Trade

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By the Late Bronze Age (or Late Cypriot), Cyprus was fully integrated into a far-flung network connecting the Aegean, Egypt, and Syria-Palestine. Sustained by copper wealth and the island's convenient juxtaposition between the Near East and Aegean, fortified cities flourished at Enkomi, Hala Sultan Tekke, Kition, as well as other locations. "Alashiya" (meaning the island generally or Enkomi specifically) figures prominently in cuneiform texts found at Ugarit on the Syrian coast and at El Amarna in Egypt. Cyprus probably also served as a transshipment point for Mycenaean goods bound for Syria-Palestine or Egypt. The Mycenaeans came first as traders, then stayed on as settlers, enriching Cypriot traditions and introducing Greek language and culture to the island.

The Greeks were not the only ones; the Phoenicians did much the same thing and also settled on the island, introducing their culture and ceramic styles, which the Cypriots copied and eventually reinterpreted as their own. Throughout the Iron Age Cyprus continued to be a major player in trade; it became a focal point for foreign rulers wishing to control its resources and harbors throughout the first millennium BCE, eventually being swallowed up into the Hellenistic world and Imperial Rome.

	This Bichrome Phoenician jug is reported by Cesnola to have come from the port city of Kition, on the eastern coast of the island. Such jugs were found wherever the Phoenicians traded or settled in the Mediterranean. The form was copied by Cypriot potters, often so well that their pieces were indistinguishable from Phoenician originals. You can see the characteristic ridge on the neck, which became a standard feature of these vessels, and the low set handle. The decoration on this pot is only on the neck, as black and red bands, on the handle, and underneath the broad rim. The body has been polished to a lustrous shine (highly burnished), another characteristic of Phoenician pottery.
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	This beaker, made of glass, has sharp edges which would prevent its being used for drinking; it may have had a cover and been used to hold unguents. The glass was originally clear; the purple iridescence is caused by interaction with minerals in the soil after burial. Sand on Cyprus was not suitable for glass making, so local production depended on raw glass imported as ingots from Egypt, Syria, or perhaps even further away. This piece is "free-blown," from liquid glass at a high temperature, a technique which began in the 1st century BCE. This form of beaker is distinctive to Cyprus.
	This skyphos is made of Black on Red Ware. Cypriot-made skyphoi (drinking cups) such as this one, modeled on Greek originals, appeared at Al Mina on the Syrian coast in the late 8th century BCE. Later, they are found at sites all along the coast from Tarsus to Tyre. Scientific analyses have shown that such cups were made of Cypriot clays, but whether by local Cypriot potters or Greek potters working in Cyprus is unknown. They are found in a variety of wares, and were probably exported for their own sake, not for their contents.
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	This glass bottle, or unguentarium, is also of "free-blown" glass like the beaker above, and was frequently deposited in tombs and contained sweet-smelling oils (or unguents) that were used not only in memorial ceremonies for the dead but also served to disguise the smell of the tomb. You can see lengthwise across the body and neck a yellowish line, left by the oil which it once contained.
	This juglet is made of Base Ring Ware, and is related to the tankard in the Bronze Age Case. This type of pottery is a hallmark of the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean, and it is found everywhere. Upturned, these juglets resemble an opium poppy capsule. Vertical slits that allow the narcotic sap to be collected are rendered on the body in either applied clay or paint. Some archaeologists suggest that the juglet's distinctive shape advertised its narcotic contents. Although opium's anesthetic properties were recognized in antiquity and the drug is mentioned in Egyptian medical texts, chemical analyses have yet to confirm that Base Ring juglets in fact contained opiates.

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