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Brief introduction of ancient Cyprus
Cyprus is a big island, located in the eastern Mediterranean, eastern Greece, southern Asia Minor, western Levant and northern Egypt. The name of the island is a controversial issue among historians. There is a theory that a large number of copper deposits on the island are named cuprum because the Latin name of copper is copper (the Latin symbol is copper). Another theory is based on myth: it proposes that the name was given by the island-born goddess Aphrodite (also known as Kiprida).

Cyprus has always been of strategic importance. This is a strategic point that all big countries must have at different times. The island was occupied by Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, rushton and Umayyad caliphs, Lucians, Venetians, Crusaders, British, and finally Ottomans.

Cyprus in the Stone Age

The first appearance of human beings on this island can be traced back to 7000 BC. There are two important Neolithic villages on the island, both close to the modern town of Limassol: Khirokitia and Kalavasos. Khirokitia, with about 3,000 to 4,000 residents, is the first place on the island to create a strong community with houses and social organizations. At the end of the Neolithic Age (about 3900 BC), a group of settlers from Palestine were attracted to the island by copper mines.

From 3900 BC to 2500 BC, Cypriots began to use copper, and the island began to become an economic power in the Mediterranean. During this period, I had a deep interaction with the Egyptians, especially in art and the use of hieroglyphics by many Cypriot kings.

Cyprus in the Bronze Age

The Bronze Age (2500 BC to 65438 BC+0050 BC) was a period of economic growth and foreign occupation in Cyprus. After the end of the war with Troy, the Mycenaean Greeks began to settle permanently on the island because the Dorians invaded Greece (BC 1 100). There are ten coastal Mycenae kingdoms on the island. At that time, Cypriots began to feel more like Greeks and accepted Greece and religion.

The ancient period of Cyprus (750-475 BC) was a problematic period for islanders, because Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians became the rulers of the island one after another. Around 709 BC, Sargon II of Assyria extorted taxes from Cyprus in exchange for the island's independence. By 699 BC, Assyrians were involved in other conflicts and had to leave Cyprus. The Egyptian Pharaoh Amasis adopted the same policy as the Assyrians when he claimed to be the ruler of the island around 560 BC.

Classical Cyprus

Around 546 BC, the Persians completely occupied the island. Persians came to the island in a strange way. When they heard that King Ju Lushi's Persia was moving westward, King Sai sent him a message, surrendering their kingdom to him, and even agreed to provide him with troops to help him conquer Caria. Ju Lushi accepted this proposal. In return, he allowed Cypriots to mint their own coins and have their own leadership, but he also sent troops and settlers to Cyprus to control the island and the eastern Mediterranean.

The Persians stayed on the island until Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire and liberated the island again. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, the island became a part of the Ptolemaic Empire during the Hellenistic period.

After the death of Alexander the Great, Cyprus turned to Ptolemaic rule. Still under the influence of Greece, Cyprus gained the opportunity to fully contact with Greek culture, thus being completely Hellenized.

Roman Cyprus

When the Romans became the biggest power in the Mediterranean, Cyprus became their focus for various reasons. When Marcus Cato took control of the island in 58 BC, it became a province of Rome. Cyprus suffered under Roman rule, with poor management and serious taxes. 115-117 During the Kitos War (also known as the Second Jewish-Roman War), the island also suffered huge losses. Jewish leader Artemian killed many Cypriots (reported as many as 240,000) until he was defeated by the Roman army in 1 17. Subsequently, Rome passed a law prohibiting Jews from entering the island.

Apostles Paul and Varnavas and missionary Marcus came to Cyprus to spread Christianity to Cypriots. Cypriots accepted a new religion, because the Church of Cyprus was founded by apostles, so the Church of Cyprus once owned and still has the right to own its archbishop Autokefalus.

After the Roman Empire was divided into two halves, Cyprus fell under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire). Due to the important position of Cyprus in the empire, the Byzantine emperor attached great importance to Cyprus.

Alas, the status of Cyprus has once again proved to be a curse on the island: * * * people began to invade Cyprus in their strategy of encircling the Byzantine Empire. As early as 648/9, Emil Moabia invaded and destroyed the city of Constantinople (then the capital of Cyprus). The same thing happened in 653,743,806, and finally in 965,438+065,438+0 CE, until Emperor Nikki Foros II reconquered the Byzantine Empire of Cyprus (944-966 CE).