8200-3900 BC Neolithic Age
This era is known for the oldest settlements which could of come from
Asia Minor. They built civilisation along the coasts and stone vessels
at first which was followed by pottery. One main area known for this
is the site of Choirokoitia.
3900-2500 BC Chalcolithic Age
This era is the transitional period between the Stone Age and the Bronze
Age. This is where Copper has been discovered and is being exploited
on a small scale. The most important centres at this point were Erimi
and Lemba.
2500-1050 BC Bronge Age
This era is known for Cyprus being rich in copper. Trades on this island
have begun with Egypt, Near East and the Aegean which know Cyprus as
Alasia. Around 1400 BC the Mycenaeans arrived from Greece to explore
new lands. By 1200 BC Achaean Greeks have arrived brining with them
the Greek Language and Greek Mythology. Eventually they established
the first kingdoms of Pafos, Kourion, Kition, and Salamis. Kition is
the oldest kingdom in Cyprus being the first built. This is just the
beginning of Greek civilisation.
1050-750 BC Geometric Period
There are now ten city kingdoms in Cyprus which has become a Greek island.
The new kingdoms are Amathous, Lapithos, Ledra, Idalion, Tamassos and
Kythrea. Phoenicians start settling in Kition bringing their own civilisation.
750-333 BC Archaic and Classical Period
This era is known for the first conquerors of Cyprus. The Assyrians
moved in and conquered Cyprus for130 years. Pharaoh Amasis of Egypt
rules Cyprus for 25 years. The most powerful leader at this time known
as King Cyrus of Persia then ruled Cyprus for 200 years. The Persian
Empire was the biggest the known world had yet seen.
333-325 BC Alexander the Great
The Greek kingdoms of Cyprus welcome Alexander the Great of Macedonia.
Cyprus again is part of the Greek world.
325-58 BC Hellenistic Period
In this era rivalries began between Alexander’s generals before
and after his death. After Alexander’s death his generals split
his empire in four parts after the many wars they had. Alexander’s
third powerful general was called Ptolemy and he became a leader of
one of the four parts of Alexander’s empire. This part was Egypt,
Cyprus southern Turkey and a part of the Holy Land as we know today.
It became the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Alexandria became the capital. The
Ptolemies abolished the kingdoms in Cyprus and Paphos became the new
capital of a reunified island. Despite Alexander’s death the Greeks
of Cyprus still had no problems being ruled by Ptolemy because they
still remained in the Greek world and Ptolemy was just as good as a
leader as Alexander.
58-330 BC Roman Period
This era brings the Roman conquest to the Middle East. They have already
conquered Greece and Asia Minor and the Ptolemy kingdom is at its end
with Cleopatra being the last queen. During this period Jesus came to
existents then was crucified. His apostles sent Paul to Cyprus and met
Barnaba which was a Cypriot Jew and he toured the island with him to
Paphos. At this point Barnaba converted to Christianity and became the
first Archbishop of Cyprus. Cyprus became one of the first countries
in the world to become Christian.
330-1191 BC Byzantium Period
This era brings the Roman Empire to division in two parts. Christianity
becomes the official religion in different ways. The Holy Roman Empire
which was Western Europe became Catholics with Rome as their capital
and roman as their language. Byzantium is Eastern Europe with Constantinople
as its capital. The difference here was the Byzantines were Romans that
used the Greek language and became Greek orthodox which again brought
some Greek culture back to Cyprus which was part of Byzantium. The Byzantines
built churches, castles and Empress Helena came and founds the Stavrovouni
Monastery. After earthquakes destroyed the main cities Constantia became
the new capital of Cyprus. Cyprus at this point would follow 800 years
of rule. During this rule in 650 AD the Arabs celebrating their new
religion attacked Cyprus numerous times on the coasts which resulted
in Lefkosia in the centre of the island becoming the new capital.
1191-1192 Richard the Lion heart and the Templers
Isaac Comnenus self proclaimed the island independent from the falling
Byzantine Empire. Part of Richards’s fleet washed up on the shores
of Limassol and he takes them all prisoners. Richard who was on his
way to the third crusade stopped at Cyprus and fought against Isaac
for revenge. After a few wars and the sieges at castles Richard becomes
the new leader of Cyprus which means that the British have had influences
in Cyprus back then. He married his fiancé Berengaria which resulted
in the first Royal Wedding in Cyprus by the British. After the third
crusade Richard has no need for the Island and he sells it for 100,000
dinars to the Templers. There was a big revolt between the Greeks and
the Templers for the reason that the Templers rose taxes. This forced
them to resell it to Guy de Lusignan who was a French crusader and deposed
king of Jerusalem by Saladin.
1192-1489 Frankish (Lusignan) Period
This era brings the Catholic religion to Cyprus which manages to survive.
The Greeks thought it was better then being conquered by the Arabs.
The Lusignan brought wealth to the island building cathedrals and palaces
in Lefkosia and Ammochostos. Building defensive walls around the Ammochostos
city and Ammochostos became the richest city in the Middle East. This
is where these cities are referred to as Nicosia known as Lefkosia and
Famagusta known as Ammochostos which were the most important cities
in Cyprus. The last Queen of Cyprus was Catherine Cornaro who cedes
Cyprus to Venice.
1489-1571 Venetian Period
This era brought many Venetian military architect to Cyprus to fight
the growing Ottoman Empire. The Venetians fortified castles and walls
and built a new wall around Lefkosia (Nicosia). They used Cyprus as
a shipping port mainly but they were also Catholics which didn’t
cause any concern with the Greeks. They brought wealth to many areas
like the Lusignans did before them. They already had a naval war with
the Byzantines and now they have got one with the Ottomans which resulted
in the fall of Venice from Cyprus.
1571-1878 Ottoman Period
This era brought the Ottomans to Cyprus which was one of the most hated
conquerors by the Greeks since Greece and Ottoman were at war. The main
battles were at Lefkosia (Nicosia) and Ammochostos (Famagusta). When
the Ottomans became rulers they plunged the country into oblivion. They
converted cathedrals to mosques and slaughtered many Greeks. Eventually
the archbishop became the Greek representive to the sultan. Ammochostos
(Famagusta) which was the richest city in the Middle East became nothing
more than a city of dust. In 1821 when the Greeks moved the Ottomans
out of Greece the Ottomans slaughtered more Greeks in Cyprus who supported
it.
1878-1960 British Period
This era brought back the British from the King Richard Days and a joy
for the Greeks which gave them more freedom and Christianity. Cyprus
was still part of the Ottoman Empire but was actually being leased to
the British on the condition that they supported them against the growing
Russian navy power. This carried on until WW1 when Ottoman came into
the war on the side of the central powers. This made Britain annexe
Cyprus and was now part of the British Empire. In 1923 the Ottomans
relinquished all claims of the island with a treaty and in 1925 Cyprus
became a crown colony. In WW2 Cyprus saw little action but the Greek
volunteers were taken by the British to the action. During this period
the Greeks saw themselves as Cypriots more than Greeks. After the war
Britain brought technology to the island such as cars, telephones, roads,
and proper houses which took Cyprus back to wealth but on limits. In
1955 the Greeks thought it was time to unify with their long time allies,
the Greeks in Greece. The problem was the Turkish Cypriots from the
Ottoman days which were only a community now didn’t like the idea
mainly because they saw it as going from one ruler to a worse one. The
British also didn’t like the idea of loosing their vital base
in the Eastern Mediterranean mainly because of the cold war with Russia.
With the Agreement of all sides Cyprus was given independence to satisfy
Turkey, US and the UK but not the Greek Cypriots.
1960-1974 Republic of Cyprus
The Zurich-London Agreement makes Cyprus an independent island with
Cypriot as the nationality and Greek and Turkish as the languages of
the two communities. Cyprus becomes part of the Non-Aligned Movement,
the Commonwealth and United Nations. With the agreement Britain keeps
two military bases on the island for military interests and Turkey,
Greece along with Britain are guarantor powers of Cyprus. The 1960 constitution
was unworkable so in 1963 President Makarios made attempts to change
it but the Vice President Kutchuck disagreed and so conflict spilled
between the two communities in gun battles. This created a civil war
between the two Cypriot communities from 1964 until 1974 similar to
the 1950s war with Britain.
1974 Greek Coup and Turkish Invasion
On July the 15th the military government in Greece staged a coup against
Makarios who at this point was against enosis due to the fact that he
despised the military government. This created a window for the Turkish
army to invade to do their long time objective, Partition. On the 23rd
of July the Greek military government fell and democracy was restored
in Greece along with Cyprus. Clerides a long time Cypriot politician
assumed the role of president until Makarios returns. This did not stop
the Turkish army which staged another invasion on the 14th of August.
This divided the island into North and South with the Turkish army occupying
37% of the island.
1974-Present The Republic of Cyprus
Cyprus suffered economic depression, human rights disasters and refugee
crisis. By the end of the 70s the country started to pick up again and
many problems were being taken care of. Many problems like refugees
and property rights have been left until now. In 2004 Cyprus became
part of the European Union which has brought a lot of international
infrastructure to the island. There is hope that Cyprus will eventually
become a peaceful reunified island after being conquered for over 2500
years.
References
(Cyprus 10000 years of history and civilisation) pgs
6 to 10.
Published by Cyprus Tourism Organisation Designed by J & A Rossides/Monogramme
Printed by D.Couvas & Sons Ltd February 2001
