Enkomi
Enkomi
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Enkomi in Cyprus. | |
Coordinates: 35°9′30″N 33°53′28″E / 35.15833°N 33.89111°E | |
Country (de jure) | Cyprus |
• District | Famagusta District |
Country (de facto) | Northern Cyprus[1] |
• District | Gazimağusa District |
Population (2011)[2] | |
• Total | 2,645 |
Enkomi (
In 1974, Enkomi had about 800
History
Enkomi was settled in the
The complicated and badly disturbed stratigraphy of the site has[4] in four major phases, with many subdivisions:
- Level A, a poorly represented preliminary stratum on bedrock;
- Level I A, and B, at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, when fortifications were twice destroyed;
- Level II A, and B, with many subdivisions, covering the elaborate expansion of the 14th and 13th centuries and ending in a mass destruction about 1220;
- Level III A, B, and C, with Mycenaean settlers, with a destructive attack, possibly related to the Sea Peoples in IIIA, culturally continuous with IIIB, ending in a destruction about 1125, and IIIC, a final, Mycenaean phase with dwindling population.
During the 13th century BC, Enkomi was inhabited by Greeks, like most of the cities of Cyprus. From the 13th century, other towns along the southern coast of Cyprus competed with Enkomi. After an earthquake c. 1050 BC, the site was abandoned, leaving an opening for the rise of Salamis.
Alasia
Excavations
Following more than a decade of widespread looting drawn by the high quality of the tomb gifts,
A decorated metal cup, the "Enkomi Cup" has been controversially claimed to use niello decoration, which would make it one of the earliest uses of this technique. However, controversy has continued since the 1960s as to whether the material used actually is niello.[11]
The Swedish Cyprus Expedition excavated around twenty tombs at Enkomi’s necropolis for two summer months in 1930. The Swedish archaeologists commenced with several trial trenches that were not very successful at first, since Byzantine houses had destroyed many of the tombs.[12] Eventually, they excavated part of the necropolis which had never been investigated before and found very rich graves. A single tomb could contain around 300 objects, mostly pottery, but also objects of gold, silver, faience, ivory, etc.[13] The deceased were found sitting or lying down. They wore robes, fastened together with gold pins. Some had diadems on their foreheads decorated with geometric ornaments, floral motifs or figures, and gold tin over their mouths.[14] One of the women wore a gold necklace in the shape of Mycenaean shields. This was a Minoan motif and was introduced to Cyprus by the Mycenaeans. Similar shields are depicted on frescoes at Knossos, Crete, for example. The same woman also had rings in her hair, ears, and on her fingers and toes. Furthermore, the archaeologists found food and drink in bronze and ceramic vessels placed around the buried.[14] The objects testify to Cyprus's international relationships during the Bronze Age.[13]
Notes
- ^ In 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus unilaterally declared independence from the Republic of Cyprus. The de facto state is not recognised by any UN state except Turkey.
- ^ "KKTC 2011 Nüfus ve Konut Sayımı" [TRNC 2011 Population and Housing Census] (PDF) (in Turkish). TRNC State Planning Organization. 6 August 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-06.
- PRIO Cyprus Centre. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
- ^ The French excavation report Enkomi-Alasia 1952, and Porphyrios Dikaios, ed. Enkomi Excavations 1948–1958;
- ^ Dussaud's prefatory note in Enkomi-Alasia: Nouvelles missions en Chypre, Claude F.A. Schaeffer, ed. (Paris, 1952).
- ^ Joseph Offord, at the First International Congress of the History of Religion, (Paris, 1900) "Apollo Ressef and Apollo Alasiotas", reported by Nathaniel Schmidt, in The Biblical World 16.6 (December 1900:447–450).
- ^ R.S. Merrillees contended with "a certain pungency" (his expression at the end of his preface, p. 12) for Syria in Alashia Revisited, Cahiers de la Revue biblique 222 (Paris, 1987), which was critically reviewed by Theo P. J. van den Hout, in Journal of Near Eastern Studies 53.2 (April 1994), pp. 138–139.
- ^ British Museum Highlights
- ^ British Museum Collection
- J.M. Cook casually put it in passing, in his review of "Archaeology in Greece, 1948–1949" in The Journal of Hellenic Studies 70 (1950. p. 14). "Was the horned god an early Apollo Keraiates from Arcadia, and why was he abandoned, remain among the elusive questions noted by Vronwy Hankey in reviewing Dikaios' excavation volumes in The Journal of Hellenic Studies 95 (1975), p 262. The Apollo designation may be paralleled in the so-called "Venus of Willendorf".
- ^ SCE s. 468
- ^ )
- ^ a b Gjerstad, Einar (1933). Sekler och dagar. Stockholm: Albert Bonniers boktryckeri. pp. 102–106.
- Gjerstad, Einar, ed. (1934). The Swedish Cyprus expedition: finds and results of the excavation in Cyprus 1927-1931. Vol. 1, Text. Stockholm: Victor Pettersons bokindustriaktiebolag. p. 468.
Literature
- Murray, A. S. (1900). "Excavations at Enkomi". In Murray, A. S.; Smith, A. H.; Walters H. B. (eds.). Excavations in Cyprus. London: British Museum.
- Peltenburg, E. J. (1999). "From isolation to state formation in Cyprus: ca. 3500–1500 BC". In Karageorghis, Vassos; Michalides D. (eds.). The development of the Cypriot economy from the prehistoric period to the present day. Nikosia. pp. 17–43.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Schaeffer, Claude F. A. (1949). Nouvelles découvertes à Enkomi (Chypre). Paris: Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.
- Schaeffer, Claude F. A. (1952). Enkomi-Alasia I. Paris.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)