![Ancient kingdoms of Cyprus en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Ancient_kingdoms_of_Cyprus_en.svg)
Kition (
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
: ;
Phoenician: , , or , ;
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
: , ;
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ) was a
city-kingdom on the southern coast of
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
(in present-day
Larnaca
Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...
). According to the text on the plaque closest to the excavation pit of the Kathari site (as of 2013), it was established in the 13th century BC by Greek (Achaean) settlers, after the Trojan war.
Its most famous, and probably only known, resident was
Zeno of Citium
Zeno of Citium (; grc-x-koine, Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς, ; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium (, ), Cyprus. Zeno was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC ...
, born c. 334 BC in Citium and founder of the
Stoic
Stoic may refer to:
* An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy
*STOIC, a programming language
* ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll
* ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain
*' ...
school of philosophy which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC.
Name
Citium () is the Latinised form of the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
name (), which is itself the Hellenised form of a
Phoenician name attested in the forms () and (),
whose earliest attestation might have been in an
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
inscription dating to the period of Pharaoh
Ramses III
Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III (also written Ramses and Rameses) was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. He is thought to have reigned from 26 March 1186 to 15 April 1155 BC and is considered to be the last great mona ...
(1198–1116 BC) found in the temple of
Medinet Habu among the names of other Cypriot cities, and considered to refer to Kition.
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
identifies the town with the name
Kittim
Kittim was a settlement in present-day Larnaca on the east coast of Cyprus, known in ancient times as Kition, or (in Latin) Citium. On this basis, the whole island became known as "Kittim" in Hebrew, including the Hebrew Bible. However the name se ...
, used by the
Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still no ...
to designate all of Cyprus and even lands further west.
History
The city-kingdom was originally established in the 13th century BC.
[According to the text on the plaque closest to the excavation pit at the Kathari site (as of 2013).]
Mycenaeans first settled in the area for the purpose of the exploitation of
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
, but the settlement eventually faded two centuries later as a result of constant
disarray and
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
of the time.
New cultural elements appearing between 1200 BC and 1000 BC (personal objects, pottery, new architectural forms and ideas) are indications of significant political changes after the arrival of the
Achaeans, the first Greek colonists of Kition.
[Excerpt of text on the only plaque at the Kathari site (as of 2013).]
![Kition, Faience ryhton with enamel inlay, 13th c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Kition%2C_Faience_ryhton_with_enamel_inlay%2C_13th_c._BC.jpg)
Early in the 12th century BC the town was rebuilt on a larger scale; its
mudbrick
A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...
city wall was replaced by a
cyclopean wall
Cyclopean masonry is a type of stonework found in Mycenaean architecture, built with massive limestone boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal clearance between adjacent stones and with clay mortar or no use of mortar. The boulders typic ...
. Around 1000 BC, the religious part of the city was abandoned, although life seems to have continued in other areas as indicated by finds in tombs.
Literary evidence suggests an early Phoenician presence also at Kition which was under
Tyrian Tyrian may refer to the following:
* Tyrian, an adjective for Tyre, a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon
* ''Tyrian'' (video game), an arcade-style shooter video game by Epic MegaGames
* Tyrian purple, a colour
* Tyrian, a person who worsh ...
rule at the beginning of the 10th century BC. Some
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n
merchants
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...
who were believed to come from
Tyre colonized
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
the area and expanded the political influence of Kition. After c. 850 BC the sanctuaries
t the Kathari site
T, or t, is the twentieth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabe ...
were rebuilt and reused by the Phoenicians."
![Kition, Zeus Keraunios](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Kition%2C_Zeus_Keraunios.jpg)
The kingdom was under Egyptian domination from 570 to 545 BC.
[According to text on one of the signs at the entrance of the Kathari site.] Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ruled Cyprus from 545 BC.
Kings of the city are referred to by name from 500 BC—in Phoenician texts and as inscriptions on coins.
Marguerite Yon claims that literary texts and inscriptions suggest that by the
Classical period Kition was one of the principal local powers, along with its neighbour
Salamis.
In 499 BC Cypriot kingdoms (including Kition) joined Ionia's revolt against Persia.
[According to text mounted in the coin display at Larnaca District Museum]
Persian rule of Cyprus ended in 332 BC.
Ptolemy I
Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedon ...
conquered Cyprus in 312 BC and killed
Poumyathon, the Phoenician king of Kition, and burned the temples.
Shortly afterwards the Cypriot city-kingdoms were dissolved and the Phoenician dynasty of Kition was abolished. Following these events the area lost its religious character.
However, a trading colony from Kition established at
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
had prospered to the point that, in 233 BC they requested and received permission for the construction of a temple dedicated to
Astarte
Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart (Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar (East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name i ...
".
Cyprus was annexed by Rome in 58 BC.
Strong
[ earthquakes hit the city in 76 AD and the year after, but the city seems to have been prosperous during Roman times. A ''curator civitatis'', or financial administrator of the city, was sent to Kition from Rome during the rule of ]Septimius Severus
Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
.
Earthquakes of 322 and 342 AD "caused the destruction not only of Kition but also of Salamis and Pafos".[
]
The Kition archaeological sites
Kition was first systematically excavated by the Swedish Cyprus Archaeological Expedition in 1929 (under the direction of Einar Gjerstad
Einar Nilson Gjerstad (Örebro, 30 October 1897 – 8 January 1988) 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.
B ...
).
Archaeology is continuing near the Kathari site. A magnificent 20m-long Roman mosaic showing the labours of Hercules was discovered in a baths building in 2016. It was found under Kyriakou Matsi Street when clearing a sewer and is expected to be transferred to the museum.
The Kathari site (a.k.a. Area II)
This site is located around 500 metres north of the Bamboula site and sometimes referred to as "Kition Area II". The Department of Antiquities (under the direction of Vassos Karageorghis) started excavating in 1959 continuing until 1981.[According to the text on the plaque closest to the excavation pit of the Kathari site (as of 2013).]
Excavations have revealed part of a defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
, dating from the 13th century BC and remains of five temples including cyclopean wall
Cyclopean masonry is a type of stonework found in Mycenaean architecture, built with massive limestone boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal clearance between adjacent stones and with clay mortar or no use of mortar. The boulders typic ...
s. The largest temple's (horizontal) dimensions were 35 m by 22 m. and was built using ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
blocks. Temple (2) was rebuilt—around 1200 BC. Temple (1) has Late Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
of ships on the façade
A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'.
In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...
of the south wall.
The Bamboula site
The site is located around 50 metres north of the Larnaca Museum.
In 1845 the Sargon Stele
The Sargon Stele (German: Kition-Stele) was found in the autumn of 1845 in Cyprus on the site of the former city-kingdom of Kition, in present-day Larnaca to the west of the old harbour of Kition on the archaeological site of Bamboula. The language ...
was found here, together with a gilded silver ''plakette'' now in the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
.
A British Expedition first excavated the site in 1913.
A French team from the University of Lyon
The University of Lyon (french: Université de Lyon), located in Lyon and Saint-Étienne, France, is a center for higher education and research comprising 11 members and 24 associated institutions. The three main universities in this center are: ...
started excavating in 1976. when traces of settlement dating to the tenth century BC were found along ramparts next to the port at Bamboula. The site also consists of a sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...
of Astarte
Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart (Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar (East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name i ...
and a sanctuary of Melkart
Melqart (also Melkarth or Melicarthus) was the tutelary god of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre and a major deity in the Phoenician and Punic pantheons. Often titled the "Lord of Tyre" ('' Ba‘al Ṣūr''), he was also known as the Son of ...
. The earliest sanctuary was built in the 9th century BC.[According to text on the plaque (in the grounds of Larnaca Museum) facing the Bamboula site.]
1987 saw the discovery of the Phoenician harbour for warships built in the 5th century BC. In its final stage, it consisted of ship sheds (six of them have been recorded), 6 metres wide and about 38 to 39 meters long, with shipways on which trireme
A trireme( ; derived from Latin: ''trirēmis'' "with three banks of oars"; cf. Greek ''triērēs'', literally "three-rower") was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean S ...
s were pulled up to dry under tiled roofs
Other archaeological sites at Kition
Five built tombs—hypogeum is another name for this type of tombs—have been discovered at Kition—the Vangelis Tomb, Godham's Tomb, the Phaneromeni, and the Turabi Tekke tomb.[Excerpt of wall mounted text at Larnaca District Museum.] Two important stele with inscriptions in the Phoenician script were found in the Turabi Tekke cemetery in the late nineteenth century. They are now in the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
's collection.
''Kition Area I'', "close to the west itywall of the Pre-Phoenician period, seems to have been a residential area" according to architectural and moveable finds. "Kition Area III" and "-IV" are names of other archaeological sites at Kition.
The "mound gate" in the city wall was located in the vicinity northwest of the Phaneromeni Tomb.
There was also an acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
.
Necropolis
Sophocles Hadjisavvas has said that "the necropolis of Kition is the most extensively investigated burial ground on the island of Cyprus". "The necropolis
A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead".
The term usually im ...
f Kitionextends from the Ayios Prodromos and the area of Agios Ioannis "Pervolia" and " Mnemata" (Northern Necropolis) to Ayios Georghios Kontos
''Agios'' ( el, Άγιος), plural ''Agioi'' (), transcribes masculine gender Greek words meaning 'sacred' or 'saint' (for example Agios Dimitrios, Agioi Anargyroi). It is frequently shortened in colloquial language to ''Ai'' (for example Ai Str ...
and the Chrysosotiros church
The Chrysosotiros church, also known as the Cathedral of the Holy Transfiguration of the Saviour is a church in Larnaca, Cyprus.
It is located at the Plateia Mitropoleos.
Placement relative to the necropolis of Kition
The necropolis which is loca ...
(Soteros quarter), (Western Necropolis)." A "part of the Kition necropolis became the subject of rescue work at the site of Agios Prodromos".
=The Mnemata Site
=
Other uses of the name
One sports club uses the name Kition - AEK Kition.
See also
*City-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
*History of Cyprus
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.
Periods of Cyprus's history from 1050 BC have be ...
*Kittim
Kittim was a settlement in present-day Larnaca on the east coast of Cyprus, known in ancient times as Kition, or (in Latin) Citium. On this basis, the whole island became known as "Kittim" in Hebrew, including the Hebrew Bible. However the name se ...
*Lefkaritis Tomb
The Lefkaritis Tomb is a hypogeum—a type of tomb—in Larnaca, Cyprus.
It was discovered in 1998 in an "un-looted chamber that had been sealed nearly 2800 years ago" in the city-kingdom of Kition. (This tomb was found within the city walls of ...
* Ship shed
*Zeno of Citium
Zeno of Citium (; grc-x-koine, Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς, ; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium (, ), Cyprus. Zeno was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 BC ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
External links
The port of the Kingdom of Kition
*Photos
*StoryMap (S. Fourrier, A. Rabot)
Kition, Larnaca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kition (Ancient State)
Archaeological sites in Cyprus
Mycenaean Greece
Bronze Age Cyprus
City-states
Former populated places in Cyprus
Phoenician colonies in Cyprus
Cities in ancient Cyprus