Amathus
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Location | Cyprus |
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Region | Limassol District |
Coordinates | 34°42′45″N 33°08′30″E / 34.71250°N 33.14167°E |
Site notes | |
Management | Cyprus Department of Antiquities |
Public access | yes |
Amathus or Amathous (
Archaeological work has recently been continued at the site and many finds are exhibited in the Limassol Museum.
History
Pre-history and ancient era
The pre-history of Amathus survives in both myth and archaeology.[3] Archaeology has detected human activity from the earliest Iron Age, c. 1100 BC.[2][4] The city's legendary founder was Cinyras, linked with the birth of Adonis, who called the city after his mother Amathous. According to a version of the Ariadne legend noted by Plutarch,[5] Theseus abandoned Ariadne at Amathousa, where she died giving birth to her child and was buried in a sacred tomb. According to Plutarch's source, Amathousians called the sacred grove where her shrine was situated the Wood of Aphrodite Ariadne. More purely Hellenic myth would have Amathus settled instead by one of the sons of Heracles, thus accounting for the fact that he was worshiped there.
It was said in antiquity that the people of Amathus were
Amathus was built on the coastal cliffs with a natural harbour and flourished at an early date, soon requiring several cemeteries. Greeks from
The earliest remains hitherto found on the site are tombs of the early Iron Age period of Graeco-Phoenician influences (1000-600 BC). Amathus is somtimes identified[10] with Qartiḫadasti (Phoenician "New-Town") in the Cypriote tribute-list of Esarhaddon of Assyria (668 BC) and some Phoenician inscriptions from the island, although others identify this Qartiḫadasti with Kition or a part of it.[11] It certainly maintained strong Phoenician sympathies, for it was its refusal to join the philhellene league of Onesilos of Salamis which provoked the revolt of Cyprus from Achaemenid Persia in 500-494 BC,[12] when Amathus was besieged unsuccessfully and avenged itself by the capture and execution of Onesilos.[13] Herodotus reports
- "Because he had besieged them, the Amathusians cut off Onesilos’ head and brought it to Amathous, where they hung it above the gates. As it hung there empty, a swarm of bees entered it and filled it with honeycomb.[14] When they sought advice about this event, an oracle told them to take the head down and bury it, and to make annual sacrifice to Onesilos as a hero, saying that it would be better for them if they did this. The Amathusians did as they were told and still perform these rites in my day." (Histories 5.114)
Amathus was a rich and densely populated kingdom with a flourishing agriculture (grain[15] and sheep) and copper mines situated very close to the northeast Kalavasos.[16][13][17]
Hellenistic era
About 385-380 BC, the philhellene
From the 4th century BC the pedestals of two sculptures donated by the last Basileus of Amathous, Androkles, representing his two sons, Orestheus and Andragoras, have survived. Their inscriptions are in both Eteocyprian and Greek languages.
The decline of Amathus is often measured by the Ptolemaic gifts to Argos, where Amathus donated only 40 drachmas in 170-160 BC, but Kition and Salamis gave 208, Kourion 172, and Paphos 100. However, this figure contradicts the archaeologic evidence of new buildings in this period including a balneion, a bath, a gymnasium, as well as fortifications of the Acropolis, including a new tower. The port of Paphos appears to have lost traffic compared to Amathus in the Ptolemaic period, an indication that Paphos, as the capital of the island, perhaps offered fewer drachmas than the other cities for different reasons, like Amathus.[21]
Roman era
In the Roman era Amathus became the capital of one of the four administrative regions of Cyprus.
A Roman temple was built in the 1st century AD on top of the Hellenistic predecessor. The temple facilities remained so important in Roman times that 'Amathusia' was used as a synonym for 'Cypriot'.
Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Later, in the 4th century AD, Amasus became the see of a Christian bishop and continued to flourish until the
Today, Amathus is a see of the Church of Cyprus and is also listed (under the name "Amathus in Cypro", to distinguish it from "Amathus in Transjordan") as a titular see by the Catholic Church, which however, in line with the practice adopted after the Second Vatican Council, has made no appointments to the bishopric since the death of the last Latin titular bishop in 1984.[24]
Anastasius Sinaita, the famous 7th-century prolific monk of Saint Catherine's Monastery, was born here. It is thought that he left Cyprus after the 649 Arab conquest of the island, setting out for the Holy Land, and eventually becoming a monk on Sinai.[25]
Amathus declined and was already almost deserted when
In modern times
A new settlement close to Amathus but further inland, Agios Tychonas, is named after the bishop Saint Tychon of Amathus. The site of the ruins is within the borders of this village, though the expansion of the Limassol tourist area has threatened the ruins: it is speculated that some of the hotels are on top of the Amathus necropolis.
The site and archaeology
The Swedish Cyprus Expedition
From April to may 1930 The Swedish Cyprus Expedition excavated a necropolis on both sides of Amathus'acropolis. Amathus was known and visited during the 18th century and 19th centuries by travelers and archaeologists. Earlier excavators, such as General Luigi Palma Di Cesnola, the first American consul in Cyprus, excavated the necropolis' large tombs situated north of the acropolis and the tombs in the necropolis west of the acropolis hill. Since he did not publish any plans or drawings John Lindros illustrated two of the tombs from the old excavations that were still possible to visit. The necropolis had partly been excavated by the English Expedition to Cyprus in 1893-94 and published in Excavations in Cyprus, London 1900. The Swedish Cyprus Expedition excavated around 25 tombs.[26]
The tombs excavated are shaft tombs with a dromos, which are rather rare in Cyprus. Variations of the shaft tombs occur, mostly because of the various circumstances of space and economics as well as difficulties in cutting the rock. The archaeologist identified six different styles. It is the shape of the dromos that differs the most between the different styles. Tombs 1 and 2 differ from the others in the sense of construction and quality and might have been created for wealthier people, maybe royals. Tomb 3 is more reminiscent of the other graves found in Cyprus since it is a chamber tomb. Tomb no. 26 had a large tumulus and might have been related to other Hellenistic tumuli. It contained a stone pithos with an alabastron in which a burnt skeleton was found. Around the rim of the alabastron a wreath of gilded myrtle leaves was placed. The excavator thought it might have been a Ptolemaic official who died in Amathus and was buried according to a foreign burial custom.[26]
Otherwise, the same burial customs were observed in most of the tombs. Many were reused multiple times, in which case the burial gifts were pushed into the corner of the tomb. Later, during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Amathus was once again used for burial. These burials did not damage or alternate the earlier tombs since they were usually somewhere in the upper layers. The tombs are dated from the Cypro-Geometric I to the Roman period.[26]
Later Excavations
The city had vanished, except for fragments of wall and of a great stone urn on the acropolis,
Further archaeological objects found during the excavations are preserved at both the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and the Limassol District Archaeological Museum.
In the agora there are marble columns decorated with spirals and a huge paved squares. On the coastal side of the city there is an Early Christian basilica with mosaic floors decorated with semi-precious stones. Further, near the terraced road leading to the Temple, situated on the top of the cliff, several houses built in a row dating to the Hellenistic period have been discovered. At the east and west extremes of the city the two acropoleis are situated where a number of tombs have been found, many of which are intact.
Two small sanctuaries, with terracotta votive offerings of Graeco-Phoenician age, lie not far off, but the location of the great shrines of Adonis and Aphrodite have not been identified (M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, i. ch.1).[13]
Gallery
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General view
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Remains of buildings
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Amphora from tomb 52, Amathus, 6th century BC, British Museum
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in-situ copy of massive stone vase (original in the Louvre)
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The original vase transferred in the Louvre)
Notes
- ^ Walter Burkert, Greek Religion 1985, p. 153; John Karageorghis, La grande déesse de Chypre et son culte, 1977.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-521693-8.
- ^ T. Petit, "Eteocypriot myth and Amathousian reality," JMA 12 (1999:108-20)
- S2CID 153426308.; M. Iacovou, "Amathous, an early Iron Age polity in Cyprus: the chronology of its foundation", Report of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus (2002) pp 101-22.
- ^ Plutarch, vita of Theseus (20.3-.5), citing the lost text of an obscure Amathusan mythographer, Paeon.
- ^ Baurain, C. 1984. Réflexions sur les origines d’Amathonte d’après les sources littéraires, in P. Aupert and M.- C. Hellmann (eds) Amathonte I. Testimonia 1. Auteurs ancients, Monnayage, Voyageurs, Fouilles, Origines, Géographie: 109–117. Paris: École Française d’Athènes/Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations.
- ^ Agelarakis A., Kanta A., and N. Ch. Stampolidis, “The Osseous Record in the Western Necropolis of Amathous: an Archaeo-Anthropological Investigation”, Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete 16th-6th c. B.C., Proceedings of the International Symposium: The Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete 16th-6th c. B.C., Rethymnon, Crete, 1998: 217-232
- ^ Agelarakis A., “The Amathous (tophet) cremations in Cyprus”, In D. Christou on “Human Cremations at the Western Necropolis of Amathous” <Cremations in Bronze and Early Iron Age>, Proceedings of Int. Symposium. Ministries of the Aegean and of Culture, Greece, 2001: 201-204
- ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia III, 8. Hesychius s.v Ἀφρόδιτος. Catullus 68, 51, calling the Amathusian Aphrodite duplex, confirms the attribution to Amathus.
- ^ For example by E. Oberhummer, Die Insel Cypern, i., 1902, pp. 13-14.
- ISSN 0003-097X.
- ^ Herodotus, v. 105
- ^ a b c d e f public domain: Myres, John Linton (1911). "Amathus". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 783. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ The mytheme of bees in the carcase, familiar from the legend of Samson ( Judges 14:8, a lion's carcase) and the Greek myth of Aristaeus (a bullock carcase), and in Virgil's Georgics, is examined by Othniel Margalith, "Samson's Riddle and Samson's Magic Locks" Vetus Testamentum, 36.2 (1986:.
- ^ Strabo 340, quoting the mid-6th century writer Hipponax.
- ^ See Ovid, Metamorphoses x. 220, 227. 531.
- ^ G. Mariti, i. 187; L. Ross, Inselreise, iv. 195; W. H. Engel, Kypros, i. 111 ff.
- ^ Hill, George Francis (1904). Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Cyprus. Arnaldo Forni - Editore. pp. xxviii, 5.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus xiv. 98.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus xix. 62.
- ^ Giorgos Papantoniou: Religion and Social Transformations in Cyprus. From the Cypriot Basileis to the Hellenistic Strategos, Brill, 2012, S. 221.
- ^ Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 1063-1066
- ^ Siméon Vailhé, v. 1. Amathus, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. II, Paris 1914, coll. 982-983
- ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 830
- ^ A. Binggeli, 'Anastasius of Sinai' in D. Thomas (ed.) et al., Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 1 (600-900). Brill 2009, pp. 193-202; K.H. Uthemann, 'Anastasius the Sinaite' in A. Di Berardino, Patrology: the Eastern fathers from the Council of Chalcedon (451) to John of Damascus (+750). Cambridge 2006, 313-331
- ^ a b c Gjerstad, Einar (1935). The Swedish Cyprus Expedition Publications Finds and Results of the Excavations in Cyprus 1927-1931, Vol. II. Text. Stockholm: Victor Pettersons Bokindustriaktiebolag. pp. 2–4, 138–141, 625, 179–180, 626–628, 643, 820–24.
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References
- Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopaedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Amathous, Cyprus"
- Municipality of Limassol
External links
- http://www.mcw.gov.cy/mcw/DA/DA.nsf/0/D20ED526826AB796C225719B00374A92?OpenDocument
- Agias Tychonas: Amathus (English)
- http://www.anastasiosofsinai.org/index.html (English)
- StoryMap about Amathous (A. Cannavò, A. Rabot)