Kition, Larnaca

French Archaeological Mission of Kition (dir. Sabine Fourrier)

Alexandre Rabot

Gravure de la vieille ville de Larnaca par F. Cassas, 1785. Le point de vue est difficile à préciser : le mont Stavrovouni, à l’arrière, est curieusement très proche ; le grand bâtiment pourrait être l’église du Couvent des Franciscains de Terra Santa (refaite au XIXe siècle) ; la mare du premier plan pourrait correspondre aux restes du bassin portuaire de Bamboula (mais il manque la colline artificielle qui le bordait).

Engraving of the old town of Larnaca by F. Cassas, 1785. The viewpoint is difficult to specify: Mount Stavrovouni, at the back, is curiously close; the large building could be the church of the Franciscan Convent of Terra Santa (rebuilt in the 19th century); the pond in the foreground could correspond to the remains of the port basin of Bamboula (but the artificial hill that bordered it is missing).

Sites of Kition

The ancient city of Kition, founded in the last centuries of the Late Bronze Age (13th century BC), is now covered by the modern city of Larnaca. This storymap invites the visitor on a five-step journey through urban history, leading to places where different strata of the site's past can be seen. It also offers online documentary resources to extend and enrich the visit.

I - A great city at the end of the 2nd millennium

Site of Kition-Kathari

Founded in the 13th century B.C., the town of Kition underwent a remarkable development in the following century, which is reflected in several monumental constructions, including a temple and a rampart with a sandstone base and mud brick elevation. The wall, whose course can still be followed on an impressive distance, has profoundly marked the topography of the modern city. The material discovered in the tombs reveals a rich society, open to the Aegean and Levantine worlds.

The ashlar blocks of Temple I at Kition-Kathari bear, on the outer face of the south wall, a series of graffiti representing boats, which bear witness to the city's vocation as a port.

Remains of large blocks of sandstone that supported an upper structure of mud brick. This portion of the wall protects the town to the north.

II - A Cypro-Phoenician Kingdom

Site of Kition-Bamboula

Inhabited without interruption despite the disruptions that marked the end of the 2nd millennium, the town of Kition experienced a new development, due in particular to the settlement of Phoenicians, who, as of the 8th century BC, led to the transformation of Kition’s material culture. Phoenician became the dominant language. The sanctuaries of Kathari, Bamboula and Kamilarga have yielded an abundant material that testifies to the vitality and originality of local craftsmanship. The kings were buried in beautifully constructed tombs and they shared with the other rulers of the island a repertoire of images borrowed from Egypt (in particular the figure of the goddess Hathor).

Hathoric capital of Kition-Bamboula ( Louvre Museum )

The Egyptian goddess Hathor is one of the images of the Great Goddess of Cyprus, protector of the monarchy. She often appears in the form of a figurative capital, a type found in various sanctuaries and palaces on the island (Amathous, Vouni).

This large built chamber tomb (not simply dug into the rock), which was accessed by a dromos (access corridor), is characteristic of the funerary architecture of the Cypriot elite in the Archaic period. Located in the southern part of Scala (the seaside town, as opposed to Larnaca, the old town), it has been transformed into a church crypt dedicated to the Virgin Phaneromeni. In the 19th century, both Christians and Muslims frequented the place.

Among other terracotta figurines, the French excavations of the Kition-Bamboula sanctuary uncovered a series of miniature reproductions of Hathoric steles, dating from the 6th century BC.

Phoenician was the language of the kingdom of Kition. Numerous texts written in the alphabet, incised or painted on ceramic fragments (ostraka) have been discovered. They were often used to record accounts.

This type of handmade figurine, with a stamped face, is characteristic of Phoenician manufacturing techniques. It was adapted at Kition into a local production, particularly well represented among the offerings deposited in the sanctuary of Kition-Kamilarga, excavated by  John Linton Myres  at the end of the 19th century (much of which is now in the British Museum).

III - A powerful maritime kingdom

Sites of Bamboula, Pervolia, Batsalos and the Salines

The Classical period (5th-4th centuries BC) marks the apogee of the kingdom. The Phoenician kings increase their territory (with the conquest of Idalion) and are in possession of a powerful fleet. The French excavations have excavated the building where the warships were pulled out to dry and, in collaboration with a team of geomorphologists, they have restituted the contours of the harbor basin, which is now filled in. The extension of the necropolises and the development of the sanctuaries (several of which are installed on the shores of the salt lake) bear witness to this prosperous period of the city.

The tombs of this necropolis are collective chamber tombs dug into the rock. The funerary material consists mainly of ceramic vases. The combination of simple, undecorated ceramic shapes (commercial amphora, bowls and dishes without handles) is characteristic of the material culture of Kition in the 5th century BC.

Phoenician ostrakon of Kition-Bamboula ( British Museum )

This long Phoenician text, written in ink on a gypsum plaque, was discovered when the British dismantled much of the archaeological site during terracing work in 1879. Probably coming from the royal administration, it records a list of fees and payments made to various people.

Terracotta from the Salines ( British Museum )

Numerous terracotta figurines representing an enthroned woman wearing a high calathos with flowers were discovered in the 19th century near the Salines, on the north shore of the Larnaca salt lake. These representations, which betray the influence of Greek aesthetic models, point to the presence of a suburban sanctuary, particularly popular in the 4th century BC.

Documentation : Database of the  Kition-Pervolia necropolis excavations 

IV - From Antiquity to the first scientific excavations

Site of Kition-Bamboula

The following periods, just as rich, left few visible traces in today's city. Larnaca became, in modern times, a stopover in the Levant, visited by travellers, merchants and pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. One of these travellers, Richard Pococke, copied Phoenician inscriptions so faithfully that they could be deciphered despite the loss of the stones. Many finds and explorations took place before the passage under British administration, which witnessed the destruction of a large part of the site of Bamboula as well as the first scientific excavations. Among the latter, let’s mention the work of Myres in the necropolis of Tourapi and especially the excavations of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition at Bamboula.

Herakles-Milqart statue of Kition-Bamboula (Stockholm,  Medelhavsmuseet )

In 1929, Swedish archaeologists carried out a small but successful excavation at Kition-Bamboula, revealing the existence of a sanctuary, in use from the Geometric until the beginning of the Hellenistic period (9th-3rd centuries BC). In particular, they discovered a bothros (sacred deposit) where Archaic and Classical limestone sculptures had been piously buried. Among the latter, the type of a smiting god dominates, armed with a club and wearing the spoils of a lion (like Herakles), but also mastering a small lion that he holds by the tail. The same type appears on the Phoenician coinage of the kingdom.

Funerary stele inscribed in Phoenician from Kition-Tourapi ( British Museum )

In the 4th century BC, funerary steles were erected in necropolises. Of Oriental type (in the shape of an obelisk) or of Greek type (in the shape of a stylized flower), made of local limestone or imported marble, they bear texts written in the Phoenician alphabet that recall the name of the deceased and his genealogy, sometimes his title or profession. The necropolis of Tourapi was excavated by Myres on behalf of the  Cyprus Exploration Fund  in 1894.

V - Today

Site of Terra Umbra

Excavations continue today in the city of Larnaca, carried out by the Department of Antiquities (planned excavations on the Terra Umbra site, rescue excavations at various points in the city) and the French mission (excavations at Bamboula and on the city wall). In addition, the enhancement of the city's rich past continues: the renovation of the museum will make the most recent discoveries available to the public, in particular the exceptional sarcophagi unearthed by the Department of Antiquities in a tomb discovered in the Sotiros city-quarter; the masterplan launched at Bamboula will eventually lead to the opening of the site to the public.

Excavations by the French mission in the northern part of the Bamboula site (2016-2018) revealed the existence of several circular wells, dug into the rock and dating from the 13th-12th centuries B.C. They prove the existence of an ancient phase of occupation at the site (at the time of the foundation of the city). Their rich filling (including many animal bones) provides information on the consumption practices of the inhabitants at the end of the Late Bronze Age.

 Ivory artefact  from Kition-Bamboula

This curious object made of ivory (or bone?), discovered during recent excavations on the site of Bamboula, dates from the 13th century BC. Its function is undetermined (box?). It is part of a series of luxury objects, of a sophisticated 'international' style, which were circulating in the Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the 2nd millennium.

Bibliography :  Sabine Fourrier , "Fouilles à Kition-Bamboula ( 2016 ,  2017 ,  2018 )",  Chroniques des fouilles, BCH 

 Mission archéologique française de Kition  -  Department of Antiquities of Cyprus  -  Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires Etrangères  -  HiSoMA UMR 5189  -  MOM