Tag: Hellenistic

What Happened at Pyla-Kokkinokremos? Dimitri Nakassis Discusses the Cypriot Mystery

One remarkable tale from ancient history is that of the site of Pyla-Kokkinokremos on the southeast coast of Cyprus. It existedfor only 50 years, at a time of devastation throughout the ancient world.

Trying to make sense of this site is difficult and the story reminds me, in some ways, of the ill-fated 16th century AD English colony of Roanoke in North Carolina.

A few weeks back Professor Dimitri Nakassis, of the University of Toronto, presented the latest research on the site at an event at the Royal Ontario Museum. In the following days Heritage Key did an extensive interview with him and got a few pictures, which Im showing here.

What is Pyla-Kokkinokremos?

It is a short lived town on the southeast coast of Cyprus. It was settled ca. 1250 BC and abandoned ca. 1200 BC. No more than a generation or two would have lived there. The population is estimated to be between 500 and 1,500 people, living in some 200 houses on the site.

The houses are fairly simple modular structures, said Professor Nakassis, one storey tall with a stone foundation and mudbrick superstructure. Archaeologists have recently found the remains of an ancient harbour and believe that Pyla-Kokkinokremos has an extensive trading relationship with the outside world, particularly with Egypt.

The town existed in a time of turmoil throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. Around 1200 BC the Mycenaean Civilization, in Greece and Crete, collapses. A wave of humanity known at the Sea People descends on the Near East. Before long the Egyptian state disintegrates, cities in the Levant are destroyed and a dark age is ushered in where no great empires exist.

Heritage Key reported a few months back that the Sea Peoplemay have founded a kingdom at Tayinat near Syria. So it is in this context of catastrophic events that archaeologists have to examine the site.

Who are these people?

Now, this is where things get interesting. Archaeologists used to believe that this site was settled by a group of Mycenaean refugees (or invaders depending on your perspective). The thinking went that they created and fortified the settlement. It then follows that the Mycenaeans took over the island of Cyprus, bringing with them Greek language and culture.

However, recent work done by the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project (PKAP), which is investigating sites around the modern day village of Pyla, is casting doubt on this idea. Professor Nakassis told the crowd that a survey they conducted at Pyla-Kokkinokremos found that only 8% of the pottery (that can be dated to this time) was Aegean. In fact the team found nearly three times as much Egyptian ware -yet nobody suggests that the Egyptians founded a colony there!

They also found that the so-called fortification wall is really very weak. The defensive aspect of the site is exaggerated, said Nakassis. The wall itself is not imposing in appearance or in reality.

Indeed the picture he showed on the screen showed a pile of stones that looked like they could be toppled over with a kick or two. I asked Nakassis what the purpose of such a weak wall could be. Its hard to say, he said. The wall could have had some role in town planning or could just be a marker showing where the settlement ends. In any case the evidence is pointing to this town being inhabited by native Cypriots, not Mycenaean invaders.

How Does the Site End?

Badly, it seems.

Archaeologists, before the PKAP investigations, found bronze, silver and gold metal hoards on the site. They werent buried for ceremonial reasons.

People realized they are going to have to flee, they couldnt take everything of value with them, said Nakassis. They had time to bury their valuables in the hope, ultimately unrealized, that they could return to retrieve them.

Why they couldnt return is a mystery. Its possible that something bad happened to them (ie they were killed) or that some kind of political change made it impossible for them to go back.

I asked Professor Nakassis whether there wasa battle a last stand or otherwise. He said that he doesnt have enough evidence to prove that but its certainly a possibility.

The sitewas not re-inhabited after this. (Making it hard to tell who the people were fleeing from)

Thissort of abandonment is quite unusual, usually what happens is that houses or settlements are rebuilt, said Nakassis. But that didnt happen with Pyla-Kokkinokremos. People dont go back to it – its not re-occupied.

Changing History

The recent discoveries at this site are forcing archaeologists to rethink the history of Cyprus. Before the PKAP excavations, archaeologists believed that this was a Mycenaean settlement, strongproof ofan invasion. With the evidence suggesting that this is unlikely it forces a big question to be asked if there was no Mycenaean invasion how did the Greeks get to Cyprus?

The answer in short is we dont know.

Nakassis talked about this in his lecture and in the interview. One possibility is that it happened gradually over time. Rather than a sudden invasion, people could have landed peacefully, integrating themselves into society and bringing the Greek language with them.

At Enkomi the sudden, cataclysmic nature of the twelfth-century destructions is indicated by the remains of children who were trapped and killed by falling mudbrick….”

We know thatCyrpus becomes Hellenized in the period after 1000 BC. Long-term the Greek language is a pretty stable element of Cypriot history, said Nakassis. Theres an 11th century BC obeloi found at Palaepaphos-Skales (western part of the island) to a man named Opheltas a name that sounds Greek.

Another questions that arises from this research -if there was no Mycenaean invasion who is responsible for the destruction on the island?

One gruesome event (that Louise Steel documents in the book Cyprus before history) is at the site of Enkomi in north-west Cyprus.

At Enkomi the sudden, cataclysmic nature of the twelfth-century destructions is indicated by the remains of children who were trapped and killed by falling mudbrick (from a building).

So if the Mycenaeans were not invading than somebody else was wrecking havoc on the island. The Sea People is a tempting group to blame, except that Mycenaean refugees are believed to be an element of this group and the evidence is trending againstMycenaeans being involved.

Its a confusing situation and one that will only be rectified by more research. Stay tuned.

Moving in on Madaba’s Iron Age Squatters

As this blog is being written a Canadian team is renewing excavations at the site of Madaba, a modern day Jordanian city that has at least 5,000 years of history behind it.

The city is well known for its Byzantine mosaics including the 6th century AD ‘Madaba Map’, which is considered to be the oldest known map of the holy land.

The Canadian excavations areled by Dr. Debra Foran and Professor Tim Harrison, both of the University of Toronto. Theyhave been taking place, off and on, for more than a decade. The theme of prosperity and collapse runs through the citys history, as it does with many sites in the Middle East.

There are stretches in the archaeological record when Madaba is a prosperous urban polity (for example, during the Byzantine period when its famous map was made), but there are also stretches when it was in decline andeven abandoned (as during the medieval period).

Perhaps no timeframe inthe city’s history illustrates these challenges better thanthat of theIron Age. The Canadianteamis still uncovering and analyzing artefacts from this era. The picture that these finds are painting is a dramatic one.

During the start of a period that archaeologists call Iron Age IIB, about 2,800 years ago, Madaba was a major city, occupying nearly 16 hectares of land.This madeit one of the largest sites in Jordan at the time. It was surrounded by a five metre high wall, which, at its strongest point, was seven meters thick.

When the Canadian team dug down into these layers they found pillared buildings along with pottery. Evidence, they said in a 2007 report, (which) clearly indicate that Madaba had become a substantial urban center.

The bible also hints at Madabas importance, saying that the Israeli King David defeated two ancient groups, the Ammonites and Aramaeans, near the city.

But, this great settlement wasnt the only thing the team found.

The Iron Age town – with its monumental architecture – appears to have been violently destroyed and then subsequently resettled by a small number of people.

In a period called the late Iron IIB, the team found evidence that hints at a tragic end to this ancient settlement. They found badly constructed structures, made of rocks, in such as a shape that some scholars have used the term “squatters” occupation to describe them.

Professor Harrison told me, in an email last autumn, that the Iron Age town, with its monumental architecture… appears to have been violently destroyed and then subsequently resettled by a small number of people.

The team doesnt know who destroyed it or the identity of the people from the squatters occupation. They may have been survivors from the destroyed town, or newcomers altogether. In any event, one of the largest cities in Iron Age Jordan suffered a great fall, one from which it would not recover for hundreds of years.

A story all too common in the ancient, and even modern, Middle East.