Cyprus and the East Aegean: Intercultural Contacts from 3000 to 500 BC. An International Archaeological Symposium Held at Pythagoreion, Samos, October 17th-18th 2008.

Nicosia: The A.G. Leventis Foundation, 2009. Paperback. As New. 21x30 cm. In English. 262 p., b/w and colour ills., tables, maps, drawings. Contains 22 papers by scholars from various parts of Europe, including Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. Cultural interconnections between Cyprus and the Aegean started already early in the 3rd millennium B.C., when the Cypriots adopted the know-how of tin bronze from the south-east and southern coasts of Anatolia. These contacts became closer during the second millennium B.C., when Cyprus was dominant in the Mediterranean as the most important supplier of copper and welcomed Greek colonists from Mycenaean Greece towards the end of the millennium. During the first millennium B.C. interconnections became even closer, not only in commerce, but also in culture, since the Aegean, particularly the eastern Aegean, constituted the gateway of communication with Anatolia and the Persian Empire. Furthermore the Aegean occupied a strategic position, as the rules of early navigation necessitated a passage through the south-eastern Aegean for those sailing from Cyprus to continental Greece and vice-versa. Contacts between Cyprus and the Dodecanese were lively and continuous throughout the Late Bronze Age and the first half of the first millennium B.C., something which was highlighted during a recent international archaeological symposium held on Rhodes in May 2009. As early as the 16th century B.C. there are numerous ceramic imports from Cyprus to Rhodes, where they are found mainly as tomb-gifts in the necropolis of Ialysos; on several occasions the Rhodians imitated Cypriote ceramics, not only their shape but also their decoration. This phenomenon continued also during the first millennium B.C., both on Cos and Rhodes. From the 8th to the 6th centuries B.C., when Cypriote kingdoms reached the peak of their wealth and power, and when the sanctuaries of Hera and Aphrodite flourished on Samos and Rhodes respectively, large quantities of Cypriote terracotta and limestone statues and statuettes found their way to these sanctuaries as votive offerings, where they were even imitated locally. The same may be said about the sanctuaries of Ionia, namely those of Cnidos and Miletus. Communications at the Samos symposium covered the whole chronological spectrum, from the prehistoric period down to the end of the archaic period. Kew words: Cyprus and the East Aegean, Mycenaean III C pottery connections, pirates of the Aegean, 2nd millennium B.C., moulds, cypriote terracottas, limestone statuettes, limestone figurines, cypriote sculpture in the 6th century B.C. // Illustrations: 1. Cypriote terracotta figurines from the Samian Heraion. 6th century B.C., 2. Cypriote limestone idols from the Samian Heraion. 6th century B.C. // CONTENTS: Vassos Karageorghis, 'Cyprus and the Eastern Aegean: an introduction' [15-22] James Muhly, 'The origin of the name 'Ionian'' [23-30] Ourania Kouka, 'Cross-cultural links and elite-identities: the Eastern Aegean/Western Anatolia and Cyprus from the early third millennium through the early second millennium BC' [31-47] Toula Marketou, 'Rhodes and Cyprus in the Bronze Age: old and new evidence of contacts and interactions' [48-58] Penelope A. Mountjoy, 'Cyprus and the East Aegean: LH IIIC pottery connections' [59-71] Reinhard Jung, 'Pirates of the Aegean: Italy - the East Aegean - Cyprus at the end of the second millennium BC' [72-93] Nikolaos Stampolidis, 'Can Crete be excluded? Direct or indirect contacts among Cyprus, the East Aegean and Crete during the Geometric - Archaic periods' [94-102] Eleni Farmakidou, 'How far can pots go? Conceptualising pottery production and exchange in Geometric Rhodes' [103-113] Georgios Bourogiannis, 'Eastern influence on Rhodian Geometric pottery: foreign elements and local receptiveness' [114-130] Sabine Fourrier, 'East Greek and Cypriote ceramics of the Archaic period' [131-138] Helmut Kyrieleis, 'Intercultural commerce and diplomacy: Near Eastern, Egyptian and Cypriot artefacts from the Heraion of Samos' [139-143] Jacqueline Karageorghis, 'Moulds, production and circulation of terracottas of Cypriote style in Cyprus and the Eastern Aegean during the Archaic period' [144-170] Panagiota Marantidou, 'The standing draped female figure in the Archaic art of Cyprus and the Eastern Aegean: a comparative study' [171-188] Maria Viglaki-Sofianou & Panagiota Marantidou, 'The Cypriote collection in the Archaeological Museum of Samos: a new exhibition' [189-192] Vassilis Kilikoglou, Vassos Karageorghis, Nota Kourou, Panagiota Marantidou & Michael. D. Glascock, 'Cypriote and Cypriote-type terracotta figurines in the Aegean: chemical characterisation and provenance investigation' [193-205] Jan-Marc Henke, 'Cypriote terracottas from Miletus' [206-217] Reinhard Senff, 'Beasts, heroes and worshippers: Cypriote limestone statuettes from the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Miletus' [218-228] Numan Tuna, Nadite Atici, Üftade Mușkara & Ilham Sakarya, 'Some remarks on the limestone figurines recently found at the Archaic sanctuary of Apollo in the territory of Knidos' [229-243] Antoine Hermary, 'Ionian styles in Cypriote sculpture of the sixth century BC' [244-251] Ursula Höckmann, 'Male figures bearing sacrificial animals from Cyprus, the Aegean and Naukratis' [252-262].