CYPRUS MUSEUM

Founded in 1882, the island's largest museum (Κυπριακό Μουσείο/Kypriako Mousio, Cyprus Museum) houses a rich archaeological collection: 6,500 precious objects unearthed in Cyprus since the ^19th century. Housed since 1924 in a single-storey British colonial building, the museum's meticulous presentation makes for a pleasant visit (allow 2 hours) and it has an interesting store (reproductions, books, decorative objects...). Around 2027, the museum will move to a futuristic new 40,000^m2 building currently under construction slightly to the west. In the meantime, it is likely to be closed to the public for a year and a half.

Cruciform figurines - room no. 1. On display here are Neolithic artefacts from the pre-ceramic and ceramic periods up to the end of the Chalcolithic (9000-2500 BC): tools, flints, two-tone pottery. The most important pieces are the cruciform human figurines in picrolite (soft stone), widespread in the^4th millennium BC, typical of the Chalcolithic culture of Cyprus. Of particular note is this female statuette from the Kissonerga site (Paphos), with its fine detailing and pendant. In the same showcase are two Cypriot Neolithic "stars" from the Paphos area: the "Lempa Lady" (^3rd millennium BC) and the Kissonerga Lady, depicting a woman in childbirth. These statuettes are the oldest evidence of a religious practice on the island, probably linked to a fertility cult.

Ceramics - rooms n^os 2 and 3. Room 2 features ceramics from the Neolithic period (5000-3900 BC): vessels, a large ladle, decorative and votive objects. In the central showcase, note the figures gathered in a circular room with a long-necked figurine and sacrificial animals. Room 3 follows the technical evolution of ceramics from the Middle Bronze Age (1500-1100 BC) to the Roman period (from 58 BC), with influences and imports from Mycenae, Phoenicia and Attica. In the middle of the room, a fine crater (850-750 BC), used to prepare wine, is decorated with a group of dancers and musicians.

Figurines from Agia Irini - room no. 4, with video in English. Hundreds of human, animal and mythological statuettes of all sizes (from a few centimetres to over 1 m high), in clay, are arranged in an arc. Dating from the ^7th and ^6th centuries BC, they were found in this form on the site of the Agia Irini sanctuary (Güzelyurt/Morphou region) in 1929 by Swedish archaeologists. These were offerings and around 2,000 were found, half of which are on display in Stockholm.

Sculptures - room 5. Statues from the Cypro-archaic period (^8th-5th centuries BC) to the Roman period. With no marble quarries in Cyprus, marble statues were rare and imported (only two examples are shown). Limestone and terracotta were mainly used to represent human figures: divinities (Aphrodite in particular), mythological heroes, kouroi (young men), korés (young women), athletes, satyrs, etc. Strong Egyptian and then Greek influences can be seen, particularly in the fine-featured faces. Note the ^6th century B.C. fashion for clothing: the kouroi, whose right arm ("in a sling") remains concealed beneath the fabric. Finally, the limestone group of two sphinxes and three lions (^6th century BC) is quite unique. It was discovered in 1997 on the site of Tamassos, south-west of Nicosia.

Statues from the Roman period - room 6. These are mainly marble statues (imported) and bronze statues (the island's main source of wealth). The space is dominated by a colossal bronze statue of the emperor Septimius Severus (119-211) discovered in 1928 on the site of the ancient city of Chytri, at Değirmenlik/Kythrea, in the northern zone. Note also the statues of Egyptian divinities from the temples of ancient Soli, near Morphou/Güzelyurt.

Bronze objects, coins and jewelry - room 7. The room is divided into three sections. The first features bronze objects from different periods: agricultural tools, weapons, helmets, seals used for trade (small cylinders the size of cigarette filters) and ritual objects, such as this ^12th-century BC statue of a horned deity from Engomi (a suburb of Nicosia) depicted on a copper ingot in the shape of an "ox skin". The second section (center) houses a complete numismatic collection, with examples of coins minted by the twelve city-states, as well as tetradrachms from the Ptolemaic period, discovered in 1978 beneath the mosaics of the Dionysus villa on the Nea Paphos site. The third section contains gold jewelry, silver vessels, glass and ivory objects and lamps dating from the Bronze Age to the early Christian era.

Funerary art - rooms n^os 8-11, in the north wing of the museum. Room 8 features reconstructed tombs showing the evolution of funerary rites from the ^4th millennium to the ^4th century BC. Room 9 houses a collection of stelae and sarcophagi dating from the ^6th century BC to the ^2nd century AD. Of particular note are the stele with the two lions and the one depicting a warrior holding his shield in his left hand. Room 10 also contains funerary stelae. They show the evolution of Cypriot writing from the Cypriot syllabary, used from the ^11th to the ^4th century BC, then abandoned in favor of the Greek alphabet at the instigation of King Evagoras of Salamis. In the same room, only one non-funerary object is on display, a unique piece from Cyprus dating from the ^1st century AD: the horoscopes of two people engraved on the same limestone tablet, one referring to the Roman calendar, the other to the Jewish and Egyptian calendars.

Metallurgy - room 12 (north wing). This room focuses on copper mining, which played a central role in the Cypriot economy throughout antiquity. The island's name (Κύπρος/Kypros in Greek) may in fact derive from the word kuprous, which, in the language spoken here in the Iron Age (Summerochypriot), meant "copper". On display are a reconstruction of a mine and the various stages of copper working, several bronze (copper alloy) objects, such as the talent (39 kg), the main unit of measurement for trade, as well as molds (used to make arrows), tools and other objects.

Temporary exhibition - to the left of room 12 (north wing).

Salamis of Cyprus - rooms n^os 11 (north wing) and 13 (following the direction of the visit from room no. 7). Two rooms are devoted to the site of the ancient city near Famagusta. Room 12 contains objects discovered in the tombs of the kings of Salamis: a wooden bed and throne covered in ivory, beautiful clay faces (probably representing the members of the Nicocreon dynasty of Salamis), a unique bronze cauldron with griffin and sphinx busts on its rim, etc. Room 13 houses the remains of the kings of Salamis. Room 13 houses imported marble statues that decorated the Salamis gymnasium in the ^2nd century AD, including a magnificent statue of Apollo Kitharodos ("playing the lyre").

Plank figurines - room 14. The last room is devoted to typical Cypriot figurines, found from the Copper Age (2100 BC) to the Roman period. Generally made of terracotta, they are characterized by their simplistic appearance and their board or planchette shape topped by a flat head. They are representations of a fertility divinity, invoked in particular during childbirth. The room houses other terracotta creations from different periods, including masks and figurines of ancient theater actors.