The Turks and British have added little, and destroyed much, converting churches into mosques and grain-stores, and quarrying walls and buildings at Famagusta.

History of Excavation.—Practically all the archaeological discoveries above detailed have been made since 1877. A few chance finds of vases, inscriptions and coins; of a hoard of silver bowls at Dali (anc. Idalium)[33] in 1851; and of a bronze tablet with Phoenician and Cypriote bilingual inscriptions,[34] also at Dali, and about the same time, had raised questions of great interest as to the art and the language of the ancient inhabitants. T. B. Sandwith, British consul 1865-1869, had laid the foundations of a sound knowledge of Cypriote pottery;[35] his successor R. H. Lang (1870-1872) had excavated a sanctuary of Aphrodite at Dali;[36] and at the time of the publication of the 9th ed. of the Ency. Brit.,[37] General Louis P. di Cesnola (q.v.), American consul, was already exploring ancient sites, and opening tombs, in all parts of the island, though his results were not published till 1877.[38] But though his vast collection, now in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, remains the largest series of Cypriote antiquities in the world, the accounts which have been given of its origin are so inadequate, and have provoked so much controversy,[39] that its scientific value is small, and a large part of subsequent excavation has necessarily been directed to solving the problems suggested by its practically isolated specimens. From 1876 to 1878 Major Alexander P. di Cesnola continued his brother’s work, but the large collection which he exhibited in London in 1880 was dispersed soon afterwards.[40]

On the British occupation of Cyprus in 1878, the Ottoman law of 1874 in regard to antiquities was retained in force. Excavation is permitted under government supervision, and the finds are apportioned in thirds, between the excavator, the landowner (who is usually bought out by the former), and the government. The government thirds lie neglected in a “Cyprus Museum” maintained at Nicosia by voluntary subscription. There is no staff, and no effective supervision of ancient sites or monuments. A catalogue of the collections was published by the Oxford University Press in 1899.[41]

Since 1878 more than seventy distinct excavations have been made in Cyprus, of which the following are the most important. In 1879 the British government used the acropolis of Citium (Larnaca) to fill up the ancient harbour; and from the destruction a few Phoenician inscriptions and a proto-Ionic capital were saved. In 1882 tombs were opened by G. Hake at Salamis and Curium for the South Kensington Museum, but no scientific record was made. In 1883 the Cyprus Museum was founded by private enterprise, and on its behalf Max Ohnefalsch-Richter, who had already made trial diggings for Sir Charles Newton and the British Museum, excavated sanctuaries at Vóni and Kythréa (Chytri), and opened tombs on some other sites.[42]

In 1885 Dr F. Dümmler opened tombs at Dali, Alámbra and elsewhere, and laid the foundations of knowledge of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age;[43] and Richter, on behalf of officials and private individuals, excavated parts of Frángissa (Tamassus), Episkopì and Dali.[44]

In the same year, 1885, and in 1886, a syndicate opened many tombs at Póli-tis-Khrýsochou (Marium, Arsinoë), and sold the contents by auction in Paris. From Richter’s notes of this excavation, Dr P. Herrmann compiled the first scientific account of Graeco-Phoenician and Hellenistic Cyprus.[45] In 1886 also M. le vicomte E. de Castillon de St Victor opened rich Graeco-Phoenician tombs at Episkopì, the contents of which are in the Louvre.[46]

The successes of 1885-1886 led to the foundation of the Cyprus Exploration Fund, on behalf of which (1) in 1888 the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Paphos (Kouklia) was excavated by Messrs E. Gardner, M. R. James, D. G. Hogarth and R. Elsey Smith;[47] (2) in 1889-1890 more tombs were opened at Póli by Messrs J. A. R. Munro and H. A. Tubbs;[48] (3) in 1890-1891 extensive trials were made at Salamis, by the same;[49] (4) minor sites were examined at Leondári Vounò (1888),[50] Amargetti (1888),[51] and Limniti (1889);[52] (5) in 1888 Hogarth made a surface-survey of the Karpass promontory;[53] and finally, (6) in 1894 the balance was expended by J. L. Myres in a series of trials, to settle special points, at Agia Paraskevì, Kalopsída and Larnaca.[54] In 1894 also Dr Richter excavated round Idalium and Tamassus for the Prussian government: the results, unpublished up to 1902, are in the Berlin Museum.[55] Finally, a legacy from Miss Emma T. Turner enabled the British Museum to open numerous tombs, by contract, of the Graeco-Phoenician age, in 1894, at Palaeò-Lemessò (Amathus); and of the Mycenaean age, in 1894-1895 at Episkopì, in 1895-1896 at Enkomi (near Salamis), and in 1897-1899 on small sites between Larnaca and Limasol.[56]

For ancient Oriental references to Cyprus see E. Oberhummer, Die Insel Cypern, i. (Munich, 1903); for classical references, W. H. Engel, Kypros (2 vols., Berlin, 1841); for culture and art, G. Perrot and C. Chipiez, Histoire de l’art dans l’antiquité, vol. iii. “Phénicie et Cypre” (Paris, 1885); L. P. di Cesnola, A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypr. Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (3 vols., Boston, U.S.A., 1884-1886); M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, the Bible and Homer (2 vols., London and Berlin, 1893); J. L. Myres and M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Cyprus Museum Catalogue (Oxford, 1899). The principal publications on special topics are given in the footnotes. For Cypriote coins see also [Numismatics]. See further the general bibliography below.

(J. L. M.)

Modern History