European Kingdoms

Cyprus

According to archaeological investigation and conjecture, in the Neolithic and Bronze ages the Cypriots had an advanced, Indo-European civilisation that had a written language. In subsequent centuries, seafaring and trading peoples from the Mediterranean countries set up scattered settlements along the coast. The first Mycenaean colony is believed to have been founded by traders from Arcadia about 1400 BC, but Mycenaean culture appeared at least two centuries before that. The recorded history of Cyprus began with the occupation of part of the island by Egypt. The Phoenicians began to colonise areas of the island from about 800 BC.

Beginning with the rise of Assyria during the eighth century BC, Cyprus was under the control of each of the empires that successively dominated the eastern Mediterranean. Assyrian authority was followed by Egyptian, then Persian. For almost a thousand years thereafter control of the island passed from empire to empire until a Crusader kingdom was set up in the twelfth century AD.

c.10,000 BC

Hunter-gatherers become active on the island, especially at two pre-Neolithic sites at Nissi Beach, at Ayia Napa, and on the Aspro water causeway in the Akamas. They probably reach Cyprus from the coast of the Levant, although this is disputed. It is quite possible that they bring domesticated animals with them, and perhaps even a few wild ones, such as foxes. Early cattle dies out during the eighth millennium and is not reintroduced until at least the Sotira Culture period.

Akrotiri Culture & Early Aceramic Neolithic Period
c.9000 - 7000 BC

While the first true native culture to appear on Cyprus was the later Khirokitia Culture, the Akrotiri phase covers earlier hunter-gatherer appearances. Theses seem to have been fitful, arriving and leaving as conditions warranted, and it was a long time before archaeologists were able to find any evidence at all of settlement before the Khirokitia. The Aceramic Neolithic on Cyprus differed greatly from other contemporary societies in Anatolia and the Levant, showing no signs of contact between the two. There was never a land bridge to connect Cyprus to the mainland, so all arrivals had to be by sea, limiting access. Additionally, due to the insular and fragile environment of an island, hunter-gather settlements could not have survived long term, and probably only visited for periods before returning to the mainland.

Following the Akrotiri phase, there is a gap of about a thousand years before the appearance of an Aceramic Neolithic culture (which has only recently been discovered). This new period is represented by negative architecture with pot holes and cuttings into the havara bedrock and is attested at five sites: Parekklisha-Shillourokambos, Kissonerga-Mylouthkia, Kalavasos-Tenta (Level 5), Akanthou, and Asprokambos. These sites demonstrate a preoccupation with wells and cuttings in the bedrock to access underground water channels. The material evidence has strong parallels with the Levant. Early farming communities migrated to Cyprus during this period and introduced domestic plants and animals. A large amount of obsidian from these sites also suggests overseas contact, most likely with Anatolia.

Overall, it seems that the Akrotiri Culture saw hunter-gatherers visit briefly to exploit the island’s resources, while after a gap of a millennium the Early Aceramic Neolithic saw a period of initial settlement of the island.

c.9000 BC

The earliest solid evidence of human activity on Cyprus comes from Akrotiri-Aetokremnos, a site on the southern-central coast of Cyprus at the very tip of the Akrotiri Peninsula. This is contemporary with the Nautufian period in the Levant as well as the Epi-Paleolithic. Akrotiri is a cave shelter at the top of a cliff, about fifty metres above sea level. There are four strata inside the shelter, two with cultural remains. The lowest stratum, Level 4, is found on a clean bedrock and is a mix of animal bones and ashy material, containing 99% of the entire site's material. The majority of the remains are pygmy hippopotami bones, with most of the others being those of pygmy elephants. Level 3 is sterile, showing a period of abandonment by humans. Level 2 shows evidence of stone tools and more animal remains. The site appears to be only periodically used, being abandoned and then re-occupied.

While the mountainous terrain may have been daunting to early visitors, the island would have provided fairly rich pickings in both pygmy game and Mediterranean fruits

c.7500 BC

The remains of an eight month-old cat are discovered by archaeologists in 2004, dated to this period. The cat had been buried alongside its human owner in a Neolithic burial site. This find pushes back the date for the beginnings of feline domestication considerably, and predates any such finds made in Egypt.

c.8200 BC

The first settled village communities of the Early Aceramic Neolithic Period start to appear, as early settlers begin to build more sophisticated forms of shelter. This progression in the adaptation of habitation also requires advances in storage and food preparation. These advances lead to the Khirokitia Culture within a millennium.

Khirokitia Culture (Late Aceramic Neolithic Period)
c.7000 - 5800 BC

This was the first native culture to arise on the island of Cyprus and is represented by the site which bears its name, along with about twenty others across the island. Otherwise known as the Recent Aceramic Neolithic Period (or Choirokoitia Culture), the culture arose from a long process that had started with the island's inhabitation by hunter-gatherers around 10,000 BC. A settlement was formed at Khirokitia, about six kilometres from the south coast, on the steep slopes of a hill overlooking the River Maroni and enclosed by a wall (Wall 100 has been uncovered on the western side while the rest has been calculated). The constructions on the site were circular, with flat roofs in the form of a terrace. Several of these circular constructions would be grouped together around a small inner courtyard to form a house, and there would be an installation present to grind grain.

The site's inhabitants used flint or bone tools and receptacles made of stone or basketwork in their daily lives (being a pre-pottery people). They kept domesticated animals, hunted game and gathered wild fruit, and cultivated plants. Their dead were buried in pits cut into the floors of houses, and bodies were sometimes accompanied by necklaces or stone vessels. Excavations began on the site in 1936 and again in the 1970s, and have continued almost uninterrupted ever since, steadily uncovering the lives of these early Cypriots.

At a date that still seems to be uncertain, the north slope of the hill that forms Khirokitia is abandoned. Instead, the settlement is expanded towards the west and a new enclosure wall is built to encompass it (Wall 284, the line of which much has been calculated in relation to the uncovered section). The wall is up to two and-a-half metres (yards) thick and up to three metres (yards) in height.

The ancient site of Khirokitia sits alongside a modern recreation of the circular modules

c.5800 BC

The Khirokitia settlement is abandoned around this time for reasons unknown, and the culture leaves no obvious successor. It is reoccupied around eight hundred years later by the people of the Sotira Culture. They know about pottery and have mastered the art of making it.

Sotira Culture (Ceramic Neolithic Period)
c.5000 - 4000 BC

The Sotira culture filled the gap left by the abandonment of Khirokitia Culture sites. The culture appears to have formed about two centuries after the first influx of pottery on the island, brought in by a new wave of settlers who arrived around 5250 BC. Some sources place the rise of the Sotira at a later date, around 4500 BC, but most seem to agree that there was a gap of about five hundred years between the fall of the Khirokitia and the very first appearance of the Sotira. Despite evidence of settlers who brought new technologies and techniques with them, there is no evidence of any external trade. Social stratification is also difficult to ascertain during this comparatively short-lived period.

The culture gained its name through the examination of a typical site at Sotira-Teppes. Like most Ceramic Neolithic sites, this was located near the coast, on high ground which was easily defendable. Another key site is at Ayios Epiktitos-Vyrsi. Ceramic sites are only found on the east of the island, showing that these newcomers did not reach either the west or the Karpass Peninsula (the long 'finger' at the north-eastern corner of Cyprus). There were regional differences, and technical improvements as the culture progressed. Of the thirty villages known to have been home to the culture, only a few were still inhabited in the next period but, as with the Khirokitia before it, why the majority of Sotira sites were abandoned is not known.

c.5000 BC

Sotira Culture appears on Cyprus, with settlements at sites such as Sotira-Teppes, Ayios Epiktitos-Vrysi (which has a series of semi-subterranean houses with sunken floors), Philia-Drakos (which also has subterranean chambers), Troulli, and Khirokitia (replacing the abandoned Khirokitia Culture phase). There is evidence for the household production of pottery, in buildings that are primarily rectangular with rounded corners. Burials are extramural instead of under the floor of the house.

Pottery was first introduced into Cyprus around 5250 BC, giving birth to the Sotira Culture

c.4000 BC

The settlement of forty-seven structures at Sotira-Teppes is abandoned around this time for reasons unknown. Again on Cyprus, the disappearance of this culture leaves no obvious successor. Some scholars argue for an island-wide gap in the archaeological record, while others envision a direct transition into the Early Chalcolithic. However, there is a dearth of knowledge of the Early Chalcolithic Period, from 4000-3500 BC, which hinders any understanding of the end of the Neolithic period and the beginning of the Chalcolithic period.

Erimi Culture (Chalcolithic Period)
c.4000 - 2500 BC

The advent of the Erimi culture began one of Cyprus' longest lasting periods, one which saw copper being used across the island and trade links being developed with the mainland. The island's population increased greatly, and clear signs of the development of social strata developed. The Cypro-Minoan script was introduced into this growing social structure, but it was one which still failed to leave any written evidence of its existence. While copper objects have been found by archaeologists, what isn't known is whether they were made on the island or imported, probably from Crete. Pottery was of a fairly standardised form which was produced at a small number of sites on the western side of the island and exported across the rest of it. The poor soils were probably responsible for the appearance of seals and large storage vessels in houses, from which food could be distributed under central control. It seems likely that, although there are at least five possible origins for 'Cyprus', the island gained its name from its rich veins of copper ('kuprios' in Greek, which was passed down into Latin).

c.3800 BC

The Early Chalcolithic period on Cyprus emerges out of a hazy crossover period from the previous Sotira Culture in which the latter is abandoned and disappears without offering any direct continuity to the former. No fortifications or weaponry are known for this period, which is named after a settlement on the south coast, revealing a still-peaceful island which probably has little external contact other than through its limited trade routes. Settlements are of a variable size, but nothing approaching an urban centre has been found to date. Houses return to the rounded construction style of the Khirokitia Culture, replacing the Sotira's rectangular style.

c.3500 BC

The Middle Chalcolithic sees the establishment of conventional settlement and funerary practices. The island would seem to be populated by tribes with regional chiefs in a moderately hierarchical structure. The Lemba Period I is the earliest Chalcolithic site with wall foundations, which confirms the use of the roundhouse style.

Erimi culture dwellings returned to the roundhouse pattern of their Sotira predecessors

c.2800 BC

The Late Chalcolithic sees the copper-using society on Cyprus being replaced by one which uses bronze. New burial practices are introduced, pottery styles, and settlement patterns, suggesting an influx of new, more advanced people who probably subjugate the natives.

c.1600 BC

Mycenaean culture appears on Cyprus, gradually displacing Minoan culture.

1450 BC

Egypt takes control of Cyprus during the reign of Thutmose III.

Kingdom of Alashiya / Alasiya (Enkomi)

The eastern Cypriot state of Alashiya (Alasiya) with its capital at Enkomi appeared by the mid-fifteenth century BC, near modern Famagusta, although evidence points to it having occupied the entire island during at least part of its existence. A contributor to the Amarna letters, it played an important role in trade with the great states of the period, the Hittites, Mitanni, Egypt, Babylon and Elam, with goods being shipped from a prosperous port protected by massive stone walls. Its rulers were counted amongst the great kings of the day, mainly because the island controlled the region's copper trade - vital to all of the major states. Its coastline was subjected to various raids, however, notably by the tribal Lukka, and later by the Hittites.

fl 1430s BC

Madduwattas

Defeated by Ahhiyawa. Fled to Hittites.

c.1430 BC

Attarsiyya of Ahhiyawa conquers Madduwattas' territory, and the latter flees to the protection of the Hittite king, Tudhaliya II (I). With Hittite support, Madduwattas later conquers the kingdom of Arzawa.

c.1420s BC

The Hittites under Arnuwanda take Alashiya for themselves, but how long they hold it is unknown.

c.1370s BC

The Lukka are mentioned in the Armana letters from Egypt, in which they are accused of attacking the Egyptians in conjunction with the Alashiyans. In their defence the latter state that the Lukka are seizing their villages.

fl 1360s BC

?

Name unknown.

The king refers to himself as the 'brother' of the Egyptian king in the Amarna letters, revealing that he is considered to be a ruler of equal standing.

c.1250? BC

Later Hittite kings invade the kingdom and establish pro-Hittite rulers, but they never fully control the island. The harbour town of Bamboula thrives from this period until the eleventh century. It sits along a highway on the outskirts of the modern village of Episkopi, along the south-western coast of Cyprus and near the modern harbour town of Limassol. The area thrives in part because the overshadowing Troodos Mountains contain copper, and the river below is used to transport the mined materials. A nearby fortress may function to protect the urban economic centre further inland, which does not seem to be fortified.

fl c.1182 BC

Eshuwara

King, or high steward/grand supervisor.

c.1182 BC

The king of Alashiya advises Ugarit to defend itself in the face of continuing attacks on Syria by the Sea Peoples. The advice comes too late and, with Ugarit's fleet away and probably lost, many sites in Alashiya are sacked and burned, including Enkomi, Kition, and Sinda (perhaps twice) before being abandoned. A number of other sites are also abandoned, leaving behind hidden caches of wealth which suggest that their owners are enslaved or killed. This event separates the Late Cypriot (LC) II period from the LCIII period. However, despite this setback, the state is one of the few to actually recover and prosper during this period, perhaps due to the removal of Mycenaean dominance in the region. There is increased urban expansion and metal production, improved contacts with Egypt, the Levant, and the central Mediterranean.

fl c.1050 BC

Hatiba

The kingdom is mentioned in the Chronicle of Wenamun, an eleventh-century Egyptian priest who journeys throughout the Levant.

774 - 750 BC

The Phoenician city state of Tyre founds a trading colony on Cyprus called Kition (Biblical Kittim, Latin Citium, or modern Larnaca).

709 - 669 BC

The Assyrian empire under Sargon II conquers the island. They know it as Yadnana.

670s BC

There are ten kings of Yadnana in this decade, shortly before it reclaims its independence.

550 BC

Egypt re-occupies the island after the Assyrian collapse. Client kings continue to govern the city state of Salamis.

Kingdom of Salamis

Cypriot Salamis was to the north of modern Famagusta, on the east coast, with the city state kingdom legendarily being founded by Teukros. Most of the client kings of this and the other Cypriot cities are relatively poorly documented.

During the late fifth century Persian occupation, Evagoras, pro-Hellenic ruler of the Cypriot city of Salamis, made the first recorded attempt to unify the many city states of Cyprus. In 391 BC Evagoras, with the aid of Athens, led a successful revolt against Persia and temporarily made himself master of the island. However, Cyprus soon became a Persian possession again.

Teukros

569 - 525 BC

Evelthon

525 BC

Persia conquers Cyprus.

fl c.525 BC

Siromos

fl c.515 BC

Hersis

500 - 499 BC

Gorgos

499 - 498 BC

Onysilos

498 - 480 BC

Gorgos

Restored, and declared independence from Persia.

499 - 494 BC

The Persians under Darius re-conquer Salamis, but it is a drawn-out process, and leads to the Persian invasion of Greece in 490 in revenge.

480 - 479 BC

Invading Greece in 480 BC, the Persians subdue the Thracian tribes, and they join his forces, all except the Satrai, precursors to the Bessoi, who refuse to succumb. Then the vast army of the Persian King Xerxes makes its way southwards and is swiftly engaged by Athens and Sparta in the Vale of Tempe. The Persians are subsequently stymied by a mixed force of Greeks led by Sparta at Thermopylae. Athens, as the leader of the coalition of city states known as the Delian League, then defeats the Persian navy at Salamis, and after Xerxes returns home, his army is decisively defeated at the Battle of Plataea and kicked out of Greece.

480 - 465 BC

Philaon

465 - 450 BC

Nicodemus

Lacharidas

fl c.450 BC

Eventhes

? - c.415 BC

?

Name unknown, and of Phoenician origin.

c.415 BC

The Phoenician ruler of Salamis is killed by Abdemon, who rules both Salamis and Tyre. Evagoras, who is a Greek, is forced to leave the island at the same time, heading into exile on Soloi.

c.415 - 411 BC

Abdemon / Avdimon

King of Salamis & Tyre, and of Phoenician origin.

411 BC

Evagoras returns to Salamis with his followers and deposes Abdemon. Then he declares independence from Persia and unifies Cyprus. He also retains control of the Phoenician city of Tyre.

Two sides of a coin issued by Evagoras during his Athenian-supported rebellious reign

411 - 374 BC

Evagoras I / Eugoras

King of Salamis & Tyre.

391 - 381 BC

Persia regains control in 381 BC, and Salamis continues to be governed by Evagoras as client king. In 374 BC he is murdered by a eunuch who is seeking revenge for personal reasons.

374 - 368 BC

Nikocles

368 - 351 BC

Evagoras II

351 - 332 BC

Pnytagoras

333 - 310 BC

Alexander the Great's Greek empire takes control, although the island's various client kings are retained.

331 - 310 BC

Nicocreon

Forced to commit suicide by Ptolemy I.

310 - 306 BC

Menelaos

Last king of Salamis, claimed independence during Greek wars.

306 - 301 BC

Cyprus falls under the control of the Empire of Antigonus. When Antigonus is killed at the end of the Fourth War of the Diadochi, the island again becomes an Egyptian possession, under the Ptolemies.

58 BC

Cyprus passes to Rome.

AD 383

It comes under Byzantine control at the division of the Roman empire.

c.820

The island is conquered by the Arabs for the Islamic empire, who sack and destroy Salamis.

965

The Byzantine empire recovers Cyprus.

1192

Cyprus is seized by Richard the Lionheart and a Catholic Christian kingdom is founded there.

Christian Kingdom of Cyprus
AD 1192 - 1489

On his way to the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart of England seized Cyprus from the Byzantine empire and handed it to the king and queen of Jerusalem, who were by this time residing at Acre.

1192 - 1194

Guy of Lusignan

King of Jerusalem (1186-1192).

1194 - 1205

Amalric I de Lusignan

Almaric II of Jerusalem (1197-1205).

1205 - 1218

Hugh I

1218 - 1253

Henry I of Cyprus

1253 - 1267

Hugh II of Cyprus

1267 - 1284

Hugh III of Cyprus

King of Jerusalem (1269-1284).

1284 - 1306

Cyprus is united with the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

1284 - 1285

John I

King of Jerusalem.

1285 - 1306

Henry II

King of Jerusalem, which was lost at this time.

1306 - 1310

Amalric II of Tyre

Usurped Henry II. Father of Guy of Armenia.

1310 - 1324

Henry II

Restored.

1324 - 1359

Hugh IV

Hugh II of Jerusalem.

1359 - 1369

Peter I

1369 - 1382

Peter II

1382 - 1398

James I

1398 - 1432

Janus

1421

Janus attacks Egypt. Unable to capture the island, Egypt nevertheless forces the Cypriots to acknowledge the overlordship of Sultan Barsbay.

1432 - 1458

John II

1458 - 1464

Queen Charlotte

1464 - 1473

James II the Bastard

1473 - 1474

James III

Son.

1474 - 1489

Queen Caterina Cornaro

Wife of James II. d.1510.

1489 - 1570

Cyprus is handed over to the republic of Venice by Queen Caterina.

1570 - 1573

Cyprus is conquered by the Ottoman empire.

1878

The island is leased to Britain as a result of the Cyprus Convention, which grants control of the island to Britain in return for support of the Ottoman empire in the Russo-Turkish War.

1913

The island is formally annexed by Britain in the run-up to the First World War, as the Ottoman empire had already joined the German-led Central Powers.

1960

Cyprus achieves independence from Britain, becoming a Commonwealth republic the following year. Britain retains administrative authority over the districts of Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

1974

Following a period of violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and an attempted Greek Cypriot coup sponsored by the Greek military junta, Turkey invades the island and occupies the north-eastern third of its territory.