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.