George of Cyprus ( el, Γεώργιος Κύπριος; Latinized as ''Georgius Cyprius'') was a Byzantine geographer of the early seventh century. Nothing is known of his life save that he was born at

Lapithos Lapithos or Lapethos ( el, Λάπηθος; tr, Lapta) is a town in Cyprus. ''De facto'', it is under the control of Northern Cyprus. Archeologists claim that Lapithos was founded by the Achean brothers Praxandros and Cepheus. According to Stra ...

in the island 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 ...

. He is known for his ''Descriptio orbis Romani'' ("Description of the Roman world"), written in the decade 600–610. It is written in Greek, and lists cities, towns, fortresses and administrative divisions of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. The list begins with Italy and moves counterclockwise along the Mediterranean, from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and Oriens. The surviving list is evidently incomplete, as the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

are excluded. The ''Descriptio'' only survived in a compilation, probably from the 9th century, along with other lists such as ecclesiastical ''notitiae''. It is possible that the compiler, usually thought to be the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Basil of Ialimbana, altered George's text.Kazhdan (1991), pp. 837–838

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* ''

Georgii Cyprii Descriptio Orbis Romani George of Cyprus ( el, Γεώργιος Κύπριος; Latinized as ''Georgius Cyprius'') was a Byzantine geographer of the early seventh century. Nothing is known of his life save that he was born at Lapithos in the island of Cyprus. He is kno ...

'' (Lipsiae, 1890), editor

Heinrich Gelzer Heinrich Gelzer (1 July 1847, in Berlin – 11 July 1906, in Jena) was a German classical scholar. He wrote also on Armenian mythology. He was the son of the Swiss historian Johann Heinrich Gelzer (1813–1889). He became Professor of classical ...

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* 7th-century Byzantine people 7th-century Cypriot people Byzantine geographers 7th-century Byzantine writers 7th-century geographers {{Cyprus-bio-stub

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