A Short History of Cyprus Name 1
We re going on a HISTORY TOUR around the island of Cyprus We will learn about the History of Cyprus and much more... OUR JOB: To spot ancient and modern sites so that we can learn about the History of Cyprus. 2
What will you need? Pack your bag. FIRST STOP: OUR SCHOOL If you stand in the middle of our school playground you will see two mountain ranges. Can you name the mountain ranges of Cyprus? 1. 2. IN THE BEGINNING LONG TIME AGO... DID YOU KNOW? Many years ago, in fact millions of years ago, before there were any humans on this earth the island of Cyprus was at the bottom of the Mediterranean sea. Over the years the sea floor rose out the water and the first parts of Cyprus started to appear. The parts that rose out first were the two mountain ranges that you can see. Way back then Cyprus was very green and it was covered in forests. It had rivers and streams. The first animals in Cyprus were pygmy hippopotamuses and elephants, shrews and mice. 3
Did you know that there were pigmy hippopotamuses in Cyprus? Pygmy means small. How do you think the hippopotamuses got here? 4
Exercise 1 WORD BANK: Pentadaktylos and Troodos mountain ranges, shrews and mice, forests, pigmy hippopotamuses, elephants, Mesaoria Plain, millions, years, Mediterranean Sea. 1) Cyprus was at the bottom of the sea. It rose out of the water of ago. 2) The first parts of Cyprus to appear when Cyprus started to rise out of the water were and. 3) In between the two mountain ranges of Cyprus there is flat land. It is called the M p. 4) In the olden days Cyprus was covered in lush and green. 5) The first animals in Cyprus were, and. GREEN, GREEN CYPRUS Draw the lush green forests of Cyprus. 5
SECOND STOP: KHIROKITIA ANCIENT SITE Let's continue on our journey... Now we will take the highway from Nicosia to Limassol. We will stop halfway between these two cities. There we will find the ancient settlement of Khirokitia. People started living in Khirokitia in 6000 BC. (BC stands for Before Christ) Look at the aerial photograph below. The ruins of the Khirokitia ancient settlement were covered by layers and layers of soil. These ancient houses were dug up or unearthed by archeologists. Would you like to be an archeologist? Archeologists found a fascinating settlement of probably the first civilization on this island. The most fascinating fact about these houses is that they were actually round. Is your house round? I didn t think so! 6
About 300 people lived in the ancient site in flat roofed houses built of stone and other materials which they collected from the river nearby and the hills. The houses were built in groups around an open courtyard. This settlement was built near a river that used to flow in winter and in summer. Nowadays, rivers in Cyprus are always dry during the summer months. They used to catch fish in the river and also hunt in the luscious forest nearby that is also not there. The lives and homes of the ancient Cypriots were very different to ours. Compare and contrast your house to the houses in Khirokitia. House in Khirokitia 1. 2. 3. Your house 1. 2. 3. Drawing/photo of a Khirokitia house Drawing/photo of your house 7
WEAPONS AND TOOLS The villagers needed many tools and weapons for their daily lives. They needed bows and arrows to hunt, skewers to put the meat on to cook, axes to cut the trees, sickles to harvest the wheat, stones to grind the wheat and other weapons for catching fish. It wasn t easy to make all of these weapons and tools. They used stone, bones, wood and clay or mud to make them. Here are some Stone Age weapons. Colour them either black,grey or brown. 8
DAILY LIFE (Fill in) WORD BANK: fishing, weapons, hunters, farmers, jewellery, stone, goats, pots, boars, deer, goats, gatherers, vegetables, fruit, bread, fire, sheep, tools, pigs. The Stone age Cypriots were h and g. They used s to make w, tools, j and p. The men from the village went to the nearby forests and hunted wild g, d and wild b. They also went f in the river nearby. The villagers also grew their own food. The women picked v and f. The men and women planted wheat seeds and harvested it to make b.they also kept s, p and g so that they could have milk,eat meat, and use their hides(skin) for making clothes. They used to make a to cook their food. [H] COMPARE AND CONTRAST What did a family in Khirokitia need to do to have something to eat? What does your family have to do to make sure you have food on the table? Which animals were used for food? What animals do you eat? 9
ARTS AND CRAFTS The Stone age Cypriots also made jewellery. Small stones and shells were used for necklaces and bracelets. Some of their pots had fancy designs. It seems people have always enjoyed arts and crafts because the villagers made figurines by carving the stone. You can see many of these at the Archaeological Museum in Nicosia. Figurine made of stone Make your own copy of this stone sculpture. JOBS The people in Khirokitia were hunters, gatherers and farmers. While the men were away hunting the women were in charge of the house. They prepared the food made the bread sewed clothes using animals skins They used tree bark for thread The needles were made of bone made pots brought up the children and looked after the animals. Jobs in Khirokitia Jobs today 10
BURIAL OF THE DEAD One of the most fascinating facts about the Khirokitia stone age Cypriots is that they buried the dead under the floors of the house. They also placed other objects like pots and jewellery. A large stone was placed over the dead body and it was covered with soil. You can see the actual skeletons that were unearthed by archeologists at the Archeological museum in Nicosia. 1)What do you see in this picture? 2) Where did the people of Khirokitia bury their dead? 3) Why do you think they did this? 11
KHIROKITIA REVIEW Circle the correct answer or answers. 1. What shape are the houses in Khirokitia? a. Square b. Round c. rectangular 2. Where was Khirokitia built? a. On flat land (a plain) b. On a hill c. Near the river 3. What was used to build the Khirokitia houses? a. Bricks b. Metal c. Stone 4. The roof of the houses was: a. Flat b. Rounded c. Pointed 5. The roof of the houses was made using: a. Branches and clay b. Stones c. Tiles 6. How many rooms made up each house? a. Three b. Five c. One 7. What were the seats made of in the house? a. Stone b. Wood c. Bricks 8. The ancient villagers of Khirokitia used stone to make: a. Pots b. Weapons c. Fireplaces 12
THE ANCIENT VILLAGE ON THE HILL Here is an aerial view of the ancient settlement of Khirokitia. 1. Colour the road that runs through the middle of the village red. 2. Colour the round houses on either side of the road brown. Why do you think the houses were built close together? 1) 2) 13
RELIGION In the ancient times all people believed and worshipped various gods. The people of ancient Khirokitia made stone representations of their gods. You can see these at the Cyprus Archeological museum in Nicosia. OTHER STONE AGE SETTLEMENTS Who were the settlers of Khirokitia? Where did they come from? Some say they came from other parts of Cyprus, others say that they came from the neighbouring countries of Cyprus but nobody can say for sure. Khirokitia was not the only stone age settlement in Cyprus. Settlements were found in 1) Khirokitia 2) Sotera 3) Petra tou Limniti 4) Kythrea and 5) Kalavasos. Write the names on this map. 4 3 2 5 1 14
A comic about the Stone Age (Neolithic Age). 15
THIRD STOP - COPPER MINES This is copper. Have you ever seen a copper object? We will continue our HISTORY TOUR to visit the copper mines of Cyprus. Some are still working today. Let's go to Tamassos. It's not very far from our school. Find it on the map. COPPER ISLAND 2500 BC When copper was discovered in Cyprus in 2500 BC it became rich and famous. 16
Copper was taken from copper mines. These copper mines were in Polis Chrysochous, in Karavostasi, Skouriotissa and in Tamasos (today this village is called Politiko). Look on the map of Cyprus to see where these places can be found. The mine at Skouriotissa is still active to this day. Hard work Many people worked in the mines and it was hard work. Copper couldn t be used in the form it was found. Copper had to be melted and poured into special containers. They had to make a very strong fire to melt the copper. This meant that they cut all the trees in the area around the mines. Activity Complete the following words. 1. An ancient copper mine that can still be found today. S a 2. A person who works at a mine. M _ r 3. Today this village is called Politiko. T _ s 4. This metal made Cyprus famous. C r 17
COPPER AND BRONZE TOOLS Copper can be found by digging in the ground in copper mines. At first copper tools were used but they kept on rusting and they weren t very sturdy. It was discovered that if copper was combined with another metal it makes BRONZE. Bronze was much stronger. Stone tools were replaced by copper and bronze tools. Draw some copper and bronze tools. Colour them brown just like the colour of copper. 18
WEALTH and THE GODS LARGER HOUSES Cypriots started to build larger houses with many rooms unlike the one house rooms in Khirokitia. GODS They even made little statues like the one in the picture to honour the gods. TRAVELLING Cypriots made boats out of wood and travelled to neighbouring countries to trade copper. They traded copper for precious stones and food. Remains of a Greek trade ship. These remains were found off the coast of Kyrenia and can be seen at the Kyrenia museum. 403 clay pots were found with the ship and even some ancient almonds!! 19
THE CYPRIOT LANGUAGE Cypriots even had their own written language during the Bronze age. This language is in syllables. The Cypriot syllabary or Cypro-Minoan writing is thought to have developed from a script used in Crete, though its exact origins are not known. It was used from about 800 to 200 BC. Notable Features - Normally written from right to left in horizontal lines. Word breaks were not indicated. Alphabet Write your name in the Cypriot language. 20
FOURTH STOP - The City Kingdoms The Mycenaean Civilization The great ancient Mycenaean civilization (people) had their base on the island of Crete and the capital was in Knossos. The king build a great palace in Knossos. If you go to Crete today you can see this palace that has now been reconstructed. The Mycenaean civilization lasted for 500 years from about 1580 BC to 1100 BC. EXERCISES [A] Fill in. 1) The capital of the Mycanean civilization was in. 2) Here are some Mycanean names. Highlight the names that are used here in Cyprus today. Agamemnonas Atreas Egisthos Eleni Electra Clytemnestra Orestis Pyladis Chrysothemis Menelaos [B] Find a picture of Knossos palace and insert it here. Palace of Knossos 21
The Mycenaeans come to Cyprus The Mycenaean civilization spread to other parts of mainland Greece. They travelled with their boats to the surrounding areas. The Mycenaeans were tradesmen. The bought and sold various goods such as oil, wine, pottery, bronze and copper. First they arrived in Rhodes and then Cyprus. They liked Cyprus and soon discovered the wealth and prosperity the island was enjoying because of the copper mines. So instead of just trading, the Mycenaeans decided to settle in Cyprus. The people of Cyprus and the Mycenaeans became friends and some Cypriots even travelled with the Mycenaeans and learned how to trade. When the Mycenaeans came to Cyprus they brought with them their families and way of life. This included their religion and their language, Greek. The Greek language gradually replaced the local Cypriot language. The Mycenaeans were famous for their decorative pottery. At first this pottery was brought to Cyprus from Greece. Later on Mycenaean potters made this pottery here in Cyprus. Huge Mycenaean kraters (vases used to mix wine and water) can be seen at the Archeological museum in Nicosia. Here is an example in box 1. Find another example and copy/ paste it in box 2. Box 1 Mycenaen krater Box 2 Describe what you can see on the krater in box 1 and box 2. 22
THE TROJAN WAR The Trojan war took place at the same time as the Mycenaens(Achaeans) were trying to conquer various cities so that they could carry on with their trading. The Mycenaean culture spread away from Crete and onto the mainland. The great poet Homer wrote about the importance of the Mycenaen trading. The Trojan war took place at this time. According to Homer the Trojan war took place because Paris the prince of Troy fell in love with the beautiful Queen Helen. Helen was the wife of the Spartan king Menelaos. Together they eloped(ran away). The whole of Greece sent their armies with their leader, king Agamemnon, to have a war with Troy to bring Queen Helen back. Cyprus did not take part in the Trojan war. EXERCISE Use the following words to complete the sentences. Mycenaens, tradesmen, Cyprus museum, pottery, Greek, kraters. 1) Huge vases used by the Mycenaens to store wine were called. 2)The were also known as Achaeans. 3)The Mycanean was beautiful. 4)The Cypriots who travelled with the Mycaneans became. 5)When the Mycaneans/Achaens came to Cyprus the Cypriots started speaking in. 6)You can see some of the Mycanean pottery at the. THE END OF THE TROJAN WAR It has been said that at the end of the Trojan war many war heroes and their wives came to Cyprus to settle. Tefkros founded Salamina, Agapinoras- Paphos, Praxandros- Lapithos, Demophontas - Aipeia, Chytros - Chytrous (Kythrea), Kypheas - Kyrenia, Argos- Kourion. All these cities became kingdoms. Each kingdom had its own king. Write the name of each city on the following map corresponding with the correct number. 1. 13 9 1. Salamina 2. Palepaphos 3. Kourion 23
CITY KINGDOMS Each kingdom had a king who owned a lot of land. The king had a lot of power. He was in charge of the army and took part in wars and battles. It was up to him to decide what is right and what is wrong and he was the judge. When the king died his kingdom passed on to his closest heir, usually his son. The kings in Cyprus were very rich and lived in beautiful palaces. The common people in Cyprus lived poorly. 24
25