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| Etymology | |
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A copper mine on Cyprus. In antiquity Cyprus was a major source of copper.
The earliest attested reference to Cyprus is the Mycenaean Greek ku-pi-ri-jo, meaning "Cypriot", written in Linear B syllabic script.[28] The classical Greek form of the name is Κύπρος Kupros.
The etymology of the name is unknown. Suggestions include:
the Greek word for the Mediterranean cypress tree (Cupressus sempervirens), κυπάρισσος (kypárissos)
the Greek name of the henna plant (Lawsonia alba), κύπρος (kýpros)
an Eteocypriot word for copper. Georges Dossin, for example, suggests that it has roots in the Sumerian word for copper (zubar) or for bronze (kubar), from the large deposits of copper ore found on the island.
Through overseas trade, the island has given its name to the Classical Latin word for copper through the phrase aes Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum.[29]
Cyprus, more specifically the seashore at Paphos, was also one of the birthplaces given in Greek mythology for Aphrodite, who was known as Kupria. This was because Astarte, goddess of love and beauty in Phoenician mythology, for whom Cyprus was an important cult centre, was later identified with Aphrodite.
The standard demonym relating to Cyprus or its people or culture is Cypriot. The terms Cypriote and Cyprian are also, less frequently, used.
[edit] Tags:Greek,Demonym,Cypriot,Cy,Mycenaean Greek,Linear B,Mediterranean Cypress Tree,Cupressus Sempervirens,Henna,Eteocypriot,Copper,Sumerian,Bronze,Paphos,Aphrodite,Astarte,Identified With,Cyprian,Greek Mythology, | |
| Ancient times | |
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Main articles: Prehistoric Cyprus and Ancient history of Cyprus
The earliest confirmed site of human activity on Cyprus is Aetokremnos, situated on the south coast, indicating that hunter-gatherers were active on the island from around 10,000 BCE,[30] with settled village communities dating from 8200 BC. The arrival of the first humans correlates with the extinction of the dwarf hippos and dwarf elephants.[31] Water wells discovered by archaeologists in western Cyprus are believed to be among the oldest in the world, dated at 9,000 to 10,500 years old.[8]
Remains of an 8-month-old cat were discovered buried with its human owner at a separate Neolithic site in Cyprus.[9] The grave is estimated to be 9,500 years old, predating ancient Egyptian civilization and pushing back the earliest known feline-human association significantly.[10] The remarkably well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site dating to approximately 6800 BCE.[32]
The island was part of the Hittite empire during the late Bronze Age until the arrival of two waves of Greek settlement.[33] The first wave consisted of Mycenaean Greek traders who started visiting Cyprus around 1400 BCE.[34][35] A major wave of Greek settlement is believed to have taken place following the Bronze Age collapse of Mycenaean Greece in the period 1100–1050 BCE, with the island's predominantly Greek character dating from this period.[35][36] Cyprus occupies an important role in Greek mythology being the birthplace of Aphrodite and Adonis, and home to King Cinyras, Teucer and Pygmalion.[37] Beginning in the 8th century BCE Phoenician colonies were founded on the south coast of Cyprus, near present day Larnaca and Salamis.[35]
Cyprus was ruled by Assyria for a century starting in 708 BCE, before a brief spell under Egyptian rule and eventually Persian rule in 545 BCE.[35] The Cypriots, led by Onesilus, king of Salamis, joined their fellow Greeks in the Ionian cities during the unsuccessful Ionian Revolt in 499 BCE against the Achaemenid Empire. The revolt was suppressed, but Cyprus managed to maintain a high degree of autonomy and remained oriented towards the Greek world.[35]
The island was brought under permanent Greek rule by Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies of Egypt following his death. Full Hellenization took place during the Ptolemaic period, which ended when Cyprus was annexed by the Roman Republic in 58 BCE.[35]
[edit] Tags:Greece,Syria,Neolithic,Khirokitia,World Heritage Site,Unesco,Feline,Alexander The Great,Aetokremnos,Hunter-gatherers,10,000 Bce,Village Communities,Cat,Ancient Egyptian,Earliest Known Feline-human Association,Hittite Empire,Bronze Age Collapse,Mycenaean Greece,Adonis,King Cinyras,Teucer,Pygmalion,Assyria,Persian,Onesilus,Ionian,Ionian Revolt, | |
| Middle Ages | |
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Main article: Cyprus in the Middle Ages
Paphos Castle.
When the Roman Empire was divided into Eastern and Western parts in 395, Cyprus became part of the East Roman, or Byzantine Empire, and would remain part of it until the Crusades some 800 years later. Under Byzantine rule, the Greek orientation that had been prominent since antiquity developed the strong Hellenistic-Christian character that continues to be a hallmark of the Greek Cypriot community.[35] Beginning in 649, Cyprus suffered from devastating raids launched from the Levant, which continued for the next 300 years.[35] Many were quick piratical raids, but others were large-scale attacks in which many Cypriots were slaughtered and great wealth carried off or destroyed.[35]
There are no Byzantine churches which survive from this period; thousands of people were killed, and many cities – such as Salamis – were destroyed and never rebuilt.[35] Byzantine rule was restored in 965, when Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas scored decisive victories on land and sea.[35] In 1191, during the Third Crusade, Richard I of England captured the island from Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus[38] He used it as a major supply base that was relatively safe from the Saracens. A year later Richard sold the island to the Knights Templar, who, following a bloody revolt, in turn sold it to Guy of Lusignan. His brother and successor Amalric was recognized as King of Cyprus by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor.[35]
Following the death in 1473 of James II, the last Lusignan king, the Republic of Venice assumed control of the island, while the late king's Venetian widow, Queen Catherine Cornaro, reigned as figurehead. Venice formally annexed Cyprus in 1489, following the abdication of Catherine.[35] The Venetians fortified Nicosia by building the famous Venetian Walls, and used it as an important commercial hub. Throughout Venetian rule, the Ottoman Empire frequently raided Cyprus. In 1539 the Ottomans destroyed Limassol and so fearing the worst, the Venetians also fortified Famagusta and Kyrenia.[35]
During the almost four centuries of Latin rule, there existed two societies on Cyprus. The first consisted of Frankish nobles and their retinue, as well as Italian merchants and their families. The second, the majority of the population, consisted of Greek Cypriots, serfs and laborers. Although a determined effort was made to supplant native traditions and culture, the effort failed.[35]
[edit] Tags:Venetians,Ottoman Empire,Greek Cypriots, | |
| Ottoman Empire | |
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Main article: Ottoman Cyprus
Historical map of Cyprus by Piri Reis
In 1570, a full scale Ottoman assault with 60,000 troops brought the island under Ottoman control, despite stiff resistance by the inhabitants of Nicosia and Famagusta. 20,000 Nicosians were put to death, and every church, public building, and palace was looted.[39] The previous Latin elite was destroyed and the first significant demographic change since antiquity took place when Ottoman Janissaries were settled on the island.[17]
The Ottomans abolished the feudal system previously in place and applied the millet system to Cyprus, under which non-Muslim peoples were governed by their own religious authorities. In a reversal from the days of Latin rule, the head of the Church of Cyprus was invested as leader of the Greek Cypriot population and acted as mediator between Christian Greek Cypriots and the Ottoman authorities.[39] Ottoman rule of Cyprus was at times indifferent, at times oppressive, depending on the temperaments of the sultans and local officials, and during this period the island fell into economic decline.[39]
In 1828, modern Greece's first president Ioannis Kapodistrias whose maternal ancestors were Greek Cypriots,[40][41] called for union of Cyprus with Greece, and numerous minor uprisings took place.[42] Reaction to Ottoman misrule led to uprisings by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, although none was successful. By 1872, the population of the island had risen to 144,000 comprising 44,000 Muslims and 100,000 Christians.[43] Centuries of neglect by the Turks, the unrelenting poverty of most of the people, and the ever-present tax collectors fuelled Greek nationalism, and by 19th century the idea of enosis, or union, with newly independent Greece was firmly rooted among Greek Cypriots.[39]
[edit] Tags:Turkish,19th,Turkish Cypriots,Enosis,Turkish Cypriot, | |
| British Empire | |
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Main article: Modern history of Cyprus
Hoisting the British flag at Nicosia
In the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) and the Congress of Berlin, Cyprus was leased to the British Empire which de facto took over its administration in 1878 (though, in terms of sovereignty, it remained a de jure Ottoman territory until 1914, together with Egypt and Sudan) in exchange for guarantees that Britain would use the island as a base to protect the Ottoman Empire against possible Russian aggression.[35] The island would serve Britain as a key military base in its colonial routes. By 1906, when the Famagusta harbour was completed, Cyprus was a strategic naval outpost overlooking the Suez Canal, the crucial main route to India which was then Britain's most important overseas possession. Following the outbreak of World War I and the decision of the Ottoman Empire to join the war on the side of the Central Powers, the British Empire formally annexed Cyprus, Egypt and Sudan on 5 November 1914 as a response.[35]
Cypriot demonstrations for Enosis (Union) with Greece in 1930
In 1915, Britain offered Cyprus to Constantine I of Greece on condition that Greece join the war on the side of the British, which he declined. In 1923, under the Treaty of Lausanne, the nascent Turkish republic relinquished any claim to Cyprus, and in 1925 it was declared a British crown colony.[35] Many Greek Cypriots fought in the British Army during both World Wars, in the hope that Cyprus would eventually be united with Greece.[44] During World War II many enlisted in the Cyprus Regiment.
In January 1959, the Church of Cyprus organized a referendum, which was boycotted by the Turkish Cypriot community, where over 90%[clarification needed] voted in favor of "enosis", meaning union with Greece.[45][46] Restricted autonomy under a constitution was proposed by the British administration but eventually rejected. In 1955 the EOKA organisation was founded, seeking independence and union with Greece through armed struggle. At the same time the Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT), calling for Taksim, or partition, was established by the Turkish Cypriots as a counterweight.[47] Turmoil on the island was met with force by the British.
[edit] Tags:Partition,De Jure, | |
| Independence | |
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The first president of Cyprus Makarios III
On 16 August 1960, Cyprus attained independence after the Zürich and London Agreement between the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey. The UK retained the two Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, while government posts and public offices were allocated by ethnic quotas, giving the minority Turkish Cypriots a permanent veto, 30% in parliament and administration, and granting the three mother-states guarantor rights.
In 1963, inter-communal violence broke out, partially sponsored by both "motherlands". As a result, Turkish Cypriots were forced into enclaves and Cypriot President Archbishop Makarios III called for unilateral constitutional changes a Tags:Turkey, | |
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