Egypt and Cyprus in Antiquity [Hardback]

The international conference "Egypt and Cyprus in Antiquity" held in Nicosia in April 2003 filled an important gap in historical knowledge about Cyprus' relations with its neighbours. While the island's links with the Aegean and the Levant have been well documented and continue to be the subject of much archaeological attention, the exchanges between Cyprus and the Nile Valley are not as well known and have not before been comprehensively reviewed. They range in date from the mid third millennium B.C. to Late Antiquity and encompass every kind of interconnection, including political union. Their novelty lies in the marked differences between the ancient civilisations of Cyprus and Egypt, the distance between them geographically, which could be bridged only by ship, and the unusual ways they influenced each other's material and spiritual cultures. The papers delivered at the conference covered every aspect of the relationship, with special emphasis on the tangible evidence for the movement of goods, people and ideas between the two countries over a 3000 year period.

Part I: Bronze Age
edited by R. S. Merrillees and V. Kassianidou

1. Alas(h)i(y)a (Irs)and Asiya Isy)in Ancient Egyptian Sources (Kenneth A.Kitchen)
2. Peuples, états et cités. Enquête sur la cartographie géopolitique égyptienne (Nicolas Grimal)
3. The Stone Vases of the Philia Culture from Vasilia: Cypriote, Egyptian or Other? (Robert S. Merrillees)
4. A Contribution from Tell el-Dabca/cEzbet Helmi to the Cyprus Connection at the Turn of Middle Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age (Irmgard Hein)
5. Embracing the New: the Perception of Cypriot Pottery in Egypt (Linda Hulin)
6. “May he send me silver in very great quantities” EA 35 (Vasiliki Kassianidou)

Part II: Iron Age edited by V. Kassianidou

7. The Relations between Egypt and Cyprus from Neo-Assyrian to Achaemenid Rule 7th–6th Cent. B.C.) (Andreas Meh)
8. The Relations of Egyptian Iconography and Symbolism with the Royal Ideology of Cypriot City Kingdoms (Pavlos Flourentzos)
9. L’Égypte, Chypre et la route de Péluse àGaza: approche micro-régionale des politiques stratégiques des derniers souverains égyptiens et achéménides 610–332 av. J.-C.) (Claire Balandier)
10. Divinités égyptiennes Chypre à l’époque archaïque (Sabine Fourrier)
11. From Siwa to Cyprus: The Assimilation of Zeus Ammon in the Cypriote Pantheon (Derek B. Counts)
12. Le Baal d’Amathonte et le Bès égyptien (Isabelle Tassignon)
13. Representations of Cypriote Scribes and Carriers of Written Documents: A Link with Egypt? (Frieda Vandenabeele)

Part III: Classical and Later Periods edited by D. Michaelides

14. Un Apollon Chypriote aux Boucles «Libyques» (Antoine Hermary)
15. Fusion and diffusion. Isiac Cults in Ptolemaic and Roman Cyprus (Aristodemos Anastasiades)
16. Ptolemaic Art and the Legitimation of Power (Emilia Dina Vassiliou)
17. Le relations culturelles entre l’Egypte et Chypre: La céramique d’Alexandrie et de Paphos (Pascale Ballet)
18. Modèles alexandrins ? Apport des fouilles et prospections récentess dans la nécropole occidentale d’Alexandrie àla connaissance de l’architecture funéraire hellénistique et impériale (Marie-Dominique Nenna)
19. Twilight of the Ptolemies: Egyptian Presence on Late Hellenistic Yeronisos (Joan Breton Connelly)
20. Sailors and Artisans: the Egyptian Connections of Ceramic Finds from Yeronisos (Jolanta Mlynarczyk)
21. Alexandrian Influences on the Architecture and Decoration of the Hellenistic Tombs of Cyprus (Anne-Marie Guimier-Sorbets and Demetrios Michaelides)
22. Alexandrian Elements in Cypriot Burial Customs of the Hellenistic and Roman Periods (Danielle A. Parks)
23. La contribution des conteneurs commercieux l’histoire des échanges entre Chypre et l’Égypte l’èpoque archaïque l’èpoque romaine tardive (Antigone Marangou and Sylvie Marchand)
24. The Nile Flows Underground to Cyprus: the Painted Water-Cistern at Salamis Reconsidered (Helen Whitehouse)

"The contents will be of particular interest to anyone studying Egypts relations with its near neighbours and of course interested in the history of Cyprus, whose relationship with Egypt has perhaps not been examined in as much detail before.'"
Robert Partridge
Ancient Egypt Magazine vol 10.5 (May 2010)

"The book is well designed and attractively produced.[...]...a valuable contribution to our field.'"
JAEI Editorial Staff
Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, Vol. 2:3 (2010)