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products and materials, which eventually gave
them access to the international ‘elite club’ of the
late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean.
REFERENCES: Åström & Åström 1972, 549-
556, 608-615; Courtois et al. 1986, 127-138.
Hittite figurine – silver, 6.2 cm high from the
late Bronze Age (1400-1200 BC)
Excavated in Kalavasos-Ayios Dimitrios and ex-
hibited at the Cyprus Museum, this silver figurine
shows a male figure in typical Hittite dress – a
tall pointed headdress with relief horns, shirt, kilt,
boots, and with a curved crook hanging at his right
side – standing on the back of a hoofed animal
which has horns or antlers. He is probably a Hit-
tite god of the open country, who is often shown
standing on the back of a deer. The male and the
animal were cast in the ‘lost wax’ technique, and
the whole piece was made in several parts and sol-
dered together. There is a loop for suspension on
the back, thus the figurine could either stand on its
flat base or be hung round someone’s neck. This
is an example of a type of small Hittite figurines
of various gods, made of precious metals or semi-
precious stones, which may be miniature versions
of larger statues of deities. According to historical
sources, the Hittites claimed to have ruled
Alashi-
ya
(Cyprus) for a time, but there is very little evi-
dence of their presence on the island: this is one
of very few significant Hittite finds. Such a small,
precious object could have been passed from one
owner to another as a prestige gift; it is remark-
able that it was found in a child’s tomb.
REFERENCES: Akurgal 1962; Van Loon 1985,
22, 29-34; Osten-Sacken 1988
.
Aryballos – faience, 7.1 cm tall and 6.3 cm in
diameter from 569-525 BC
Property of the Cyprus Museum, this small oil ves-
sel bears the cartouche of the Egyptian Pharaoh
Amasis. This and other aryballoi were made of
Egyptian faience, but the shape is typically Greek,
copying Corinthian ceramic aryballoi, examples of
which have been found across the Mediterranean,
in Cyprus as well as in Egypt. Diodorus Siculus
wrote, “Amasis subdued the cities of Cyprus and
adorned many sanctuaries with noteworthy votive
offerings”. Given this history, it is especially ap-
propriate that on either side of the cartouche of this
vessel is a seated griffin, symbolic of the victori-
ous king, topped by a sun disc. Its discovery in a
necropolis in the eastern part of Polis Chrysochous,
the location of the city-kingdom of Marion, indi-
cates that its final use was not in a sanctuary.
Nevertheless, excavation of the sanctuaries of this
ancient city did uncover several small imported
Egyptian faience amulets and vessels as well as
a nearly three-metre tall Cypriot terracotta sculp-
ture of a man in Egyptian dress, with an Egyptian
wig and beard. These reveal some of the diverse
votive dedications at ancient Marion, a city long
thought to have had mainly Greek contacts.
REFERENCES: Dikaios 1946, 7, pl. I.d; Webb
1978; Serwint 2009; Childs 2012.
Hittite figurine