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101-681: The Cypro-Minoan Script was in use during the Late Cypriot period from the LC IA:2 period until the LC IIIA period or roughly from 1500 BC until 1150 BC. This is mainly based with the stratigraphy of the Kourion site but is in line with examples excavated at other sites. It is not known which language is encoded by the Cypro-Minoan Script. It is also not known if that language changed over the four centuries

202-521: A sudatorium , a caldarium , and a tepidarium to the north. The western baths possessed a series of axially aligned baths along the northwest wall of the nymphaeum . Old paphos Kouklia ( Greek : Κούκλια , Turkish : Kukla ) is a village in the Paphos District , about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) east from the city of Paphos on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus . The village

303-742: A Canaanite amphora (2 signs). In 2022 fragments recovered in the earlier excavations were joined to partially assemble another Canaanite jar (TIRY Avas 001) with 2 signs on one handle (already published) and one on the other handle (new). Cypro-Minoan signs were found on stirrup cups in Cannatello, Sicily. A number of potmarks were found on bronze bowls dated to the Late Cypriote III period (c. 12th century BC) on Cyprus as well as on one silver bowl found at Ugarit . Eighteen potmarks, incised after firing, on jar handles (along with one ostracon bearing about 8 signs) were found at Ashkelon . The ostracon dated to

404-418: A courtyard with a room to the south containing an apsidal fountain and rectangular basins. In this phase, the nymphaeum measured 45 m long and 15 m wide. After its destruction in the earthquakes of the late fourth century, the nymphaeum was rebuilt as a three-aisled basilica with apses along the southern wall. This structure was used as a temporary church between 370 and 410 during the construction of

505-552: A fortified glacis. Further fortifications dating to the Cypro-Classical have been uncovered along the northern extent of the acropolis area. The remains of a Hellenistic public structure, approximately 30 m in length are located 30 m southeast of the nymphaeum. This structure was used from ca. 325 to 50 BCE. Additional Hellenistic remains were uncovered in 1948/49 by the University of Pennsylvania Museum Expedition immediately east of

606-534: A fragmentary mosaic depicting Thetis bathing Achilles for the first time. In yet another room a fragmentary mosaic depicts the Rape of Ganymede . The structure was destroyed in the earthquakes of the late fourth century AD, likely the 365/370 earthquake. Located 155 m southeast of the Early Christian Basilica, and 95 m northeast of the cliffs are the remains of a domestic structure containing dramatic evidence of

707-562: A large variety of vegetables are cultivated on the village's fertile land. The Randi Forest in the south-east as well as part of the Oriti Forest in the north-east fall within Kouklia's administrative boundaries. Animal husbandry is well developed in the community. Palm trees are planted in the main-street at the entrance to the village. The natural environment of the region, the Petra tou Romiou site,

808-585: A low hill 0.4 km west of the Kouris and east of Episkopi, was an influential urban centre from the LC IA-LCIII. The town flourished in the 13th century BCE before being abandoned c.1050 BCE. The Kingdom of Kourion, a Southern Cypriot kingdom , was established during the Cypro-Geometric period (CG) (1050–750 BCE) though the site of the settlement remains unidentified. Without Cypro-Geometric settlement remains,

909-612: A priest married a female priest to ensure the continued fertility of the earth and people. An idea of what the goddess looked like can be gathered from recovered archeological relics which show present a richly embellished woman. The adoration of Venus was particularly intense in the ancient period with religious ceremonies depicted on artifacts such as vases or bronze vessels. Offerings to Venus are described by ancient writers as tobacco or balm from Myra in present-day Turkey . The faithful also brought pies made with flour and oil and libations produced from honey. Tree branches were favoured by

1010-578: A proconsul. Under the Romans , Kourion possessed a civic government functioning under the oversight of the provincial proconsul. Inscriptions from Kourion attest elected offices that including: Archon of the City, the council, clerk of the council and people, the clerk of the market, the various priesthoods including priests and priestesses of Apollo Hylates, and priesthoods of Rome. It is thought that Kourion flourished and quality of life increased due to good trade with

1111-645: A revised sign inventory and aimed to leverage previous hypotheses on decipherment and development of signs and values with a distributional analysis and comparative linguistic considerations. Unlike most other approaches on decipherment, he assumes a single script applied to a potentially broader range of languages, including Semitic (in Ugarit) and the indigenous language(s) of Cyprus, the Eteocypriot language, based on his readings. All of these efforts covered only multi-sign texts, mainly tablets, cylinders, and clay balls where

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1212-479: A wild boar. Others insist that pigs were sacrificed. Followers sometimes dedicated objects that depicted worshippers or the goddess herself, either in the form of a richly dressed woman or a naked Astarte. Others dedicated columns decorated with signs, statues, precious gifts and gold. Records show that the holy altar of Venus was richly endowed and that the Romans took many of its treasures to Rome . The Ptolemaioi and

1313-507: A young adult woman with an infant being held by an adult male approximately twenty-five years old, and three sets of adult male skeletal remains between the ages of 25 and 40. The remains of a mule were found in the stable area, its remains still chained to a limestone trough. The earthquake house, initially uncovered in a sounding by the University of Pennsylvania Museum expedition was excavated by Soren between 1984 and 1987. Archaeological investigations were continued in 2014 with excavations by

1414-456: Is U+12F90–U+12FFF: Kourion Kourion ( Ancient Greek : Koύριov ; Latin : Curium ) was an important ancient Greek city-state on the southwestern coast of the island of Cyprus. In the twelfth century BCE, after the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces , Greek settlers from Argos arrived on this site. In the seventeenth century, Kourion suffered from five heavy earthquakes, but

1515-479: Is arranged around a central peristyle courtyard, its northeastern portico retaining fragmentarily preserved mosaic pavements in the northeastern portico. The most important of these mosaic depicts the unveiling of Achilles 's identity by Odysseus in the court of Lycomedes of Skyros when his mother, Thetis , had hidden him there amongst the women so that he might not be sent to war against the Trojans. Another room contains

1616-478: Is built in the area of "Palaepaphos" ( Greek : Παλαίπαφος ) ( Old Paphos ), mythical birthplace of Aphrodite , Greek goddess of love and beauty, which became the centre for her worship in the ancient world. Because of its ancient religious significance and architecture, Kouklia was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with Kato Paphos in 1980. Recent archaeology has been continuing on

1717-419: Is likely to have become the master or owner of the village thus it was named Kou(vou)klia . Alternatively, if Kouklia was not the property of a kouvikoularios then it was probably an area dotted with country houses for Byzantine officials. The village retained the name "Kouvouklia" until the advent of Frankish domination in the 12th century and was abbreviated to "Kouklia". De Masse Latri reports that during

1818-668: The Byzantine Empire (c. 306–1453) the village was most probably the property of the Byzantine officer known as the Kouvikoularios . In Greek, the word kouvouklion means sepulchral chamber but can also mean the dormitory of the Byzantine emperors. Bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors who guarded the imperial dormitory were termed kouvikoularioi , and were often granted land as a reward for their services. One such kouvikoularios

1919-523: The Frank domination era, the village was a large royal estate where sugar cane was cultivated. During the Ottoman period , Kouklia was confiscated by the new conquerors and became a manor. In 1881, Kouklia's population was 404 and rose to 520 in 1921. By 1946, that number had increased to 791 (437 Greek Cypriots and 354 Turkish Cypriots ) and by 1973 to 1,110 (613 Greek Cypriots, 494 Turkish Cypriots). Following

2020-670: The Ionian Revolt (499–493 BCE), Stasanor , king of Kourion, aligned himself with Onesilos , king of Salamis , the leader of a Cypriot alliance against the Persians. In 497, Stasanor betrayed Onesilos in battle against the Persian general Artybius , resulting in a Persian victory over the Cypriot poleis and the consolidation of Persian control of Cyprus. In the Classical Period (475–333 BCE),

2121-645: The Kouris River valley is at the hilltop settlement of Sotira-Teppes, located 9 km northwest of Kourion. This settlement dates to the Ceramic Neolithic period ( c. 5500–4000 BCE). Another hilltop settlement from the same era has been excavated at Kandou-Kouphovounos on the east bank of the Kouris River. In the Chalcolithic period (3800–2300 BCE), settlement shifted to the site of Erimi-Pamboules near

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2222-474: The Turkish invasion in 1974, Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of the village, left the village and moved to the occupied regions . In 1976, the population of Kouklia was 732, which subsequently decreased to 681 in 1982 and 669 in 2001. The entire area is an important archaeological site which includes the sanctuary of Aphrodite, a surrounding city and the remains of the fortifications. Various artifacts are on display in

2323-523: The nymphaeum and large public and private baths, and also by the substantial amount of piping and water features throughout the site. Joseph S. Last identified two aqueducts that transported water to the city from two perennial springs: one near Sotira (the smaller source) 11 km distant and Souni (the larger source) at 20 km distant. The western aqueduct from Sotira was made of an estimated 30,000 terra-cotta pipes 0.20 m in diameter and 0.20–0.50 m long. A trunk line of this aqueducts supplied water to

2424-512: The 11th century BC, fifteen of the handles dated to the late Iron I period and the other three handles to the Late Bronze Age. Forty two potmarks were found on vessels in Kouklia at the site of Old Paphos in western Cyprus. All but one were on handles with the remaining potmark on a rim. Thirty two of the marks are or include numerals. Other potmarks have been found at The Bamboula site , part of

2525-448: The AD 365-370 earthquakes that destroyed many of the excavated structures on the acropolis. The earthquake house, in its initial phases was likely constructed in the late first or early second centuries AD. Throughout its use it was subsequently reused and redesigned with interior spaces being subdivided and the structure expanded to fit the changing needs of its inhabitants. Its destruction in

2626-796: The Amathus Gate Cemetery between 1995 and 2000. Since 2012, the Kourion Urban Space Project, under director Thomas W. Davis of the Lanier Center for Archaeology at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, has excavated on the acropolis. The majority of the archaeological remains within the Kourion Archaeological Area date to the Roman and Late Roman/Early Byzantine periods. The acropolis and all archaeological remains within

2727-450: The Amathus gate cemetery is located north of the road entering the archaeological site, and as such it is the first series of monuments seen by visitors prior to their entrance into the site. In Antiquity, the ascent to the Amathus gate was along a board ramp ascending gradually from the southeast. The cemetery was situated on two tiers along the lower and upper cliffs east of the Amathus gate,

2828-566: The Apsed Building between 1964 and 1974. A. Christodoulou (1971–1974), and Demos Christou (1975–1998) also worked at Kourion. A.H.S. Megaw returned to work on the site, on behalf of Dumbarton Oaks Centre for Byzantine Studies, from 1974 to 1979 at the Early Christian Basilica. Between 1978 and 1984, D. Soren conducted excavations at the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, and on the acropolis between 1984 and 1987. D. Parks directed excavations within

2929-532: The Bishop Zeno was instrumental in asserting the independence of the Cypriot church at the Council of Ephesus . In the later-4th century (365-370), Kourion was hit by five strong earthquakes within a period of eighty years, as attested by the archaeological remains throughout the site, presumably suffering near-complete destruction. In the late fourth and early fifth centuries, Kourion was reconstructed, though portions of

3030-580: The Complex of Eustolios in the form of black and white pebble mosaic. The theatre of Kourion was excavated by the University Museum Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania between 1935 and 1950. The theatre was initially constructed on a smaller scale in the late-second century BCE on the northern slope of the defile ascending from the Amathus Gate. This arrangement thus utilized the slope of

3131-581: The Cypro-Archaic period (750–475 BCE) the Kingdom of Kourion was among the most influential of Cyprus. Damasos is recorded (as Damasu of Kuri) as king of Kourion on the prism (672 BCE) of Esarhaddon from Nineveh . Between 569 and ca. 546 BCE, Cyprus was under Egyptian administration. In 546 BCE, Cyrus I of Persia extended Persian authority over the Kingdoms of Cyprus, including the Kingdom of Kourion. During

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3232-697: The Hadjiabdoulla complex has been identified as a monumental tumulus measuring 100 x 60 m and over 10m high, and is extremely rare in ancient Cyprus. It is dated to the 3rd c. BC from the era of the Ptolemies. In 2016 excavations discovered an ancient rampart below the burial mound dating to the 6th century BC towards the end of the Cypro-Archaic period. Kouklia receives average annual rainfall of about 420 millimetres (17 in). Grapes (wine-making and table varieties), bananas, various citrus fruits, avocados, apricots, kiwis, olives, locust beans, legumes, peanuts, and

3333-579: The Kition archaeological sites on Crete. Small numbers of CM potmarks have been found throughout the trading range. A compendium of known potmarks was assembled in 1974. About 92 small clay balls measuring 1.5–2.3 centimeters in diameter, each bearing 3–5 signs in Cypro-Minoan, have been uncovered at Enkomi and Kition. Small quantities of CM inscribed clay balls have been found through the trading range. Three legible clay cylinders (#100, #101, #102) were found in

3434-429: The Kourion Urban Space Project. The forum of Kourion, as it appears today, was constructed in the late second or early third centuries. The forum, the centre of public life, consisted of a central pavement with colonnaded porticoes set along its east, north and western sides. The eastern portico measured 65 m in length and 4.5  m wide, with a colonnade facing the courtyard, and a wall forming frontage of shops to

3535-707: The Late Cypriot II-III, especially Episkopi-Bamboula. In the Late Cypriot I-III (1600–1050 BCE), the settlements of the Middle Cypriot period developed into a complex urban centre within the Kouris Valley, which provided a corridor in the trade of Troodos copper, controlled through Alassa and Episkopi-Bamboula. In the MCIII-LC IA, a settlement was occupied at Episkopi-Phaneromeni. Episkopi-Bamboula, located on

3636-582: The Late Cypriot IIA–B period (14th century BC). In total, six cylinders have now been found, one at Enkomi and five at Kalavassos-Ayios Dimitrios. In 1944 Alice Kober , famous for her work on the decipherment of Linear B , termed the status of Cypro-Minoan Script as: "Cypro-Minoan. Date – Mycenaean (perhaps earlier) . Locality – Cyprus. Number of inscriptions – uncertain. Number of signs – uncertain. Material inscribed – pottery, seals, terra-cotta balls. Content or use of inscriptions – uncertain." Until

3737-575: The Roman Council of the Plebs ( Consilium Plebis ) passed the Lex Clodia de Cyprus , fully annexing Cyprus to the province of Cilicia . Between 47 and 31 BC, Cyprus returned briefly to Ptolemaic rule under Marc Antony and Cleopatra VII , reverting to Roman rule after the defeat of Antony. In 22 BC, Cyprus was separated from the province of Cilicia, being established an independent senatorial province under

3838-508: The Romans attempted to import adoration of emperors and other gods in order to glamourise the holy altar. Currency of the time shows the holy altar with the conical stone still in place. Adoration of the goddess lost its attraction with the rise of Christianity . From the 2nd century onwards the altars of the goddess were gradually abandoned. Major earthquakes in the 4th century destroyed the holy altar and its "idolatrous" building materials were then used to construct great royal edificea. Under

3939-402: The Romans who placed it in the middle of a tripartite open building. The altar was already well known by the time of Homer as a location for burning incense. It was claimed that so marvellous was the altar that when it rained the stone did not become wet. There were also votive pillars bearing symbols of the horns of a bull, and columns in the form of a tree of life . Various buildings serving

4040-543: The Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates to the west of the acropolis. In 1874–5, Luigi Palma di Cesnola , then American and Russian consul to the Ottoman government of Cyprus, extensively dug at the cemetery of Ayios Ermoyenis and the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates. His only objective was to recover objects of value, most of which he later sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art . In 1882 George Gordon Hake excavated about 70 tombs at

4141-407: The Sanctuary of Apollo. The eastern aqueduct from Souni consisted of an estimated 60,000 pipes with a 0.30 m diameter and 0.30 m length. Last concluded that the eastern aqueduct was a later addition to supplement the western aqueduct. Prior to the construction of these aqueducts, sometime in the first century CE, the acropolis would have been largely dependent on rain water stored in cisterns due to

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4242-642: The University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania in five seasons between 1934 and 1938 and in eight seasons between 1947 and 1954, mainly on the acropolis. The also worked in the cemeteries, including in the Kaloriziki field where they excavated twelve LC III-Iron Age tombs. and in the Late Cypriote II and III areas of Bamboula. Finds included 4 pots and 7 sherds bearing Cypro-MInoan Script signs and

4343-501: The absence of natural water sources on the site. The so-called House of the Gladiators is located south and east of the House of Achilles. The structure dates to the late-3rd century AD and has been interpreted as an elite-private residence, or perhaps more probably as a public palaestra . The later interpretation is supported by the absence of many rooms appropriate for living spaces and that

4444-492: The acropolis remained abandoned. The reconstruction included the ecclesiastical precinct on the western side of the acropolis. In 648-49, Arab raids resulted in the destruction of the acropolis, after which the centre of occupation was relocated to Episkopi, 2 km to the northeast. Episkopi was named for the seat of the bishop (Episcopus). The site of Kourion was identified in the 1820s by Carlo Vidua . In 1839 and 1849, respectively, Lorenzo Pease and Ludwig Ross identified

4545-597: The ancient site of Enkomi , near the east coast of Cyprus. It was dated to ca. 1500 BC, and bore three lines of writing. A number of other tablets were subsequently found including H-1885 (CM 0) which contained 23 signs and is dated to LC IB. Several Cypro-Minoan tablets were excavated at Ugarit in the 1950s, (RASH Atab 001 = RS 17.06), (RASH Atab 004 = RS 20.25, Aegean area), and one a surface find (RS 17.006, Residential Quarter). Two tablet fragments were also found (RASH Atab 002 = RS 19.01) and (RASH Atab 003 = RS 19.0). In total, eight full or partial tablets have been found with

4646-469: The archaeological discoveries of the area, the proximity to Aphrodite Hills Resort and the elevated views of the sea all make Kouklia a tourist destination. There is a regional elementary school in the village, attended by pupils from both Kouklia and the neighboring village of Nikokleia. There are also a police station, a health centre, and a state-owned nursery (greenhouse). In the village plaza, there are several coffee-houses and taverns. The church of

4747-453: The archaeological museum housed in a medieval villa on the site. The nearby Roman villa with the outstanding mosaic of Leda and the Swan is the only one excavated so far but shows the likely richness of the city in later times (early 3rd century AD). St. Andrew's University with Liverpool City Museum excavated the site of Kouklia from 1950 to 1955. The so-called Siege Mound was discovered outside

4848-490: The area are managed and administered by the Cyprus Department of Antiquities. The Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates (Ἀπόλλων Ὑλάτης), located 1.7 km west of the acropolis and 0.65 km in from the coastline, was a Pan-Cyprian sanctuary, third in importance only to the sanctuaries of Zeus Salaminos at Salamis and that of Paphian Aphrodite. The earliest archaeological evidence for the sanctuary are from votive deposits of

4949-683: The base of the acropolis on behalf of the South Kensington Museum. Between 1882 and 1887 several unauthorized private excavations were conducted prior to their illegalization by British High Commissioner , Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer in 1887. In 1895, led by H.B. Walters, the British Museum conducted the first quasi-systematic excavations at Kourion as part of the Turner Bequest Excavations. G. McFadden, B.H. Hill and J. Daniel conducted systematic excavations at Kourion for

5050-470: The bathhouse were built under this restoration. The temple was subsequently abandoned after a period of decline in the late fourth century AD, after it was sustained significant damage in an earthquake. The earliest structural remains yet excavated on the acropolis were uncovered at the northwestern end of the excavations directed by D. Christou in the civic centre. These Late Cypro-Classical (350–325 BCE) remains consist of an ashlar pyramidal structure, perhaps

5151-567: The city was mostly rebuilt. The acropolis of Kourion, located 1.3 km southwest of Episkopi and 13 km west of Limassol , is located atop a limestone promontory nearly 100 metres high along the coast of Episkopi Bay . The Kourion archaeological area lies within the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia and is managed by the Cyprus Department of Antiquity . The earliest identified occupation within

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5252-484: The dead. The myth that Venus (known as Aphrodite in Greek) was born on the coast of Cyprus may be connected to the adoration of this fertility goddess. From the 12th century BC onwards, adoration of this goddess becomes particularly resplendent. It appears that before the arrival of Achaeans , Palaepaphos was already a rich city with an ornate holy altar dedicated to the goddess. Tradition holds that King Kinyras of Paphos

5353-502: The decipherment of Linear B, Michael Ventris and John Chadwick . Currently, the total number of Cypro-Minoan signs (approx. 4,000) in the corpus compares unfavorably with the number known from the undeciphered Linear A signs (over 7,000) and the number available in Linear B when it was deciphered (approx. 30,000). It is also unclear how many syllabograms are represented in the corpus. Modern estimates have ranged from 57–59 up to 96. Without

5454-481: The decipherment of the script. This included attempts by Jan Best , Ernst Sittig, and Vladimir Sergeyev . In the middle of the 1950s tablets (from Ugarit and Enkomi) with larger number of signs were found and then in the late 1960s clay cylinders (from Kalavassos-Ayios Dimitrios and Enkomi) were excavated with very long texts. This put the decipherment effort on a more scientific path. The advent of longer texts sparked work on decipherment, including by those who worked on

5555-467: The discovery of bilingual texts or many more texts in each subsystem, decipherment is extremely difficult. According to Thomas G. Palaima , " all past and current schemes of decipherment of Cypro-Minoan are improbable". Silvia Ferrara also believes this to be the case, as she concluded in her detailed analysis of the subject in 2012. Several attempts have been made to detail the available CM corpus. Jean-Pierre Olivier issued an edition in 2007 of all 217 of

5656-536: The earliest occupation of the acropolis was established, though the primary site of settlement is unknown. King Pasikrates ( Greek : Πασικράτης ) of Kourion is recorded as having aided Alexander the Great in the siege of Tyre in 332 BCE. Pasikrates ruled as a vassal of Alexander, but was deposed in the struggles for succession amongst the diadochi . In 294 BCE, the Ptolemies consolidated control of Cyprus, and therefore Kourion came under Ptolemaic governance. In 58 BCE,

5757-473: The earthquake of 365/70 perhaps resulting in its abandonment. The enlarged cavea of the Roman phases could have accommodated an audience of as many as 3,500. The present remains of the theatre have been restored extensively. The theatre is one of the venues for the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama . Located along the base of the cliffs on the southeast and northeast of the acropolis,

5858-409: The earthquakes of the late fourth century, and the absence of rebuilding in this area of the city subsequently provides a dramatic view on non-elite life at Kourion. Among the evidence of destruction found were the remains of two sets of human skeletal remains postured in an embrace, the remains of a juvenile who had fallen from the upper floor into the stable area when the floor collapsed, the remains of

5959-447: The eastern cliffs. These chamber tombs were heavily damaged by quarrying in the late fourth to sixth centuries AD, though numerous arcosolia from these chamber tombs remain in the cliff face. Between the late fourth and sixth centuries, burials in this cemetery consist of cist burials cut into the quarried rock shelf. Though the acropolis is very arid today, the city clearly had a good water supply in Roman times as evidenced at least by

6060-404: The ecclesiastical precinct to the west. It was abandoned in the mid seventh century. The baths, which surround the nymphaeum at the northwestern end of the forum, were constructed in the early to mid fourth century AD following repairs to the nymphaeum . The baths were divided into east and west wings by the nymphaeum . The eastern baths were arranged around a central corridor which opened onto

6161-465: The end of the 4th century B.C. to the newly-founded Nea Paphos, some 16 km to the west, the old town retained some of its importance thanks to the continuation of the cult at the temple of Aphrodite. During the Roman period it became the centre of the newly established 'Koinon Kyprion', (the 'Confederation of the Cypriots'), which dealt with religious affairs, the cult of the Roman emperor and controlled

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6262-527: The end of the Archaic period (7th–6th century BC). The most important find was the statue of the Priest-King. Also two beautiful female heads with Egyptian hairstyles were found as well as 12 statues of young men ( kouroi ). However recent research by Cyprus University since 2006 has used topographical evidence and geophysical studies to offer an alternative explanation; there are so many architectural fragments that

6363-657: The end of the first century BC or early first century AD, the sacred street was laid out, with the palaestra, temple, structure north of the Paphian gate and the circular monument were constructed. The Augustan temple is 13.5 m long and 8.35 m wide with a tetrastyle pronaos and cella . Under Trajan and the Proconsul Quintus Laberius Justus Cocceius Lepidus, the sanctuary underwent restoration and expansion. The southern portico, southern buildings, which likely functioned as dormitories for devotees and

6464-400: The famous Kourion Sceptre (in Tomb 40). Following the death of McFadden in 1953, the project and its publication stalled. The excavations of the Early Christian Basilica on the acropolis were continued by A.H.S. Megaw , Director of Antiquities for the Government of Cyprus, from 1956 to 1959. M.C. Loulloupis of the Cyprus Department of Antiquities excavated at the House of Gladiators and

6565-399: The final excavation level at Enkomi . Attempts have been made to separately decipher the latter variant. More recent scholarship has moved toward treating the corpus as a whole without the previous categorizations. Examples of the Cypro-Minoan Script began to appear in the early 1930s. These included several potmarks found in 1937 at Kourion on the southwest coast of Cyprus. An unusual find

6666-422: The goddess so devotees brought myrtle flowers, windflowers and roses, because they derived from the blood of Adonis and the teardrops of Venus. Conflicting information exists as to whether animal sacrifices took place at the site with some sources claiming that the altar of the goddess was not wetted with blood and that pigs were never sacrificed because Venus hated the animals following the killing of Adonis by

6767-487: The goddess was led by a priest who directed the ceremonies. Some sources claim that the first priest was Cinyras . His descendants continued as priests and were buried in the precincts of the holy altar. It is also known that later kings of Paphos were simultaneously priests. Tacitus however, relates in his Histories that the site was founded by King Aerias. In a practice originating with eastern religions to honour Astarte , "holy marriages" may have taken place whereby

6868-431: The hill to partially support the weight of the seating in the cavea . This architectural arrangement is typical of Hellenistic theatres throughout the Eastern Mediterranean with a circular orchestra and a cavea exceeding 180 degrees. The theatre was repaired in the late-first century BCE, likely following the earthquake of 15 BCE. The theatre's scene building was seemingly reconstructed in 64/65 CE by Quintus Iulius Cordus,

6969-428: The holy altar stood in the open air, encircled by walls and fitted with brightly coloured doors, according to Homer . She was not worshipped as a statue, but rather in the form of conical stone. The ancients report it as something strange, "a white pyramid of which the material is not known". This symbolic stone existed at Paphos from ancient times and, as the adoration of standing stones is a feature of eastern religions,

7070-414: The imperial family are particularly notable during the Severan Dynasty in the late third and second centuries AD. As one of the most prominent cities in Cyprus, the city is mentioned by several ancient authors including: Ptolemy (v. 14. § 2), Stephanus of Byzantium , Hierocles and Pliny the Elder . During the Diocletianic Persecution , Philoneides , the Bishop of Kourion, was martyred. In 341 CE,

7171-452: The inscriptions available to him. Silvia Ferrara detailed corpus as a companion volume to her analytic survey of 2012, followed by two volumes of her research, where she studied the script in its archaeological context. It contained an additional 27 inscriptions and also used statistical and combinatoric methods to study the structure of large texts and to detect regularities in the use of the signs. In his 2016 PhD thesis, M.F.G. Valério produced

7272-412: The island's bronze coinage. The Cypriots worshipped a goddess of fertility from as early as the Chalcolithic period (3900–2500 BC). They depicted her as a woman with the obvious characteristics of maternity and modelled figurines of her in stone or clay, of which the larger ones became objects of adoration and their smaller counterparts were worn on the body. Others were placed in graves to protect

7373-465: The late 1960s at Kalavassos-Ayios Dimitrios, some of which bear lengthy texts of over 100 signs, along with the debris of other cylinders. It is likely that the balls and cylinders are related to the keeping of economic records on Minoan Cyprus, considering the large number of cross-references between the texts. The longest legible Cypro-Minoan inscription yet extant is a cylinder (19.10 = ##097 ENKO Arou 001) found at Enkomi in 1967 with 217 signs, dated to

7474-401: The late eighth century BC located in the southern court and at the archaic altar. These votive offerings are dedicated to "the god", apparently unassociated with Apollo until the mid-third century BC. North of the priests residence and south of temple are the remains of an archaic altar, the earliest structure at the sanctuary dating to the late-eighth or early seventh-century AD. A structure of

7575-444: The late-fourth century BC, located east of the later sacred way, and south of the altar served as the residence of the priests of Apollo and the temple treasury. This building was subsequently renovated in the first, third and fourth centuries AD. The present form of the sanctuary dates to the first century AD and to the restoration under Trajan in the early second century following the earthquake of AD 76/77. Under Augustan patronage at

7676-649: The lower slope of the hill, was settled. It dates from the Late Chalcolithic to EC (Early Cypriot) I ( c. 2400 – 2175 BCE). In the ECIII-LC (Late Cypriot), IA ( c. 2400–1550 BCE) a settlement was established 0.8 km east of Episkopi at Episkopi-Phaneromeni. The Middle Cypriot (1900–1600 BCE) is a transitional period in the Kouris River Valley. The settlements established during the MC flourished into urban centres in

7777-414: The lower tier being obscured by the modern roadway embankment. From the third century BC until the first century AD, the cemetery of Ayios Ermoyenis, consisting primarily of rock-cut chamber tombs with single or multiple chambers and multiple interments, functioned as the primary cemetery of Roman Kourion. Between the first and third centuries, a row of chamber tombs was cut into the upper and lower faces of

7878-571: The material involved, which includes clay, ivory, metal, and stone. In 1998 a Cypro-Minoan Corpus project, which intended to create a complete and accurate corpus of CM inscriptions, and archaeological and epigraphical discussions of all the evidence, was announced. Nothing appears to have been published subsequently. Cypro-Minoan was added to the Unicode Standard in September 2021, with the release of version 14.0. The Unicode block for Cypro-Minoan

7979-450: The mid-1900s all the available Cypro-Minoan Script texts were very short, with many being singletons, from potmarks, clay balls etc. The CM1 exemplars totaled and the longest contained 8 signs. There were 31 CM2 texts. Two were long with 24 and 25 signs but all but one of those signs were numerals. For CM3 28 texts were available, one doubleton and the rest singletons. This lack of actual data resulted in much speculation and wishful thinking on

8080-559: The mid-7th century. The House of Achilles is located at the northwestern extent of the acropolis, at the southern end of a saddle connecting the acropoline promontory to the hills to the north and west. In antiquity, it was located outside the walls near the proposed site of the Paphos Gate. Constructed in the early fourth century CE, it has been interpreted as an apantitirion, or a public reception hall for imperial and provincial dignitaries. Its precise function remains unknown. The structure

8181-468: The nearby Petra tou Romiou ( Aphrodite 's rock) may be responsible for the creation of the myth that she was born here. This conical stone was found near the holy altar and is now on display at the Kouklia Museum. However, the stone is black whereas the ancients described it as white, although it may have become tarnished over the centuries. The stone remained in the holy altar site until the arrival of

8282-456: The needs of the holy altar, and accommodation for the priest of the goddess and his entourage also existed on the site. A holy garden is also likely to have existed from which the nearby village of Yeroskipou takes its name. This was probably filled with trees and bushes dedicated to Venus, and with birds such as pigeons, which were beloved by the goddess. Representations on ancient vessels depict people amongst bushes, flowers and birds. Worship of

8383-538: The primary evidence for this period is from burials at the Kaloriziki necropolis, below the bluffs of Kourion. At Kaloriziki, the earliest tombs date to the 11th century BCE (Late-Cypriot IIIB) with most burials dating to the Cypriot-Geometric II (mid-11th to mid-10th centuries BCE). These tombs, particularly McFadden's Tomb 40, provide a picture of an increasingly prosperous community in contact with mainland Greece. Although Cyprus came under Assyrian rule, in

8484-429: The proconsul, and it was likely at this time the ends of the cavea were removed, reducing it to a Roman plan of 180 degrees. The orchestra was likewise shortened to a semi-circular form. The theatre received an extensive renovation and enlargement under Trajan between ca. 98–111 CE, bringing the theatre to its present size and seating arrangement. The scene building ( scaenae frons ), now preserved only in its foundations,

8585-447: The remains must be a deposit of an ancient acropolis with monumental buildings including a palace and sanctuary that were destroyed in the early 5th c. BC. The Hadjiaptoullas plateau at 1 km east of the sanctuary of Aphrodite has been identified as the site of the royal palace and in 2016 a large storage and industrial complex of the Cypro-Classical period was also discovered by the University of Cyprus. The Laona hill just north of

8686-503: The rest of the Roman Empire . In the first to third centuries, epigraphic evidence attests a thriving elite at Kourion, as indicated by a floruit of honorific decrees (Mitford No.84, p. 153) and dedications, particularly in honour of the emperor, civic officials and provincial proconsuls. In the first and second centuries, Mitford suggests excessive expenses by the council of the city and peoples of Kourion on such honours, resulting in

8787-459: The sanctions and oversight of expenditures by the proconsul (Mitford 107), particularly during the Trajanic restorations of the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates. Local participation in the imperial cult is demonstrated not only by the presence of a high priesthood of Rome, but also the presence of a cult of Apollo Caesar, a veiled worship of Trajan as a deity alongside Apollo Hylates. Epigraphic honors of

8888-555: The script was in use or even if it encoded multiple languages, all things seen with cuneiform scripts. Some early, failed, attempts were made at decipherment by assuming it is similar to Mycenaean Greek . The Cypro-Minoan inscriptions were proposed to fall into three classes by Jean-Pierre Olivier (CM1, CM2, CM3). Subsequently, Emilia Masson proposed dividing them into four closely related groups: archaic CM, CM1 (also known as Linear C ), CM2, and CM3 (also called Levanto-Minoan), which she considered chronological stages of development of

8989-410: The signs were adjacent and on the same line, totally somewhat over 250 in number. Subsequently, work has been done to extend this to single sign text examples, which mainly includes potmarks and further analyze them. Out of this analysis came a proposal that two-sign texts are actually abbreviation for longer texts. A complicating factor is that the ductus (inscription method) for signs varies depending on

9090-450: The site since 2006, and remains of the ancient city and the sanctuary can be seen today. From around 1200 BC, Palaepaphos was a major religious centre famous all over Cyprus, but also throughout the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, it also became a city and seat of power about which still little is known today. Paphos was also a kingdom and the city was capital of the region. When the last King of Palaepaphos, Nicocles , moved his capital at

9191-476: The structure was entered from the east through the attached bath complex. The main wing of the structure is arranged around a central peristyle courtyard. The northern and eastern portico of the atrium contains two panels depicting gladiators in combat, the only such mosaics in Cyprus. The structure was extensively damaged in the earthquakes of the late-4th century, but the east rooms seem to have been used until

9292-438: The three found at Enkoni, totaling over 2000 signs, making up a significant part of the known CM corpus. Cypro-Minoan signs, usually ranging in number from one to four, are found on various types of vessels and are usually referred to as potmarks. These marks have also been found on structure walls. Three examples emerged at Tiryns , a large painted jug (TIRY Avas 002) with 4 signs, a clay boule (TIRY Abou 001) with 3 signs, and

9393-399: The use of different writing materials. Only the archaic CM found in the earliest archaeological context is indeed distinct from these three. An earlier classification system divided texts into six classes, I through VI. Another proposed classification is based on differences between three geographic divisions 1) texts found at Ugarit, 2) texts found on the island of Cyprus, and 3) texts found in

9494-590: The village of Erimi. Erimi-Pamboules was occupied from the conclusion of the Ceramic Neolithic through the Chalcolithic period (3400–2800 BCE). Occupation in the Early Cypriot period ( c. 2300–1900 BCE) is uninterrupted from the preceding Chalcolithic period, with occupation continuing along the Kouris River Valley and the drainages to the west. Sotira-Kaminoudhia, located to the northwest of Sotira-Teppes, on

9595-427: The walls at Marchellos and containing heavy stone balls, large numbers of weapons such as spearheads and arrows, and many architectural fragments and slabs in the Cypriot syllabic alphabet. This was thought to be a mound reported by Herodotus as built by the Persians during a siege of the city in the Ionian Revolt in 498/497 BC and used as a ramp to launch projectiles inside the city. The sculptural fragments dated from

9696-423: The west. The northern portico provided access to a monumental nymphaeum and a bath complex thermae constructed around the nymphaeum to the north. The western portico was renovated in the early fifth century to provide an entrance to the episcopal precinct, located immediately to the west. The nymphaeum , was developed in four successive phases from the early first century AD to the mid seventh century, and

9797-399: The writing. These classifications based on the chronological nature of the archaeological context were contested by Silvia Ferrara who pointed out that CM1, CM2, and CM3 all existed simultaneously, their texts demonstrated the same statistical and combinatorial regularities, and their character sets should have been basically the same; she also noted a strong correlation between these groups and

9898-466: Was among the largest nymphaea in the Roman Mediterranean in the second and third centuries. In its earliest phase the nymphaeum consisted of a rectangular room with a tri-apsidal fountain set in its northern wall flowing into a rectangular basin along the length of the same wall. After an earthquake in 77 AD, the nymphaeum was rebuilt between 98 and 117. The nymphaeum was internally dived by

9999-479: Was both very rich and a priest of Venus. Another legend relates that Agapinoras, king of Tegea and Arcadia , came to Paphos after the Trojan War and founded both the city and the holy altar of Venus. The Greeks, seemingly impressed by the greatness of the goddess of Paphos, built a large altar dedicated to her, parts of which still survive. A covered temple was never built for the goddess at Palaepaphos but instead,

10100-415: Was copper ingots recovered in 1960 from a Bronze Age shipwreck by underwater archaeology near Cape Gelidonya . Most of the ingots were marked with what are believed to be CM signs. In addition to the following it has also been suggested that there are Cypro-Minoan Script signs on several cylinder seals . The earliest known Cypro-Minoan inscription of any real length was a clay tablet discovered in 1955 at

10201-418: Was rebuilt, bringing it to the height of the cavea. This structure would have originally obscured the view of the Mediterranean to the south. Between 214 and 217 CE, the theatre was modified to accommodate gladiatorial games and venationes but it was restored to its original form as a theatre after 250 CE. The theatre was abandoned in the later-fourth century CE, likely the result of successive seismic events,

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