Download Michael Polychronis

Michael Polychronis
Ancient Cyprus
Cyprus is a little island located in the Mediterranean Sea. Cyprus has its first recorded
history dating from very early times. It has also been the crossroad for many empires during it
long history and because of this it is one of the most cultural rich places in the world. The first
written history shows Cyprus under Assyrian rule under the king Sargon II (721-705 B.C.E.),
(Ancient History of Cyprus). Cyprus was called Ia’ to the Assyrians. There were seven kingdoms
according to the Assyrians Soli, Salamis, Kition, Amathus, Kourion, Paphos and closer tot the
ocean Tamassos, Ledrai, Idalion, and Chytroi (Ancient History of Cyprus). Cyprus’s occupany
ended around 669/663. When this freedom occurred the tombs changed to rock cut tombs
(Ancient History of Cyprus). For the royals tombs resembled wooden houses, and showed
phoenician influence (Ancient History of Cyprus). Some tombs like the egyptians had remains of
horses and chariots (Ancient History of Cyprus).
In 526 Persia conquered the island (Ancient History of Cyprus). Persia did not interfere
with internal affairs and problems and Persia did not even require Cypriots to strike Persias’ own
currency (History of Cyprus). Observing ancient palaces during this time however refer to the
architecture used by the Persians. During the Persian rule Ionian influence rose greatly including
nude sculptures and greek like pottery (Ancient History of Cyprus). Persia however did require
one thing for Cyprus and that was army supplies, in this case ships (Ancient History of Cyprus).
In 480 B.C. when Xerxes invaded Greece 150 ships were supplied from Cyprus (Ancient History
of Cyprus).
In 499 B.C. kingdoms of Cyprus took part in a Ionian rising against the Persians. The
Cypriots were almost annihilated and the Persians took on a land siege to the fortified towns in
498 B.C. (Ancient History of Cyprus). In 450 B.C. King Evagoras was exiled from his throne
(Ancient History of Cyprus). In 411 he regained his throne and took control of the whole island.
Shortly after his takeover, he tried to gain independence from Persia with Athenian help (Ancient
History of Cyprus). The battle was lost again and Evagoras was forced to lay down his weapons,
he remained king though until he was murdered in 374 B.C. In 350 B.C. there was yet again
another rebellion, but this time with the Egyptians and Phoenicians, despite the powerful armies
of these three civilizations, Persia once again crushed them under the rule of Artaxerxes in 344
B.C. (History of Cyprus). After his father Evagoras I was first to introduce the Greek alphabet to
Salamis, even though other parts of the island used Phoenician script and Cyprus's own syllabic
alphabet. During the fourth century however Cypriot gods became known under greek names
(Ancient History of Cyprus).
During Alexanders Siege of Tyre, Cypriot Kings went over to Alexander the Great and
provided him with ships (Ancient History of Cyprus). After this time Ptolemaic reign was on
Cyprus but not much happened except for the strong relationships between Athens and
Alexandria the two richest cities at the time (Ancient History of Cyprus). In 58 B.C. Cyprus
becamea Roman province because of a grudge held by the Romans against the king of the
Ptolemaic’s Ptolemy. Mark Antony gave the island to Cleopatra but once again became a
province after the loss at the battle of Actium in 30 B.C. (Ancient History of Cyprus). During the
Jewish uprising in 115/116 AD Cyprus suffered major losses, 240,000 Greek and Roman
civilians were killed (Ancient History of Cyprus). After forces were sent to put down the
uprising a law was passed prohibiting no Jews could live on the island not even if there was a
shipwreck (Ancient History of Cyprus). Salamis the kingdom in Cyprus wich held the most
culture, riches and history was mostly destroyed after earthquakes and massive drought (Ancient
History of Cyprus).