A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 2 Volume Set. Группа авторов. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

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of the city in the Classical period (Hadjicosti 1997: pp. 57–60; Hadjicosti 2017; Amadasi Guzzo 2017). For other cities of Cyprus, which certainly had a royal palace – Kition, Kourion, and Salamis – no concrete evidence exists: in what concerns Salamis, it is only possible to cite a double‐bull‐protome capital of Achaemenid inspiration, discovered out of context in 1890, and possibly Hellenistic (Roux 1980; Petit 1991: pp. 173–174; Zournatzi 2008: p. 241 and note 10, with further references).

      Nothing in the archeological material, except the architectural evidence shortly mentioned (whose interpretation is not always obvious), allows presuming a permanent Persian presence in Cyprus: should we believe Diod. 11. 44. 2 and 12. 4. 1, Persian garrisons in the island were short‐living, and probably left no real monumental traces. The few Persian objects found on the island – some darics, seals, and metal bowls (Petit 1991: pp. 171 with references; Zournatzi 2008) – can be interpreted as signs of the (limited) circulation of Persian luxury objects in the island, probably through diplomatic or official channels.

      Even without any official, permanent military or administrative center, the Persians certainly had many occasional contacts, for fiscal, military, or diplomatic reasons, with the Cypriot kings. The lack of an actual Achaemenid center within the island did not prevent Achaemenid civilization and material culture from entering and spreading throughout Cyprus, and influencing the cultural tastes of the local aristocracies, eager to emulate foreign elites' habits. This phenomenon, frequently documented in the whole Mediterranean basin throughout antiquity, is attested in Cyprus even before the Persian period, and it is largely independent from the incidental political situation (the Achaemenid domination over the island), but it is the result of a wide and deep circulation of luxury items, values, and ideologies between elites. Hence, connecting Persian influences on Cypriot arts to the Achaemenid control of the island is misleading, and contributes to hide other channels, such as Phoenician or Ionian art, which are, in the case of Cyprus, of the greatest relevance.

      Cypriot elites, the purchasers of the great statues that populated the urban and extra‐urban sanctuaries of the island, wished to be represented with royal or noble attributes which were normally taken from the Egyptian and Persian repertoire (Satraki 2013): the Egyptian double‐crown with uraeus of a limestone head from the Persian siege ramp of Palaepaphos (now in the Liverpool Museum, KA730) is a mark of kingship (Maier 1989b), as is the mitra, which A. Hermary has identified on a limestone head of the Louvre museum (AM 2835; Hermary 1989b: p. 223), but which is often represented even on smaller terracotta figurines (Hermary 1989a: pp. 180–181; Cannavò 2010: p. 63 note 71 with references; Satraki 2013: p. 132). The mixed, hybridized character of these figures, putting together Persian, Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek elements, is particularly evident, and they have been described as an “écho hellénisé de l’image du Grand Roi ou de hauts personnages de l’empire achéménide” (Hermary 1989a: p. 181).

Photo depicts the obverse of a gold stater of king Pnytagoras of Salamis.

      Source: Reproduced by permission of Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation.

Photo depicts silver obol of king Euagoras II of Salamis.

      Source: Reproduced by permission of Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation.

      Nevertheless, the lack of any sculptural representation of figures adorned with such jewels – omega‐shaped bracelets and torques (the torque on the limestone statuette described in Zournatzi 1989 is uncertain) – suggests the greatest caution in what concerns the actual diffusion of such luxury objects in Cyprus. The unique representation of a torque on Salaminian numismatic issues could indeed suggest that this was actually considered, on such an occasion, as a kind of status symbol, denoting the legitimacy of the royal power. The possible identification of the Salaminian king represented on the most ancient issues with Evagoras II acting as a “satrap,” better as a military officer of Artaxerxes in 351, is tempting: with coins representing him on the right side as a satrap, and on the left side as a truly Cypriot king, whose authority is granted by the Achaemenid torque, Evagoras II expressed his will to regain Salamis as its legitimate ruler (Markou 2006: pp. 143–146).

      The Persian impact on the political and economic