Lapithos (Kingdom)
Coordinates: 35 ° 21 ′ 21 ″ N , 33 ° 11 ′ 44 ″ E
Lapithos , ancient Greek Λάπηθος , was an Iron Age city kingdom on the north coast of Cyprus , in what is now the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus .
history
Assyrian inscriptions from the time of Assurhaddon name Lapithos as one of the eleven kingdoms of the island (Ia ') in the province of "Iadnan (n) a" (Cyprus), while it is not yet mentioned on the Kition stele .
Phoenicians settled here in Persian times . An inscription from the 4th century names a temple in Lapithos for gods from Byblos . Pseudo-Skylax sees Lapithos as a Phoenician foundation.
The last king of Lapithos, Praxippos , was born in 312 BC. Subdued by Ptolemy I of Egypt .
According to Strabo , however, Lapithos was founded by settlers from Sparta (Geographika 14, 682). An altar for Tiberius was erected here in 29 AD .
List of the kings of Lapethus
The following rulers are documented from Diodorus and from coin finds, their sequence was reconstructed based on stylistic considerations:
- Demonikos I.
- Sidqimilk, up to 499/8 (?)
- Andr ...
- Demonikos II
- .... ippos?
- Berekšemeš
- ....?
- Praxippos, 312 BC Chr. By Ptolemy I sold
History of the excavations
In 1931, Bert Hodge Hill carried out excavations for the University of Pennsylvania in a cemetery in the town of Lapithos .
literature
- CD Cobham: Excerpta Cypria: materials for a history of Cyprus (Cambridge 1908). Useful collection of written sources on Cypriot history.
- Thomas W. Davis, A History of American Archeology on Cyprus. The Biblical Archaeologist 52/4, 1989, 163-169.
- M. Fortin: Fondations de villes Grecques à Chypre: legendes et decouvertes archaeologiques. In: J.-B. Caron / M. Fortin / G. Maloney (ed.), Melanges d'etudes anciennes offertes à Maurice Lebel , Quebec, Editions du Sphinx 1980
- E. Gjerstad: The colonization of Cyprus in Greek legend. Opuscula Archaeologia 3, 1944, 107-123.
- D. Hunt: Footprints in Cyprus. London, Trigraph 1990
- DW Rupp: The seven kings in the land of Ia ', a district of Ia-ad-na-na: Achaean bluebloods, Cypriot parvenues or both? in: KJ Hortswick / M. Sturgeon / C. Stefanos (ed.), Studies in honor of Brunhilde Sismondo , University Museum Monograph 100 ( University of Pennsylvania , University Museum of archeology and anthropology, 1998) 209–222.
- L. Steel: The establishment of the city kingdoms in Iron Age Cyprus: an archaeological commentary. Report of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus 1993, 147-156.
Web links
- Visit report of the ancient sites of Lambousa (German), with a sketch of the location of the city castle
