The History of Cyprus Podcast

Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī was a 9th century Arab (or possibly Persian) historian whose work, "Futūh al-Buldān" (Conquest of Lands) provides us a valuable non-Roman/Byzantine perspective on the Arab invasions of Cyprus. You'll hear al-Baladhuri reference Cyprus' infamous "condominium" where the island's tax revenues were split between the Caliphate and Constantinople until Cyprus was r...

For this month's episode I welcome Dr. Ersin Hussein (Swansea University in Wales) to discuss Cyprus' political and social history as a Roman province. Ironically, although Romans were sticklers for record-keeping, the textual evidence on Cyprus is surprisingly scarce. Using epigraphic (e.g., monuments, inscriptions), coins and textual evidence, Ersin pieces together a better understanding of Cypr...

Ammianus Marcellinus was a Roman soldier and an historian from the late Roman Period whose historical works, Res Gestae, provides us a brief glimpse into Rome's policy towards Cyprus. He describes Roman policy as "voracious" and implies opportunism as Rome sought to replenish its depleted coffers by seizing Cyprus and draining it of its treasury. Of course, the situation is significantly more comp...

Held in secret in 1878, the Cyprus Convention negotiated the administrative handover of Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire to the British. It was certainly an opportunity to strengthen British presence in the Eastern Mediterranean. Lulled by romanticized images of what Cyprus was thought to be, they found a very different reality. Some, in fact, would call its first years on the island an unmitigated...

In 1878, Cyprus Archbishop Sophronios III delivered a speech celebrating Cyprus' new status as a protectorate of Great Britain. The speech would've been delivered to Sir Garnet Wolseley, the island's first appointed High Commissioner, in French, and presumably in front of a large crowd. Sophronios held high hopes for Cyprus' future as a British Protectorate. He espoused British ideals of equality...

Cyprus' history has, in many respects, been skewed. Historically speaking, its been beholden to more predominant narratives -- a passive recipient of culture. Yet this thinking is wrong. And we still deal with the reverberations from some of these archaeological fallacies in mainstream literature. Pick up a travel brochure. You'll certainly read that Cyprus was "colonized" by Mycnenaeans -- sugges...

The Sargon Stele 722–705 BCE , also known as the Kition Stele, is the only of its kind discovered in Cyprus, written entirely Akkadian using the cuneiform script. It was erected by King Sargon II of the Neo-Assyrian Empire near Kition (modern Larnaca) and describes his conquests and the voluntary submission of the Seven Kings of the Land of Ia (which has been identified as Cyprus) and Iatnana mean...

This month, we travel back to the 12th century BCE with Professor Louise Hitchcock (University of Melbourne) where we discuss Cyprus' role in the Bronze Age. Rather than being a passive island, swept up in a sea of empires, Cyprus (Alashiya) was an integral piece in a well-oiled Bronze Age machine. With its vast reserves of copper, Cyprus more than held its own in this period as the Amarna Letters...

This month's primary source dates to circa 1350BCE. It is a Letter from the King of Alashiya (i.e., Cyprus) to the Pharaoh of Egypt. This particular letter, EA 35, has been dubbed, "The Hand of Nergal." The Amarna Letters are a series of correspondences between the Great Powers in the Bronze Age written in Akkadian using the cuneiform script (the diplomatic language of the Bronze Age). In this abr...

In 1191, Richard the Lionheart conquered Cyprus from the illegitimate despot, Isaac Komnenos, setting in motion several hundred years of Western rule and influence. The Medieval Period is, perhaps, one of the richest and conspicuous on the island – after all, the island’s landscape is dotted with castles, medieval fortifications and beautiful cathedrals. And so, to explore these political events a...

This month’s primary source is an excerpt from Jacobus de Verona -- an Augustinian monk who visited Cyprus in 1335. Intriguingly, you’ll hear him mention a peculiar drink called “Marea.” Supposedly, this drink was popular enough that it was even exported to the papal court at Avignon in the fourteenth century. However, as with all primary sources, we must be cautious. Travel texts were often lifte...

Let's start with the end in mind. The end of the fourth century BCE was a tumultuous period in Cypriot history. According to Diodorus Siculus, "Ptolemy...crossed with an army from Egypt into Cyprus against those of the kings who refused to obey him."  (Diod Sic 79.4) The ruler of Kition, Pygmalion, was put to death. King Praxippus of Lapethos was arrested. The city of Marion was razed. And King Ni...

Primary sources are invaluable as they give us direct insight into the period in question -- but they also need to be treated with caution. Let's take today's reading for example: Isocrates' The Evagoras is one of our principal sources for the Classical Period in Cyprus. For Isocrates, Evagoras was the model ruler. It depicts the king through the lens of Isocrates’ personal beliefs, which, however...

I invoke you demons… dead by violence and dead before your time and deprived of burial...you who lie here below, dead before your time and nameless…If you lived in Cyprus 2,000 years ago, you may have been the target of just such a curse. Dr. Drew Wilburn discusses spells, magic and curses in ancient Cyprus and the Amathusian Curse Tablets. *Apologies, folks. The microphone quality on my end is a...

This (creepy) rendition uses a bit of dramatic license to reimagine the writing of the 2nd/3rd century CE curse tablet. With that being said, it is a Primary Source, so you're hearing the exact wording from one of the Cypriot curse tablets excavated from Amathus, Cyprus! Our reader invokes the Furies and all the underworld chthonic deities to muzzle its intended target. You'll hear some unintellig...

Cypriot doctors were renowned in antiquity – including Apollonios of Kition and Zeno the Cypriot (not to be confused with the philosopher!) They treated patients, produced treatises and even founded their own schools. The polymath Galen even visited Cyprus to collect a number of medicinal items such as misy, chalcanthos, cistus and even copper to aid in the treatment of a variety of ailments. With...

Galen (AD 129-216) was a prominent Greek physician and philosopher who lived during the Roman Empire who was known to have visited Cyprus. During his visit, Galen conducted medical research and treated patients, and he also wrote about the plants and natural resources of the island. In particular, he was interested in the medicinal properties of the local herbs and plants as he conducted experimen...

𐠊𐠒𐠫𐠥𐠨𐠮 Make sure you read that from right to left. Cypriot Syllabary preceded the Greek alphabet by several centuries but it certainly wasn’t the only script (or language) in use in Cyprus at the time. My guest today is Dr. Pippa Steele, Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Classics from the University of Cambridge where we will be discussing Cyprus’ first recorded languages and their scrip...

Scylax (or Pseudo-Skylax) was a Greek geographer who lived during the fourth century BCE. He is known for writing a work called ""Periplus", which is a description of the coastlines and ports of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Red Sea. His exact identity is not known, but it is believed "Scylax" was used as a pseudonym to give the work more authority. Although not much has been said in a...

Pygmy elephants and dwarf hippos, oh my! Professor Emeritus, Alan Simmons, from the University of Nevada, shares with us his experiences excavating at Akrotiri-Aetokremnos where we have the evidence of the Cyprus' earliest occupants.

Cornelius van Bruyn was a Dutch traveller who visited many countries throughout his life, including Cyprus in the 17th century. In this excerpt, we hear van Bruyn mention "bones of men and animals incorporated in the rock" (i.e., fossils). "Some," he says "were human bones, others those of beasts and some teeth of surprising size." It's quite probable that van Bruyn is describing the bones of pygm...

Hello everyone. My name is Andreas Charalambous and welcome to the History of Cyprus Podcast. Several months ago, I took it upon myself to host a podcast with the broad aim of discussing the various facets of Cypriot history. At first I thought that maybe I could do the research myself and present it in a narration of sorts, but for an island the size of Cyprus, cataloging its history was a full t...