Plut. Demetr. 35, 38.) It formed the brightest jewel in the Alexandrian diadem; the timber of Olympus was used for the navy of Aegypt, and its metallic and other riches contributed to the revenue. Independently of its importance as a military position, the Ptolemies had a personal interest in securing it as a place of refuge for themselves or their treasures, in case of invasion or internal revolutions. Under the Lagid dynasty, the government of the island was committed to some one belonging to the highest class of the Alexandrian court, called the kinsmen of the king.This viceroy had full powers, as it would appear from the inscriptions in which he is entitled στρατηγὸς καὶ ναύαρχος καὶ ἀρχιερεὺς ὁ κατὰ τὴν νῆσον.Ptolemy Philadelphus founded the Cyprian cities which bore the name of his wife--Arsinoë. On the decline and fall of Aegypt, Cyprus with Cyrenaica was the only foreign possession remaining to the crown. Polycrates, an Argive, about B.C. 217, was governor of Cyprus, and secured, by his faithfulness and integrity, the island for Ptolemy Epiphanes, the infant son and successor of Philopator. On the division of the monarchy between the brothers Ptolemy Philometor and Euergetes, Euergetes,in contravention of the arrangement was anxious to take Cyprus to his share. In B.C. 154, Euergetes went to Rome, to seek assistance from the senate. Five legates, but no Roman army, were despatched to aid him; but Philometor, anticipating him, had already occupied Cyprus with a large force, so that when his brother landed at the head of his mercenary troops, he was soon defeated and shut up in Lapethus, where he was compelled to surrender, on condition that he should content himself with the kingdom of Cyrene. The Romans did not again interfere to disturb the arrangement thus concluded. During the dissensions of the brothers, Demetrius Soter, king of Syria, had endeavoured to make himself master of Cyprus, but unsuccessfully. On the accession of Ptolemy Lathyrus to the throne of Aegypt, his younger brother, Ptolemy Alexander, went to Cyprus. Afterwards, when by the intrigues of Cleopatra, the queen.mother, Alexander became king of Aegypt, Lathyrus retired to Cyprus, and held it as an independent kingdom for the 18 years during which Cleopatra and Alexander reigned in Aegypt, B.C. 107--89. When Lathyrus was recalled by the Alexandrians to Aegypt, Alexander, his brother, in the hope of becoming master of Cyprus, invaded the island; but was defeated in a naval action by Chaereas, and fell in the battle. While Ptolemy Auletes occupied the throne of Aegypt, another Ptolemy, a younger brother, was king of Cyprus. This prince had obtained from the Roman people the complimentary title of their friend. (Cic. pro Sest.26; Schol. Bob. p. 301, ed. Orell.) On the pretence that he had abetted the pirates (Schol. Bob. l. c.), he was commanded to descend from the throne. In B.C. 58, Clodius, who had a personal enmity against the king (Appian. B.C. 2.23; Dio Cass.), proposed to deprive him of his kingdom, and confiscate his large treasures to the service of the state. A rogationwas brought forward by the tribune, that Cato should be appointed to carry into execution this act of frightful injustice. Cato accepted this disgraceful commission; but half ashamed of the transaction, despatched a friend from Rhodes to deliver the decree, and to hold out to the injured king the promise of an honourable compensation in the priesthood of the Paphian Aphrodite. Ptolemy preferred to submit to a voluntary death. (Plut. Cat. Mi. 34, 39.) Cyprus became a Roman province, and the fatal treasures amassed by the king, were poured into the coffers of the state. (Pat. Vell. 2.45.) The island was annexed to Cilicia (Cic. ad Fam. 1.7; ad Att. 6.2), but had a quaestor of its own ( ad Fam. 13.48), and its own courts for the administration of justice ( ad Att. 5.21). In B.C. 47, it was given by Caesar to Arsinoë and Ptolemy, the sister and brother of Cleopatra. (Dio Cass..) M. Antonius afterwards presented it to the children of Cleopatra. (Dio Cass., 41; comp. Strab. p. 685.) After the battle of Actium, at the division of the provinces between the emperor and the senate, B.C. 27, it was made an imperial province. (Dio Cass..) In B.C. 22, it was given up to the senate (Dio Cass.), and was from that time governed by proprietors, with the title of Proconsul, with a legatusand a quaestor.(Marquardt, Becker's Röm. Alt. vol. iii. pt. 1. p. 172; Orell. Inscr. 3102.) The proconsul resided at Paphos. ( Act. Apost. 13.6, 7.) From the narrative in the Acts of the Apostles (13.4--12), it would seem that a considerable part of the population was of Jewish extraction; and in the fatal insurrection during the reign of Hadrian, they are said to have massacred 240,000 of the Grecian inhabitants, and obtained temporary possession of the island. (Milman, Hist. of Jews, vol. 2. p. 112.) Under the Byzantine emperors it was governed by a Consularis,and the capital was transferred from Paphos to Salamis or Constantia (Hierocl.). In A.D. 648, Moawiyah, the general of Othman, invaded the island, which capitulated, the Saracen general agreeing to share the revenues with the Greek emperor, In A.D. 803--806, it fell into the hands of Harun el Rashid, but was afterwards restored to the empire by the conquests of Nicephorus II. Isaac Angelus lost the island where Alexis Commenus had made himself independent; but was deprived of his conquest by Richard Coeur de Lion, A.D. 1191, who ceded it to the Templars, but afterwards resumed the sovereignty, and in A.D. 1192, gave it to King Guido of Jerusalem. Cyprus was never again united to the Byzantine empire.

Cyprus, lying in that sea which was the extreme nurse of the Grecian race, never developed the nobler features of Hellenic culture and civilization. The oriental character entirely predominated; the worship had but little connection with the graceful anthropomorphism of Hellas, but was rather a deification of the generative powers of nature as common to the Phoenicians, mixed up with orgiastic rites from Phrygia. The goddess, who was evidently the same as the Semitic Astarte, was worshipped under the form of a rude conical stone. (Tac. Hist. 2.3.) The exuberance of nature served to stifle every higher feeling in sensual enjoyment. (Comp. Athen. 6. p. 257, 12. p. 516.) A description of the constitution was given in the lost work of Aristotle on the Polities, and Theophrastus had composed a treatise upon the same subject. (Suid. s. v. Τιάρα.) That such men should have thought it worth their while to investigate this matter shows that it possessed considerable interest; as far as the scanty notices that have come down go, it appears to have been governed by petty. princes of an oriental character. (Comp. Hdt. 7.90.) For coins of Cyprus, see Eckhel, vol. 3. p. 84; H. P. Borrell, Notice surquelq. Méd. gr. des Rois de Chypre. Paris, 1836; Meursius, Creta, Cyprus, &c., Amst. 1675; D'Anville, Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscr. vol. 32. p. 548; Mariti, Viaggi, vol. i.; Von Hammer, Topogr. Ansicht. aus der Levante:Turner's Levant:vol. ii. pp. 40, 528; Engel, Kypros;Ross, Reisen nach Kos, Halikarnassos, Rhodos, und der Inseln Cypern, Halle, 1852; Luynes, Numismatique et Inscriptions Cypriotes, Paris, 1852.

(Κύπρος). A large island of the Mediterranean, south of Cilicia and west of Syria, identical, at least in part, with the Hebrew Kittim, which seems to be its oldest known name; but it appears to be sometimes included in the name Caphtor, a title that properly belongs to Crete with other islands and coast lands settled by the Caphtorim. Other ancient names of Cyprus, most of them poetical, are Aeria, Aerosa, Acamantis, Amathusia, Aphrodisia, Aphelia, Collinia, Cerastis, Cryptos, Meïnis, Ophiusa, Macaria, Paphos, Sphekeia. The derivation of the name is uncertain, but the principal authorities, ancient and modern, refer it to the Hebrew kopher or gopher, the name of a tree; sometimes, without adequate reason, connecting it with cupressus. Another derivation is from cuprum, “copper,” formerly found in the island; but the χάλκος κύπριος or aes cyprium probably took its name from the island, not the island from the metal.

Cyprus is reckoned by Strabo (or Timaeus, whom he follows) to be the third in extent of the Mediterranean isles. Its shape was aptly compared by the ancients to the outspread skin of an ox, or to the fleece of a sheep. Its extreme length, from Cape Acamas (now Cape Arnaouti or Epiphanio) on the west to the promontory Dinaretum (now St. Andrea) on the east, is about 140 miles; its greatest breadth, from Crommyon (now Cormaciti) on the north to Cape Curias (now Cape Gatto), on the south, about 60; its width varying greatly, the long strip that ends at Dinaretum being very narrow and scarcely more than 10 miles across at any point. Off Dinaretum are several small islands called Kleides (Keys). The coast is provided with numerous bays; but the harbors are now mere roadsteads, though the remains of ancient artificial harbor moles are to be seen at several places (as New Paphos, Soli, etc.).

From Crommyon to Dinaretum, along and quite near the coast, extends a mountainous chain, of which the highest peaks are Buffavento (3240 ft.), Pentedactylon (2480 ft.), and Elias (2810 ft.). The principal ranges, however, are in the west and southwest, the highest point being Mount Olympus (Trodos or Troödos, 6590 ft.), nearly midway between Curium on the south coast and Soli on the north, from the top of which a view of the whole island can be obtained. Next in height is Mount Adelphi (Maschera, 5380 ft.), a few miles to the east; still farther east, a hill (4370 ft.) whose ancient name is unknown; and still farther east again, Mount Santa Croce (Stavros, 2300 ft.). The chain extends nearly to Famagousta (Ammochostos, Constantia-Salamis), with frequent spurs to the shore; and spurs also extend from Olympus radially to the north, west, and south. Between the two ranges is a vast plain, now called the Messouria, whose principal river is the Pidias (Pidaeas), emptying into the sea near Salamis. The Messouria to-day is one vast grain-field, interspersed with insignificant villages. The island formerly abounded in trees and timber, of which it is now mostly denuded, though the kharub, olive, fig, orange, date-palm, lemon, nectarines, apricots, etc., and others suited to the climate flourish. Wild grape-vines still grow to an immense size. Wine, of various sorts, is abundant; the best and most famous being the Commanderia wine, so named from its original producers, the Knights of St. John, at Colossi. Formerly Cyprus yielded to no region in fertility, producing an abundance of grain, wine, oil, and fruits. At the proper season the hills and uncultivated plains are carpeted with anemones, ranunculuses, crocuses, hyacinths, squills, and a great variety of other flowers, especially those with bulbous roots. One ancient epithet of Cyprus is εὐώδης. But agriculture, along with irrigation and drainage, is much neglected. Salt lakes, or “Salines,” exist near Larnaca, the ancient Citium, furnishing now, as in the times of Pliny , vast supplies of salt for home consumption and exportation, the salt coating the surface as the summer heat evaporates the water. The climate is still that of the ancient nimio calore.

Although the names of special historians have come down to us, we possess no ancient special treatise or history of the island, but are dependent for information anciently current upon the frequent mention in the Greek and Roman classics, with brief notices in the later historians. These are best collected in Engel's monograph Kypros (Berlin, 1841).

The earliest inhabitants have generally been supposed to be Phoenicians, and it is true that the Phoenician language retained its hold in certain parts of Cyprus as late as anywhere, contemporarily, of course, with the Greek, the Lycian (locally), and later with the Latin. The Cypriotes, however, spoke a language peculiar to themselves, as was long ago evident from the scattered glosses preserved by the grammarians and lexicographers, and as has lately been further and most conclusively shown by the recent discovery and decipherment of inscriptions in the peculiar Cypriote character. This language was essentially Greek; and the Greek of Cyprus to-day embraces many peculiarities of its own. The legendary hero of Cyprus was Cinyras, who is said to have come to the island at the time of the beginning of the Trojan War. Without going into the matter of the legend, it may be said that Greek inscriptions of the “Cinyradae” (the priestly caste of Old Paphos, etc.) have been found in the island within the last twenty years.

The chief religion of the island was notoriously the worship of Venus; but with few exceptions (as e. g. Zeus Labranios, introduced near Amathus from Caria) the religion and deities were introduced from Phoenicia, and thus indirectly from the farther East—with, however, some Greek modification. Aphrodité, Apollo, Hercules, and other deities usually called Greek or Roman were thus introduced, the Greek and Phoenician names of some of them appearing now and then on the same bilingual inscription. Aphrodité had her epithet of “Paphian” not only at Paphos, where her rites included all the extravagancies of Mylitta at Babylon, but at the other seats of her worship—Golgos, Dali, Cerynia, etc. Apollo Hylates, who had a temple at Curium, is called by that name and also by his Phoenician name of Resheph Mical on a bilingual inscription found at Dali. A temple to Eshmunmelqarth (=Aesculapius-Hercules), a Phoenician deity much like the Greek Palaemon and the Roman Portumnus, near the Salines at Larnaca, has furnished a number of Phoenician inscriptions of the fourth century b.c.; while a temple to Artemis Paralia, close at hand, has furnished a few Greek inscriptions and an immense number of valuable terra-cotta remains.

Aside from the mythical reign of Cinyras over the whole island, the territory, so far as we know, was broken up into a number of kingdoms, whose detailed history has well-nigh perished. A dynasty of Phoenician kings ruled over Citium, Idalium, and Tamassus in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. Salamis, said to have been founded by Teucer, and by him named after his native city, had its own Greek kings at the same period. Paphos had its dynasty of the Cinyradae, who seem also to have extended their power over Amathus and certain other parts. Soli and Cythrea traced their origin to the Athenians; Lapethus and Cerynia to a Lacedaemonian colony under Praxander and an Achaean one under Cepheus; Curium to the Argives. A town Asiné, whose site is not known, is said to have been colonized by the Dryopians; Neo-Paphos by Agapenor. The promontory Acamas is said to have its name from the hero of the Trojan War. Old Paphos, Amathus, and Citium were founded by the Phoenicians; and of these, Citium (with Dali and Tamassus) seems to have retained its Phoenician character with less modification than the others. Carpassia seems also to have had a Phoenician origin. Articles of Phoenician manufacture—bronze, gold, silver, pottery, etc.—have been found in abundance all over the island.

Aside from these scattered data, we know that Thothmes III. of Egypt (cir. B.C. 1500) conquered Cyprus; Belus of Tyre was at one time its master; ten kingdoms, including Soli, Chytri, Curium, Lapethus, Cerynia, Neo Paphos, Marium, Idalium, Citium, and Amathus, sent their submission to the Assyrian Esarhaddon (cir. B.C. 890); Sargon put the island to tribute (cir. B.C. 707); Apries (Pharaoh Hophra) of Egypt defeated some Cyprian monarchs near Citium, and returned home laden with their spoils; Amasis of Egypt overran the island and put it to tribute, but the Cyprian rulers joined Cambyses the Persian against the son of Amasis. The king of Amathus revolted from the Persians in the time of Darius, and the longest record extant in the Cypriote character commemorates one of the side issues of this struggle. In B.C. 477, the Athenians and Lacedaemonians conquered part of Cyprus from the Persians; and a war resulted in which the Greeks, with the Tyrians and Egyptians as allies, were on one side, and the Persians on the other. The power of Alexander the Great was both felt and helped in Cyprus, after which, under the Ptolemies, followed wars and doubtful sovereignty, till Demetrius Poliorcetes conquered the island (cir. B.C. 306). About B.C. 296, Ptolemy Soter took the island, after which it remained under Egypt till conquered by the Romans.

Literature and the arts flourished in Cyprus even from a very early period, as witness the “Cypria Carmina,” by some attributed to Homer. Citium was the birthplace of Zeno. It is foreign to the present article to trace the history of the island during the Roman rule, the Arabs, the dukedoms of the Crusades, Richard of England, the Lusignans, the Turks, and the recent occupation by the English. Its geographical position made it the field for the exhibition of the arts, deeds, and cults of various nations; and its remains, as brought to light in the explorations of the last twenty-five years, have given a deeper insight into the ancient life and occupations and attainments of its successive peoples and masters than it had been thought possible hitherto to attain, and necessitated the rewriting of the principal chapters in the history of ancient art. From the time of Pococke, who, nearly three centuries ago, made his famous discoveries of Phoenician inscriptions (chiefly about Citium), down to the English occupation, scattered and partial explorations have been made. The discovery, in the first half of this century, of inscriptions in a character hitherto unknown, and their decipherment, from 1873 onward, has furnished most valuable clues to the history of religions in Cyprus and the transference of deities thither from the East, besides many minor historical matters and a vast addition to the knowledge of Greek dialects. The characters are syllabic, with peculiar laws of writing, and the language Greek. Some hundreds of these inscriptions are now known (the most of them found by Di Cesnola)—some bilingual (Phoenician and Cypriote) and some digraphic (Greek and Cypriote). The decipherment is a brilliant record—George Smith, of England, discovering the key in a bilingual inscription now in the British Museum; R. H. Lang simultaneously and independently proving the incorrectness of certain previous attempts by others; after which Samuel Birch made additional progress; and complete inscriptions were first read simultaneously and independently by Justus Siegismund and W. Deecke of Strassburg, M. Schmidt of Jena, and I. H. Hall of New York, since which time many writers have contributed lexicographic and dialectic additions.

The discoveries by exploration and excavation have been chiefly made (though the work of others is not inconsiderable) by L. P. di Cesnola, while U. S. Consul at Cyprus, from 1866 to 1877. His work covered nearly all parts of the island, discovering the sites of many ancient cities, and ruins of others whose ancient identity is not yet known, besides many temples, necropoles, ancient aqueducts, and other remains, including over 200 inscriptions, in Assyrian, Cypriote, Phoenician, Greek, and Latin. The greatest number (many thousands) and most important of the objects discovered are deposited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, though many found their way to European museums and private collections. The statuary, pottery, terra-cottas, glass, gold, silver, and gems are a unique and unrivalled collection, and their value for the study of Phoenician and Greek archaeology, art, and history appears in their unceasing use in the learned publications of all countries. Since the occupation of Cyprus by the English, others have excavated and explored, but by no means on the same scale, the principal works accomplished being the further excavation of the site of the greater temple of Venus at Old Paphos, and some large operations near Salamis.

For authorities, among many, see Engel, Kypros, above referred to; Di Cesnola, Cyprus (New York and London, 1878); R. H. Lang, Cyprus, etc. (London, 1878). The literature in periodicals and minor volumes is very extensive.

• Paus. 9.19.1
• kings of Cyprus descended from Teucer: Paus. 2.29.4
• Phrasius, a seer from: Apollod. 2.5.11
• Cinyras in: Apollod. 3.14.2, Apollod. E.3.7
• Pygmalion, king of: Apollod. 1.9.9
• Alexander (Paris) tarries in: Apollod. 2.4.8
• Greeks settle in: Apollod. 2.7.4
• Agapenor settles in: Apollod. 2.7.5
• Phidippus settles in: Apollod. 2.7.5
• Demophon settles in: Apollod. 2.7.7
• worship of Aphrodite: Hdt. 1.105, Hdt. 1.199
• "Linus" song there: Hdt. 2.79
• Cyprus subdued by Amasis: Hdt. 2.182
• under Persians: Hdt. 3.19, Hdt. 3.91
• Cyprian revolt and its suppression: Hdt. 5.104-115, Hdt. 6.6
• Cyprians in Xerxes' fleet: Hdt. 7.90, Hdt. 7.98
• disparaged by Artemisia: Hdt. 8.68
• by Mardonius: Hdt. 8.100
• "Cyprian poems,": Hdt. 2.117
• expedition of Cimon to: Paus. 1.29.13
• Athenian galleys escape to Cyprus after battle of Aegospotami: Paus. 3.11.5
• sea-fights off: Paus. 1.6.6
• conquered by Ptolemy: Paus. 1.6.8
• Ptolemy Philometor and his brother sent to: Paus. 1.9.1ff.