Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is when Cyprus first becomes visible to the whole eastern Mediterranean, and for one reason: copper. The ore of the Troodos yields the metal without which bronze cannot be cast, and the island turns into a supplier to Egypt, the Levant and the Hittites.

The Amarna letters of the Egyptian pharaohs mention the kingdom of Alashiya, which sends copper by the hundred ingots. Nearly all scholars identify Alashiya with Cyprus — though which city served as its capital is still argued.

Towns and workshops

Enkomi is the largest town of the age, a centre of copper working laid out on a grid. Kition grows on the south coast beside its harbour. Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios and Maroni-Vournes are substantial 13th-century BC settlements with monumental ashlar buildings.

Pyrgos-Mavroraki stands apart: under one roof it worked metal, olive oil, wine and perfumed oils — a rare case where an entire production complex can be seen at once. It was destroyed by an earthquake around 1850 BC, which is precisely why it survived.

This is also when Cypro-Minoan writing appears. Its signs can be transcribed, but the language behind them remains undeciphered.

How it ended

In the late 13th century BC a crisis sweeps the eastern Mediterranean: the Hittite state and the Mycenaean palaces collapse. On Cyprus this is the moment fortified promontory settlements go up — Maa-Palaiokastro and Pyla-Kokkinokremos. Neither lasted long. Both are linked to the arrival of Mycenaean Greeks, after which Cyprus speaks Greek.

Around the same time the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Palaipaphos begins its work; it will remain the island’s foremost cult place for another fifteen centuries. Then comes the Iron Age and the era of the city-kingdoms.