Ancient Cyprus Today

Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm hosts the largest and most well documented collection of Cypriot antiquities in the world outside Cyprus. The museum's goal is to continuously stay in-tune with the latest research centered on its collection. The suggested conference, mostly focused on the Cypriote Bronze and Iron-Age, is part of this long-term strategy to systemize an exchange of knowledge between the museum and external Swedish and international partners. Another important component in the long term strategy is to particularly focus on young and promising Swedish and international scholars so that the research on the Cypriote collections at Medelhavsmuseet remains vital and dynamic also in the future.

There are countless references to Cyprus in Venice: in palaces, primarily that of Queen Caterina Corner, in the church of Saints Giovanni e Paolo, where the skin of Mark Antonius Bragadin (the staunch defender of Famagusta) is guarded, in the spices, and especially in the wine of Cyprus (Commandaria), that is today still recalled in Venetian sayings. The Venetian past, too, has many references in Cyprus where evidence is focused on the fortresses and fortifications of Nicosia, Famagusta and Kerynia and in the lions that adorn them as well as in traditional dishes and language. The papers presented here have been selected from 30 given at the 10th Annual Meeting of young researchers in Cypriot archaeology (POCA 10), held in Venice where it celebrated two important events: the 500th anniversary of the death of Caterina Cornaro (1454–1510) and the twinning of the cities of Venice and Larnaca. Papers cover a wide range of subjects reflecting the many centuries of trade in products (especially textiles) and the cultural exchange in ideas, religious practices and people between the island and City at various times from prehistory to the Ottoman period. Archaeological and historical data are brought together to showcase recent research.

The geographical position of Cyprus at the eastern end of the Mediterranean has always played a vital role in its history. As an island poised between the major civilizations of the ancient world - Mesopotamia, Assyria and Persia to the east, Anatolia to the north, Egypt to the south and Greece and Rome to the west - Cyprus developed a unique and distinctive culture.

Gender in Ancient Cyprus examines some of the fundamental facets of gender as they intersect with the dynamics of social, political, and economic change in Cyprus, beginning with the earliest traces of human habitation on the island to the final phases of the Bronze Age. The book closely analyzes gender as it relates to the domestic space, technology and labor, ritual and social identity, and the roles of children, as well as the practices of modern day Near Eastern archaeology and the roles of women in it. Visit our website for sample chapters!

This book examines the archaeology of Cyprus from the first-known human presence during the Late Epipalaeolithic through the end of the Bronze Age.