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.
Soli or Soloi is an ancient Greek city on the island of Cyprus, located next to the town of Karavostasi, southwest of Morphou (Guzelyurt), and on the coast in the gulf of Morphou. Since 1974 the site has been within the territory of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and since there is so much of it, it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society. The shards of pots discarded or buried in the 1st millennium BC are still the best guide available to understand the customary life and mind of the ancient Greeks. There were several vessels produced locally for everyday and kitchen use, yet finer pottery from regions such as Attica was imported by other civilizations throughout the Mediterranean, such as the Etruscans in Italy. There were a multitude of specific regional varieties, such as the South Italian ancient Greek pottery.
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 does not appear, however, on the renowned "Kition Stele", i.e., the Sargon Stele of 707 BC, but a little later on the Prism of Esarhaddon known as Niniveh A wherein the name is prefixed by the modifier URU (city) as URU.e-di-ʾi-il and in similar spellings in Ashurbanipal's annal while modified by KUR (land/kingdom).
Minoan pottery has been used as a tool for dating the mute Minoan civilization. Its restless sequence of quirky maturing artistic styles reveals something of Minoan patrons' pleasure in novelty while they assist archaeologists in assigning relative dates to the strata of their sites. Pots that contained oils and ointments, exported from 18th century BC Crete, have been found at sites through the Aegean islands and mainland Greece, in Cyprus, along coastal Syria and in Egypt, showing the wide trading contacts of the Minoans.
Einar Nilson Gjerstad was a Swedish archaeologist. He was most noted for his research of the ancient Mediterranean, particularly known for his work on Cyprus, as well as his studies of early Rome.
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 and a little later, c. 900–700 BC. Its center was in Athens, and from there the style spread among the trading cities of the Aegean. Though a not currently accepted concept by all scholars, the Greek Dark Ages were considered to last from c. 1100 to 800 BC and include the phases from the Protogeometric period to the Middle Geometric I period, which Knodell (2021) calls Prehistoric Iron Age. The vases had various uses or purposes within Greek society, including, but not limited to, funerary vases and symposium vases.
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.
Pottery and ceramics have been produced in the Levant since prehistoric times.
Tall al-Ajjul or Tell el-'Ajul is an archaeological mound or tell in the Gaza Strip. The fortified city excavated at the site dates as far back as ca. 2000-1800 BCE and was inhabited during the Bronze Age. It is located at the mouth of Wadi Ghazzah just south of the town of Gaza.
Philistine Bichrome ware is an archaeological term coined by William F. Albright in 1924 which describes pottery production in a general region associated with the Philistine settlements during the Iron Age I period in ancient Canaan. The connection of the pottery type to the "Philistines" is still held by many scholars, although some question its methodological validity.
The Swedish Cyprus Expedition was assembled to systematically investigate Cyprus’s early archaeological history. The expedition occurred between September 1927 and March 1931 and was led by the three archaeologists Einar Gjerstad, Erik Sjöqvist and Alfred Westholm together with the architect John Lindros who photographed during their time in Cyprus. The excavation constitutes the foundation of modern archaeology in Cyprus. The results of the excavations revealed that the distinctive culture of early Cyprus had been created in close contact with various cultures from the Middle East and the western Mediterranean areas.
Agia Eirini or Agia Irini is a village located on Morphou Bay, approximately 10 km north of Morphou. The village is located within Kyrenia District. It is under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus.
Kition was an Ancient Greek city-kingdom on the southern coast of Cyprus, one of the Ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus. According to the text on the plaque closest to the excavation pit of the Kathari site, it was established in the 13th century BC by Greek (Achaean) settlers, after the Trojan War.
Chocolate-on-White ware is the description commonly given to an important diagnostic ceramic type of Bronze Age Southern Levant. It is characterized by a white slip and dark-brown or black decorations on it. Often it is also classified as bichrome decorated pottery ware, although it also sometimes comes in monochrome variety.
Larnaca District Museum is a museum in Larnaca, Cyprus that has displays that show the "historical development of the city of Kition and the District of Larnaka in general." It was inaugurated in 1969. and was formerly named Larnaca District Archaeological Museum. It is controlled by the Department of Antiquities.
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 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. 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, metals, glass, and gemstones.
The Barrel-shaped jug is a type of pottery known in the Mediterranean in the Ancient Cypriot art of the island of Cyprus, from the 10th century BCE to the 3rd century CE.
Killi Kechi Beg, also known as Kechi Beg, is an archaeological site located in the Quetta Valley of Balochistan, Pakistan. The site can be traced back to 3800–3200 BCE, during the developed Neolithic era of the pre–Harappan Indus Valley Civilizations. Based on ceramics from the region that are on exhibit at the Central Asian Antiquities Museum in New Delhi, India, it was found by British archaeologist Stuart Piggott during his explorations in the region in 1943–1944. Killi Kechi Beg is one of several Chalcolithic period sites found in Balochistan dating back to 4500 to 1500 BCE.
Cypriot Red Polished Ware II-III, 2200-1700 BC. Kiel, Germany
Cypriot White Slip I Ware. British Museum
White Slip II Ware—14th-13th centuries BCE
Cypriot Base Ring Ware, Late Bronze Age. Hecht Museum
White painted jug (1500-1450 BC)
