Kourion 2004 Overview

The Polychrome Floor Mosaics, Opus Sectile Floors
and Architecture of the Eustolios Complex at Kourion, Cyprus
David W. Rupp

This grant will be for the publication of the final report entitled, The Polychrome Floor Mosaics, Opus Sectile Floors and Architecture of the Eustolios Complex on the Akropolis at Kourion, Cyprus. A team from the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) led by John F. Daniels conducted the excavations of the Eustolios Complex (or "Annex" or "Curium Palace"). The structure was excavated partially between 1935 and 1939. After World War II the digging resumed in 1948 and continued through 1950 when the excavation was completed. Only a few brief preliminary excavation reports resulted from these investigations. While the coins were published separately by D. Cox their treatment is too general to be of much help for the Eustolios Complex research. The inscriptions were published as well by T.B. Mitford. A number of his readings and interpretations of the texts, however, were criticized.

Near the southeastern end of the akropolis of the Early Hellenistic through Early Byzantine city of Kourion, on the south coast of Cyprus, a monumental peristyle courtyard complex with associated bath suite was built in the late 360s A.D., during the reign of the Emperor Valens. This building was erected over the ruins of an earlier late Hellenistic period palatial private residence after the great earthquake of A.D. 365 that struck the entire eastern Mediterranean. Severe earthquakes in the late 4th century A.D. caused extensive damage to the new complex and its mosaic floors. Fragments from these floors were recovered in the fill in the course of the excavation. Late in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius II (A.D. 408-450) the complex was rebuilt in a major reconstruction effort and new mosaic and opus sectile floors were laid. The complex, donated by a certain Eustolios, may have served as a public guesthouse for the city rather than as a private residence. A limited amount of remodeling of the complex and its floors was executed during or immediately after the reign of the Emperor Leo I (A.D. 457-474). The destructive Arab raids in the mid-7th century A.D. forced the abandonment of the city along with the Eustolios Complex.

The sprawling complex with 30 or so rooms occupies two levels immediatelv adjacent to the ruins of the theater, destroyed in A.D. 365. The organizing features of the five clusters of rooms on the lower level are an enclosed, open forecourt and a peristyle courtyard. Five of the spaces/rooms have polychrome mosaic floors preserved. A bathing suite is situated on the upper level. Preserved in two of the rooms there are polychrome mosaic floors. Another two have opus sectile floors. Five of the mosaic floors in the complex have panels among the decorative schemes with short texts set in them. These texts point to the strong impact that Christianity was having on the traditional Greco-Roman outlook of the elites on Cyprus as well as the tensions between them. The prominent position in the city, set above the Amathous Gate. reinforces the impression from the Complex's size and layout that this was an important structure. The group of sophisticated polychrome floor mosaics from this complex forms one of the key monuments of Early Byzantine Cyprus according to Professor Dimitrios Michaelides (Archaeological Unit, University of Cyprus). Although this is clearly a secular complex, the mosaics display strong affinities to some contemporary mosaics in basilicas on the island. These similarities, point to the intimate relationship that "public" and "religious" art had in this period on the island. The artistic influence of the imperial capital at Constantinople is particularly strong at this time. Influences from Cilicia and Syria are evident as well.

The planned publication is entitled tentatively, The Polychrome Floor Mosaics, Opus Sectile Floors and Architecture of the Eustolios Complex on the Akropolis at Kourion, Cyprus. The monograph will consist of seven chapters. They are as follows: l. Introduction; 2. The Standing Architectural Remains; 3. Catalogue of the Mosaic and Opus Sectile Floors; 4. Catalogue of the Earlier Mosaic Floor Fragments; 5. The Architectural Milieu of the Eustolios Complex; 6. The Decorative Motifs, Style and Iconography of the Mosaic Floors, Mosaic Fragments and the Opus Sectile Floors; and 7. General Conclusions. The penultimate drafts of Chapters 1-4 have been written, covering 134 double-spaced pages. The architectural plans and sections, the black/white photographs and the color photographs are also ready for scanning in preparation for the creation of the plates. In addition, what remains to be done are, (1.) the library research on the cornparanda dealing with the style and floor designs, individual motifs/patterns and figurative themes/ iconography of the mosaics; the design of the opus sectile floors; the artistic/architectural context of the mosaics and the complex itself; and the general conclusions; (2.) the writing of Chapters 5-7; (3.) the final updating and revision of Chapters 1-4; (4.) the creation of decorative motif charts; and (5.) the creation of a map of the island and a site plan.