|
|
The New Cypriot Galleries
|
|
|
 |
|
Rod tripod decorated with a frieze of animals, 13th or early 12th century B.C.
Copper-based metal.
The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription 1874–76 (74.51.5684).
|
|
|
Learn more about the Objects on View in The Prehistoric Gallery
In the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600–ca. 1000 B.C.), Cyprus became an important center of copper production and was actively involved in international trade. (In antiquity, Cyprus was so well-known for its copper mines that the modern English word "copper" comes from the Latin cuprum, which in turn is derived from Kypros, the Greek name for both the metal and the island.) At the crossroads of maritime trade between ancient civilizations of Anatolia to the north, Egypt to the south, mainland Greece and the Aegean Sea to the west, and Mesopotamia and Syria to the east, Cypriot artisans absorbed and adapted artistic styles from many cultures around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Actual imports—Mycenaean Greek pottery, Egyptian glass, and Syrian metalwork—are displayed beside Cypriot works in clay and stone, faience vases, gold and silver jewelry, terracotta figurines, and fine bronzework that illustrate the manifold influences on, and the achievements of Cypriot artists at this time. Specific pottery styles, especially the Cypriot White Slip and Base Ring wares, attest to the continued development of distinctive local traditions. With the settlement of Mycenaean Greeks on the island toward the end of the Bronze Age, Cyprus became one of the few places where there exists a clear continuity of Greek culture from the Bronze into the Iron Age.
|
|
Back to main page for this exhibition
Back to expanded page for this exhibition