In the Footsteps of the Phoenicians in Paphos

Chapter 11 In the Footsteps of the Phoenicians in Paphos Jolanta Młynarczyk I am delighted to offer this modest paper in honor of my distinguished friend Michal Artzy, whom I first met at the Zinman Institute excavations of Sha‘ar ha-Amaqim in 1993 and with whom I have the pleasure to work at the Phoeni- cian site of Tel ‘Akko. The part of the research dealing with the Cypro-Classical to Hellenistic period in Paphos has been sponsored by the grant of the Polish National Research Centre (ncn) UMO. 2016/22/M/HS3/00351. The important settlement of Paphos in the southwestern coastal area of Cy- prus “appears to have originated in Middle Cypriot iii/Late Cypriot i as the terminal station of the route that brought copper to the coast from the foot- hills of Troodos” (Iacovou 2013: 285). In terms of the Phoenician connections in Cyprus during the earlier part of the Iron Age, Paphos is still among less known regions; however, the early Phoenician presence in the southwest of Cyprus has been firmly attested by the material culture of the Cypro-Geometric period. In P. Bikai’s opinion, it is even possible that “an early period of Phoenician trade … used western Cyprus as a stopping point” in the expansion toward the west (Bikai 1987: 70). Indeed, the earliest Phoenician pottery found on Cyprus (“Kouklia Horizon,” ca. 1050 to 850[?] bce) comes mostly from Kouklia, which is ancient Paphos, described as Palaepaphos from the Hellenistic period on. A quantity of Phoenician objects made their appearance in the tombs at Palae- paphos-Skales as early as the eleventh century bce (Bikai 1994: 35); an enig- matic graffito on one of the vessels found there contained some Phoenician characters and was dated to the tenth century bce (Lipiński 2004: 45, 69). These direct testimonies to the Phoenician connections, however, disappeared from the archaeological record at Paphos around the mid-eighth century bce, and the Phoenician pottery of the “Kition Horizon” (750[?] to after 700 bce) is altogether absent from the site (Bikai 1987: 69–70). In the era of fully developed Cypriot kingdoms (Iacovou 1994), that is, in the Cypro-Archaic and Cypro-Classical periods (the latter corresponding to the Persian period in the continental Levant), there is no direct evidence of any Phoenician connections. All the names of the Paphian kings we know so far are Greek (e.g., Lipiński 2004: 68–69; Iacovou 2006a: 46, 48; 2006b: 319–321; Młynarczyk 2011: 645–646, n. 4–5). Moreover, it is known that the Paphians allied with Evagoras i, king of Salamis, against Milkyaton, the Phoenician king © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, �� | doi:10.1163/978900443011�_013 <UN> 200 Młynarczyk of Kition, in 391 bce (Lipiński 2004: 94–95). Yet, despite the lack of direct testimonies to the Phoenician presence in Paphos during that period, several fea- tures in the sphere of the Paphian kingship and religion point in the direction of the Phoenician coast, especially Byblos. Most importantly, both areas shared the concept of hereditary kingship intimately linked to the priesthood of the protector deity (“kings and priests”; Maier 1989: 386) on the one hand, and the very nature of the goddess in question on the other (“a goddess of universal power”; Karageorghis 2005: 16). These similarities were doubtlessly rooted in the Late Bronze Age, probably in connection with the much-frequented trading network between Cyprus and the coastal Canaanites. The latter were coming to Cyprus from Ugarit, but also from other harbor towns, Byblos in- cluded, as proved by the account of Wenamun’s trip from Byblos to Cyprus ca. 1075 bce (Bikai 1994: 32–34). Bikai has suggested (1994: 32) that there must have been some connection between the temples dedicated to Aphrodite at Byblos, Ashkelon, and Paphos. This view is most probably based partly on a well-known fifth-century bce mention by Herodotus, who noted that the Phoenician sanctuary of Aphrodite Ourania at Ashkelon had been the model for the “sanctuary (of the goddess) in Cyprus” (Hdt. 1.105.2–3). It is plausible to assume that Herodotus meant the sanctuary in Paphos, which was an important religious center on Cyprus during his time, even if he did not give any specific place name. More importantly, the link between the religious life in Paphos and the Levantine coast is empha- sized in the myths regarding Kinyras, the legendary pre-Greek king of Paphos (Karageorghis 2005: 14–17; Iacovou 2006a: 46, n. 94). As to Kinyras’s place in the tradition of Paphos, seemingly contradictory accounts of Greek authors Theo- pompus (fourth century bce) and Pausanias (second century ce) may reflect an actual historical sequence. According to Theopompus, upon the arrival of the Achaeans at Paphos, Kinyras’s companions (likely with Kinyras himself) moved eastward to Amathus (Aupert 1997; Karageorghis 2005: 17). Then, a monumental temple to the goddess (Aphrodite, according to the interpretatio Graeca) was erected in Paphos by Agapenor the Arcadian (Paus. 8.5), which would have been during the Achaean “colonization.” One has to note, however, that in the first–second centuries ce Tacitus (Hist. 2.3) mentioned a tradition that had attributed the temple foundation to Kinyras himself (Maier 1989: 377; Karageorghis 2005: 14). Indeed, a confirmation of the pre-Greek cultural back- ground of Paphos was evinced, presumably, by “a few elements” of the Eteocy- priot language found there (Aupert 1997: 21–22). The Oriental, specifically Phoenician (Byblite), connections of Kinyras, even if reflected in just scraps of myths preserved in Greek and Latin literary sourc- es, are widely recognized today (Karageorghis 2005: 15–16, 21–25; Ioannou 2015: <UN>.

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