Ancient Cypriot art refers to all works of visual art originating from Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean from c. 10,000 BC to c. 330 AD. [1] During this period, various types of objects were produced such as domestic tools, weaponry, jewellery, and decorative figurines. This range of art attests to the blend of both native and foreign influences of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome as they successively occupied the country. Artworks produced in ancient Cyprus incorporate almost all of the mediums of visual art worked on in ancient history including terracotta, stone, [2] metals, glass, [3] and gemstones. [4]
In c. 10,000 BC, seasonal hunters of pygmy hippopotami and elephants were present on the island. The first Neolithic settlers in Cyprus originated from either the Syro-Palestinian coast or southern Anatolia, forming communities founded on agriculture. It was towards the end of the Neolithic period when people began to bake moulded clay into vessels which were frequently embellished with abstract designs in red on a light slip. [5]
During this period, a new flood of Syro-Palestinian and Anatolian migrants introduced a more advanced culture where religion was practised and art processes became more complex. Examples of such art are that of female figurines formed from clay or stone—in particular the local stone picrolite—with prominent genitals which represented fertility as one of the crucial values of agrarian society at the time. Towards the end of this period, small implements and ornamental decorations began to be hammered from copper, chalkos in Greek, hence giving the name of this era of progression from the Neolithic Period to the Bronze Age. [5] Despite the continuation of agriculture, certain developments such as diversified burial procedures, the building of unique religious installations, and the use of seals indicate a more sophisticated and organised society. [6]
Profound changes caused by incoming coastal Asia Minor migrants and other intra-societal processes marked the beginning of the Early Bronze Age. Communities began to move, settling in areas of fertile land near sources of water. [6] Influences from the Near East, where metallurgy was highly developed, established standardised procedures of mining, extracting, and smelting of the rich copper ores found in Cyprus. This resource would become a valued export of high demand throughout Mediterranean antiquity during the Middle Bronze Age. [5] Although Cypriot society was still rooted in agriculture, bronze-smiths began to manufacture unique ornaments and tools following personal techniques towards the end of Early Bronze Age. [6]
The distinctive geographical location of Cyprus in the centre of Eastern Mediterranean maritime trade allowed for the country to become a significant commercial hub. This advantage also provided the country the ability to build contacts with Egypt, the Near East, Minoan Crete, and Mycenaean Greece. However, despite progressive social organisation, the profound distinctions in wealth as evidenced in burials highlight the explicit social divisions at the time. Such divide and local disputes resulted in the construction of fortifications in many settlements. [6]
The shapes and designs of pottery produced in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages were innovative and creative. Terracotta was used extensively to produce statuettes for tomb burials. [7] Other burial items, particularly those for men, consisted of bronze weaponry and tools. Cylinder seals and use of gold and silver for jewellery were gradually popularised as well. With the increasing need for more complex ways of expressing religion, ceremonial sites and unique metalworks were constructed. Such constructions give evidence of the growing significance of metals like copper in Cyprus. By the end of the Bronze Age, Near Eastern and Aegean influences allowed for Cyprus to develop the art of engraving and carving to a large extent. [5]
During the Late Bronze Age, Cyprus was producing copper on a colossal scale and exporting it throughout the entire Eastern Mediterranean to be bartered for commodities and luxury goods. Various works of alabaster and faience, displayed within The Cesnola Collection, were imported from Egypt during the first half of the 14th century BC. The recent archaeological discovery off the Anatolian coast of ten tonnes of copper in a 14th-century BC shipwreck at Ulu Burun show the large scope of Cyprus’ seafaring commerce. Jars holding Cypriot pottery and products of agriculture such as coriander were also found in the excavation. [5]
By the Late Bronze Age, Cypriot art could be seen as a mixture of both domestic pressures and foreign influences. Adaptations of foreign stylistic elements from the Aegean, the Near East, and Egypt led to their reinterpretation and as a result incorporation into unique Cypriot customs. Particularly during the 12th century BC, bronze-work, writing, jewellery, and stone seal carvings were all influenced by the Aegean. From c. 1500 BC, Cypriots commenced using an undecipherable Cypro-Minoan script adopted from Crete which gave them the means to manage records and inventories at a time when social organisation was becoming increasingly complex. [6] This script can be seen on clay tablets and records found in metropolitan cities such as Enkomi and Kalavasos. The Cesnola Collection also contains numerous vases on which some characters of this ancient script is visible. Upon excavations of rich burial grounds and 14th to 13th century BC urban centres like Enkomi, luxurious artefacts made from a range of materials have been discovered. Burial chambers of an elite class have further unearthed nearly exclusively a collection of imported Mycenaean vessels from the 14th century. [5]
While the arts in Cyprus thrived, social inequities arose as a result of the flux of imported wealth and resources. During the latter part of the 13th century BC, unrest took over Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, leaving cities in ruins and generating a surge of Aegean refugees to Cyprus. However, despite the turmoil, Cyprus managed to eventually recover its economic and commercial success. [6]
After its recuperation, new settlements arose in Cyprus as a result of the influx of Greek and Achaean immigrants who brought with them their Mycenaean culture in the forms of pottery, clothing, weaponry, burial customs, and the Greek language. The country maintained its role as a main exporter of raw materials in the Mediterranean, and eventually introduced a new local syllabic script in the 11th century BC which was in use until the 3rd century BC for the writing of ancient Greek and Cypriot language. [6] The establishment of a Phoenician settlement at Kition on the southern coast in around 900 BC further pushed Cyprus’ trade as the Phoenicians were interested in the plentiful copper and wood resources for shipbuilding. With this, the Phoenician language was adopted, and foreign ideas such as the cult of the goddess Astarte [6] were assimilated into Cypriot culture. However, despite such imported customs at the time, Cypriot art managed to maintain its native characteristics. Pottery of this period was generally produced from Proto-White Painted Ware, but the Cypriots also painted in black and red. [1] Advancements in the political structure of society could be seen in the founding of ten kingdoms ruled by kings called wanaktes, [8] as evidenced in a 7th century BC inscription.
Evidence revealing the surrender of the Cypriot rulers to Assyria in 709 BC was found on a stele at Kition, [8] and the kingdoms remained under Assyrian rule until 669 BC. [6] Prosperity and cultural incitement in the kingdoms followed, and the kings of Cyprus were able to self-rule as long as they paid frequent tribute to the king of Assyria. The riches and foreign relations of these Cypriot kings can be seen in evidence found in royal burial chambers at Salamis. In 669 BC, Cyprus became independent, a rare circumstance in Cypriot history that lasted until the country was subjugated by Egypt under Amasis II in 560 BC. During this time, the extent of Egyptian control was evident in the increasing use of Egyptian symbols in Cypriot art, such as the head of Hathor which was found commonly on art pieces from Amathus. [8] It could also be seen in the many stone sculptures of male votaries. Cypriot sculpture in the Cypro-Archaic Period was characterised by polychrome decoration which was also used in Greece. Terracotta during this time was often painted, and the development of the mould meant that figurine production could be accelerated to a great extent. [1] In 545 BC, Cyprus was conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia, but allied with the Ionian Greeks in 499 BC in attempt to rebel against the Persian invaders. Undeterred by the fluctuations in power, Cyprus remained prosperous as a pivotal trade hub, [6] and religious practices did not change with new rule.
Until Cyprus was liberated by Alexander the Great in 333 BC, there was a constant power struggle for Cypriot independence against the Persians. During the Cypro-Classical era, sculptures, jewellery, clothing, and other art forms began to take on many Hellenic elements as a result of increased affiliation with the Greeks who aided the Cypriots in their attempts to depose the Persians. [6] Sculptures in this period were generally made from terracotta or limestone and could only be afforded by the affluent. Although the influence of Greek culture was evident in the arts of Cyprus, the Cypriots still kept and used their own artistic styles. One prominent example is that of a Golgoi sarcophagus adorned with warriors in battle which is a scene commonly seen in Greek art. However, the Cypriot artist combines a hunting scene with this landscape, whereby the proportions of the animals are clearly distinctive from those found in Hellenic works. Similarly, Cypriot jewellery, in particular those made from gold, reveal a combination of both local and Greek artistic styles. East Greek influences from the sixth century BC gave rise to freestanding Cypriot sculptures that exhibited common Hellenic features such as the subtle smile and forward left foot. [9]
Art in Cyprus eventually came to assimilate Hellenistic elements as the Ptolemies conquered the country in 300 BC. Although artistic elements of ancient Athens influenced Cypriot burial architecture and other art forms in the beginning, Egyptian styles ultimately superseded. After the Romans seized control in 58 BC, Cyprus once again became a vibrant trading centre. Eastern Mediterranean traders and artists, including sculptors, brought with them a range of foreign artistic practices as they entered the country. As marble and bronze sculptures were increasingly imported from the Aegean, traditional limestone sculptures started to diminish. [1] Hellenistic elements were still prevalent in Cypriot sculpture, ceramics and jewellery during this time. Ultimately, all forms of Cypriot art became influenced by Roman techniques and styles. [10]
Outside Cyprus, there are large collections in several museums, notably the British Museum and Louvre. One of the most extensive collections of ancient Cypriot art is The Cesnola Collection which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This inventory was amassed through personal investments and excavations by Luigi Palma di Cesnola who was an American consul based in Cyprus in 1865, before becoming the first director of the Metropolitan. [11]
Amathus or Amathous was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about 24 miles (39 km) west of Larnaca and 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Limassol. Its ancient cult sanctuary of Aphrodite was the second most important in Cyprus, her homeland, after Paphos.
Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland. Crete is associated with the Minoan civilization from the Early Bronze Age. The Cycladic civilization converges with the mainland during the Early Helladic ("Minyan") period and with Crete in the Middle Minoan period. From c. 1450 BC, the Greek Mycenaean civilization spreads to Crete, probably by military conquest. The earlier Aegean farming populations of Neolithic Greece brought agriculture westward into Europe before 5,000 BC.
Human habitation of Cyprus dates back to the Paleolithic era. Cyprus's geographic position has caused Cyprus to be influenced by differing Eastern Mediterranean civilisations over the millennia.
Salamis was an ancient Greek city-state on the east coast of Cyprus, at the mouth of the river Pedieos, 6 km north of modern Famagusta. According to tradition, the founder of Salamis was Teucer, son of Telamon, king of the Greek island of Salamis, who could not return home after the Trojan War because he had failed to avenge his brother Ajax.
Ancient art refers to the many types of art produced by the advanced cultures of ancient societies with different forms of writing, such as those of ancient China, India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The art of pre-literate societies is normally referred to as prehistoric art and is not covered here. Although some pre-Columbian cultures developed writing during the centuries before the arrival of Europeans, on grounds of dating these are covered at pre-Columbian art and articles such as Maya art, Aztec art, and Olmec art.
The Greek Dark Ages was the period of Greek history from the end of the Mycenaean palatial civilization, around 1100 BC, to the beginning of the Archaic age, around 750 BC. Archaeological evidence shows a widespread collapse of Bronze Age civilization in the Eastern Mediterranean world at the outset of the period, as the great palaces and cities of the Mycenaeans were destroyed or abandoned. At around the same time, the Hittite civilization also suffered serious disruption, with cities from Troy to Gaza being destroyed. In Egypt, the New Kingdom fell into disarray, leading to the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt. Following the collapse, there were fewer, smaller settlements, suggesting widespread famine and depopulation. In Greece, the Linear B script used by Mycenaean bureaucrats to write the Greek language ceased to be used, and the Greek alphabet did not develop until the beginning of the archaic period. The decoration on Greek pottery after about 1100 BC lacks the figurative decoration of Mycenaean ware and is restricted to simpler, generally geometric styles (1000–700 BC).
The Prehistoric Period is the oldest part of Cypriot history. This article covers the period 10,000 to 800 BC and ends immediately before the documented history of Cyprus begins.
The ancient history of Cyprus shows a precocious sophistication in the Neolithic era visible in settlements such as at Choirokoitia dating from the 9th millennium BC, and at Kalavassos from about 7500 BC.
Idalion or Idalium was an ancient city in Cyprus, in modern Dali, Nicosia District. The city was founded on the copper trade in the 3rd millennium BC. Its name in the 8th century BC was "Ed-di-al" as it appears on the Sargon Stele of 707 BC, and a little later on the Prism of Esarhaddon.
The Chimera of Arezzo is regarded as the best example of ancient Etruscan art. The British art historian David Ekserdjian described the sculpture as "one of the most arresting of all animal sculptures and the supreme masterpiece of Etruscan bronze-casting". Made entirely of bronze and measuring 78.5 cm high with a length of 129 cm, it was found alongside a small collection of other bronze statues in Arezzo, an ancient Etruscan and Roman city in Tuscany. The statue was originally part of a larger sculptural group representing a fight between a Chimera and the Greek hero Bellerophon. This sculpture is likely to have been created as a votive offering to the Etruscan god Tinia.
Hellenistic art is the art of the Hellenistic period generally taken to begin with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and end with the conquest of the Greek world by the Romans, a process well underway by 146 BCE, when the Greek mainland was taken, and essentially ending in 30 BCE with the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt following the Battle of Actium. A number of the best-known works of Greek sculpture belong to this period, including Laocoön and His Sons, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It follows the period of Classical Greek art, while the succeeding Greco-Roman art was very largely a continuation of Hellenistic trends.
Geometric art is a phase of Greek art, characterized largely by geometric motifs in vase painting, that flourished towards the end of the Greek Dark Ages, c. 900–700 BC. Its center was in Athens, and from there the style spread among the trading cities of the Aegean. The Greek Dark Ages lasted from c. 1100 to 750 BC and include two periods, the Protogeometric period and the Geometric period, in reference to the characteristic pottery style. The vases had various uses or purposes within Greek society, including, but not limited to, funerary vases and symposium vases.
In the Archaic phase of ancient Greek art, the Orientalizing period or Orientalizing revolution is the cultural and art historical period that began during the later part of the 8th century BC, when there was a heavy influence from the more advanced art of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Ancient Near East. The main sources were Syria and Assyria as well as Phoenicia and Egypt. With the spread of Phoenician civilization by Carthage and Greek colonisation into the Western Mediterranean, these artistic trends also influenced the Etruscans and early Ancient Romans in the Italian peninsula.
Marion was one of the Ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus. It was situated in the north-west of the island in the Akamas region, close to or under the present town of Polis. Both Strabo and Pliny the Elder mention the city in their writings.
Etruscan art was produced by the Etruscan civilization in central Italy between the 10th and 1st centuries BC. From around 750 BC it was heavily influenced by Greek art, which was imported by the Etruscans, but always retained distinct characteristics. Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta, wall-painting and metalworking especially in bronze. Jewellery and engraved gems of high quality were produced.
The pottery of ancient Cyprus starts during the Neolithic period. Throughout the ages, Cypriot ceramics demonstrate many connections with cultures from around the Mediterranean. During the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, it is especially imaginative in shape and decoration. There are also many early terracotta figurines that were produced depicting female figures.
Cypriot Bichrome ware is a type of Late Bronze Age, and Iron Age, pottery that is found widely on Cyprus and in the Eastern Mediterranean. This type of pottery is found in many sites on Cyprus, in the Levant, and also in Egypt. It was typically produced on a pottery wheel. A large variety of decorations and motifs are attested. This pottery is very similar to certain types of the Mycenaean pottery from various locations.
Ancient Greek art stands out among that of other ancient cultures for its development of naturalistic but idealized depictions of the human body, in which largely nude male figures were generally the focus of innovation. The rate of stylistic development between about 750 and 300 BC was remarkable by ancient standards, and in surviving works is best seen in sculpture. There were important innovations in painting, which have to be essentially reconstructed due to the lack of original survivals of quality, other than the distinct field of painted pottery.
The Cesnola Sphinx Funerary Stele is a Classic Greek funerary stela dating to the last quarter of the 5th century B.C.
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