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Cyprus—Island of Copper

• 
  Water spouts in the form of a lion mask, ca. 100 B.C.–100 A.D.; Late Hellenistic or Early Roman
  Greco-Roman; Said to be from Kourion
  Bronze; H. 5 1/8 in. (13 cm)
  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874-76 (74.51.5677-5678)
  
• 
  Shepherd's crook, ca. 2000–1900 B.C.; Early Cypriot III
  Cypriot; Said to be from Kourion
  Copper-based metal; H. 4 7/8 in. (12.4 cm)
  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874-76 (74.51.5570)
  
• 
  Bowl with handles terminating in lotuses, ca. 850–750 B.C.; Cypro-Geometric III
  Cypriot; Said to be from Kourion
  Bronze; H. (with handles) 10 5/8 in. (27 cm)
  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874-76 (74.51.5673)
  
• 
  Handles and rim of a cauldron, ca. 1300–1050; Late Bronze Age
  Cypriot
  Bronze; H. 8 3/16 in. (20.90 cm)
  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874-76 (74.51.5685)
  
• 
  Spearhead, 12th century B.C.; Late Bronze Age
  Cypriot
  Copper-based metal; H. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm)
  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874-76 (74.51.5283)
  
• 
  Tripod, ca. 1450–1050; Late Cypriot II or III
  Cypriot
  Bronze; H. 3 7/8 in. (9.80 cm)
  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874-76 (74.51.5587)
  
• 
  Tripod, ca. 13th–12th century B.C.; Late Bronze Age
  Cypriot
  Copper-based metal; H. 14 3/4 in. (37.49 cm)
  The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874-76 (74.51.5684)
  

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Cyprus was famous in antiquity for its copper resources. In fact the very word copper is derived from the Greek name for the island, Kupros. Cypriots first worked copper in the fourth millennium B.C., fashioning tools from native deposits of pure copper, which at that time could still be found in places on the surface of the earth. The discovery of rich copper-bearing ores on the north slope of the Troodos Mountains led to the mining of Cyprus' rich mineral resources in the Bronze Age at sites such as Ambelikou-Aletri. Tin, which is mixed together with copper to make bronze, typically at a ratio of 1:10, had to be imported. True tin bronzes appear to have been made on Cyprus as early as the beginning of the second millennium B.C. In the nineteenth century B.C., the island is mentioned for the first time in Near Eastern records as a copper-producing country, under the name "Alasia," and it continued to be an important source of copper for the Near East and Egypt throughout most of the second millennium B.C. Scholars, however, are in disagreement as to the exact meaning of "Alasia": whether it refers to a specific site on Cyprus, such Enkomi or Alassa, or to the island itself, or, less probably, to another geographic location.

Cypriot smiths produced some of the finest bronzework in the eastern Mediterranean, most notably tripods and four-sided stands.

Related

Timelines (3)

• The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, 1–500 a.d.
• The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.
• The Eastern Mediterranean and Syria, 2000–1000 b.c.

Primary Thematic Essays (6)

• Ancient Greek Bronze Vessels
• Classical Cyprus (ca. 480
• Geometric and Archaic Cyprus
• Hellenistic and Roman Cyprus
• Prehistoric Cypriot Art and Culture
• The Technique of Bronze Statuary in Ancient Greece

Other Thematic Essays (9)

• Early Cycladic Art and Culture
• Geometric Art in Ancient Greece
• Ife (from ca. 350 B.C.)
• List of Rulers of the Ancient Greek World
• The Cesnola Collection at The Metropolian Museum
• The Nahal Mishmar Treasure
• The Praenestine Cistae
• The Roman Empire (27 B.C.–393 A.D.)
• Ugarit

Maps (3)

• Europe, 2000-1000 B.C.
• West Asia, 2000-1000 B.C.
• World, 2000-1000 B.C.

Index Terms (22)

Art Movement/Style

• Late Bronze Age of Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Middle Bronze Age of Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Cypriot Art

Material and Technique

• Brass from Europe
• Brass from West Asia
• Copper

Object

• Secular Architecture from Europe
• Secular Architecture from West Asia
• Spear
• Ceremonial Implement
• Regalia
• Tripod
• Deep Vessel (Cup or Bowl)
• Deep Vessel from West Asia
• Vessel from West Asia
• Shallow Vessel (Platter, Plate, Basin, or Bowl)

Subject Matter/Theme

• Feline
• Metalwork with Floral Motif
• Trade (1–500 a.d.)
• Trade (2000–1000 b.c.)
• Trade (8000–2000 b.c.)
• Warfare

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Cypriot copper and bronze working was relatively modest in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, and metalsmiths manufactured a limited range of types, including tools, weapons, and personal objects such as pins and razors. Excavations have revealed increasing metallurgical activity at settlement sites in the Late Bronze Age. Nearly all of the major centers, including Enkomi, Kition, Hala Sultan Tekke, Palaeopaphos, and Maroni, provide evidence of copper smelting, as do smaller settlements, including Alassa and Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios.




Metalwork of the first part of the Late Bronze Age continued to follow earlier conservative traditions. Despite the widespread evidence for metallurgical activity, there are few examples of actual bronzework from Cyprus between ca. 1450 B.C. until the late thirteenth century B.C., the Late Cypriot II period, because the metal was valuable and metal objects were melted down in subsequent periods for reuse. However, the recent discovery of the Ulu Burun shipwreck, which was carrying over ten tons of Cypriot copper ingots when it sank off the southwestern coast of Turkey in the late fourteenth century B.C., vividly demonstrates that Cyprus was a major producer of copper for international trade. Toward the end of the Late Bronze Age, the Cypriot metalworking industry was transformed under foreign influence. Cypriot smiths produced some of the finest bronzework in the eastern Mediterranean, most notably tripods and four-sided stands.



Colette Hemingway Independent Scholar

Seán Hemingway Department of Greek and Roman Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Hemingway, Colette and Seán Hemingway. "Cyprus—Island of Copper". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cyco/hd_cyco.htm (October 2004) Further Reading Bass, George F. "Oldest Known Shipwreck Reveals Splendors of the Bronze Age." National Geographic (December 1987), pp. 692–733.. n/a: n/a, n/a. Bonfante, Larissa, and Vassos Karageorghis, eds. Italy and Cyprus in Antiquity, 1500–450 B.C. . Nicosia: Costakis and Leto Severis Foundation, 2001. Karageorghis, Vassos, and Nikolaos Stampolidis Eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus, Dodecanese, Crete, 16th–6th century B.C.. Athens: University of Crete / A. G. Leventis Foundation, 1998. Karageorghis, Vassos, in collaboration with Joan R. Mertens and Marice E. Rose Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Meyers, Eric M., ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. 5 vols.. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)