Apart from being turbulent and uneasy, the history of Cyprus is also very ancient. Its early history is still shrouded in some mystery and uncertainty but it seems probable that the first settlements on the island appeared more than 10,000 years ago. Cyprus was not inhabited in the Stone Age, which led to the survival of numerous dwarf forms, such as dwarf elephants (Elephas cypriotes) and pygmy hippos (Phanourios minutis) up to the beginning of the Holocene (modern geologic period). These animals are thought to have appeared on the island from the nearby continental coasts. Scientists explain the extinction of the pygmy hippos and dwarf elephants by the arrival of the first Homo Sapiens on Cyprus. There is evidence of this because of the burnt remnants of these animals found in the caves of these first settlers mostly in the southern part of the island.
The undisputed evidence of the first settlements refer to 9,000 (or 10,000) BC. The first settlers were farmers, but did not produce pottery (preceramic Neolithic) yet. They tamed dogs, sheep, goats and maybe cattle and pigs as well as they bred numerous wild animals such as foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) that were previously unknown on the island. These settlers built round houses with floors covered by lime tiles and cultivated several sorts of wheat.
The preceramic civilisation of Cyprus came to an end quite abruptly around 6,000 BC. It was probably followed by a void period of almost 1,500 years until 4,500 BC marked by the emergence of Neolithic II (Ceramic Neolithic) introduced on the island by newcomers. The main settlements, which have all the characteristics of the period, are Sotira near the south coast of Cyprus and Troulli on the northern coast. Their pottery is represented by monochrome earthenware with simple relief decoration. The houses were mainly detached with relatively thin walls, which were square with slightly rounded corners. The Late Neolithic is characterised by the appearance of red-and-white earthenware.
The Neolithic II culture was destroyed by an earthquake in 3,800 BC. In the settlements of those who survived there are no evident signs of newcomers but, vice versa, there are signs of continuity of development. And, therefore, despite the violent natural catastrophe, there persisted an internal evolution referring to the so-called Chalcolithic (copper and stone) period (3,500 – 2,500/2,300 BC).
Since around 2,500 BC the Copper Age opened up the island to commerce and contacts with more advanced and sophisticated neighbours, mostly the Egyptians, the Minoans in Crete and, a little later, the Phoenicians and the Mycenaeans. This process brought with it increasing prosperity, cultural development and a great deal of modernisation previously unknown on the island. Before 2,000 BC, for example, settlement Enkomi, near present-day Famagusta, was the major trading centre and town with many of the attributes of much later civilisations. Later on such settlements developed in other parts of the island.
The new era was introduced by the settlers from Anatolia (present-day Turkey) who came to Cyprus because of disturbances in Asia Minor at that time. The first vivid evidence of this civilisation on the island refer to around 2,300 BC, and later on it spread from the north to the south and the west.
As the newcomers had already mastered the skills of work with copper, they soon moved to the so-called copper belt of the island, that is the foothills of the Troodos Mountains. This movement triggered the interest in this raw material which could have arisen on Cyprus in its natural way several centuries later. The earliest phase of the Bronze Age saw a rapid transformation of technology and economy. Systematic copper mining began, and this resource was widely traded. The early Bronze Age was the period of active Anatolian influence. The most important site left from that time is the necropolis of Vouni on the northern coast of the island.
The Middle Bronze Age which lasted 1,900-1,600 BC is a relatively short period of peaceful development which ended by wars. During this period fortresses were built in various places of the island, which was a clear indication of unrest, although there is no other evidence of wars taking place at the time.
The world’s oldest perfumery referring to this era was excavated there as well. Cyprus was known as Alashiya in the Aegean Bronze Age, the name being found in Egyptian, Assyrian and Mycenaean manuscripts.
The beginning of the Late Bronze Age does not differ much from the closing years of the previous period. Unrest, tension and anxiety mark all these years, partly due to military confrontation with Hyksos who ruled Egypt at that time but was expelled from there in the middle of the 16th century BC. Soon afterwards peaceful agreements were achieved in the Eastern Mediterranean which caused further flourishing of trade relations and the growth of urban centres. The most important of them was Enkomi, the earliest predecessor of modern Famagusta, and several other seaports also sprung up along the southern coast of Cyprus. Around 1,500 BC Thutmose III imposed taxes on the island.
The Late Cypriot (1,300-1,200 BC) was the period of local prosperity. Cities were rebuilt on a rectangular grid plan, for example Enkomi, where the town gates now correspond to the grid axes and numerous grand buildings front the street system. Writing was spreading fast, and tabulae in the Cyprian syllabic script have been found on the mainland as well (Ras Shamra). Ugaritic texts from Ras Shamra and Enkomi mention Ya, the Assyrian name of Cyprus, which seems to have already been in use in the late Bronze Age. In 1,200 BC the Phoenician king Hiram of Tyre invaded Cyprus and for a time the Phoenicians became the dominant political force on the island. Around the same time, however, the Mycenaean civilisation fell into decay under the pressure of invasion from the Dorian peoples and its survivors fled first to Anatolia in Turkey, before moving on to Cyprus. They first built fortifications in the west and then started making plundering raids and pillage all over the island before they finally settled down. Although there was no political link with Ancient Greece it was just at that time that Cyprus absorbed its first direct taste of Hellenic civilisation. The concept of kingship and the cities-states became institutionalised and the cult of Aphrodite was introduced. Many researches claim that Cyprian cities-states, first described in written sources in the 8th century BC, were already founded in the 11th century BC. Other scholars see a slow process of increasing social complexity between the 12th and the 8th centuries, based on the multitude of chiefdoms. By the 8th century BC (geometric period) the number of settlements had increased greatly and monumental tombs, like the ‘Royal’ tombs of Salamis, had appeared. That was definitely the sign of appearance of the cities-states on Cyprus.
During the following Early Iron Age Cyprus became predominantly Greek. The main myths recorded by classical authors got intertwined into the history of many Cyprian towns due to the Greek settlers who arrived to the island in the wake of the Trojan War. The late 8th century BC was the time of the spreading of the poems by Homer, the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey”. In fact the spread of the Greek civilization had a great effect on Cyprus. From around 1,000 BC for about 250 years or so Cyprus entered a period of some stagnation which was a reflection of the political development occurring in the surrounding areas. The Greek Peloponnesus had been overrun by the Dorians, the Hittite Empire in southern Turkey collapsed and Egypt was moribund. Actually, Cyprus was isolated and turned in on itself. It was ruled by despotic monarchies of the seven cities-states, and little change, either politically, economically or culturally, seemed to have taken place.
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