The island of Cyprus, situated at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, has always been a significant crossroads of cultural interchange between East and West. Elements of the history of the island in the sixth and fifth centuries are preserved by ancient historians and other sources including archaeological finds, inscriptions and coins.
It is this last category of evidence, the coins, that is presented on this website.
At the beginning of the fifth century BC Cyprus formed part of the fifth satrapy of the Persian Empire, along with Phoenicia, Syria and Palestine. The satrapy paid an annual tribute of 350 talents to the King of Persia and provided him with naval contingents when required (Herodotus, III, 91). In the middle of the fourth century BC there were nine Cypriote cities, according to the historian Diodorus :
[Pseudo-] Scylax mentions the names of cities in Cyprus in his Periplus :
The kingdoms
Coins have been attributed with certainty to the kingdoms of Salamis, Kition, Amathous, Paphos, Marion, Soloi and Lapethos, while several uncertain issues might have been minted by Kyrenia and Kourion.
The names of other city-kingdoms also appear in the sources, but by the time of Diodorus' citation some of them had been absorbed by others (as Idalion had been by Kition) or even sold to others (as Tamassos to Kition).
The kingdoms of Cyprus were composed of different ethnic groups, according to our sources, and we find on the coins inscriptions in Cypriot-Syllabic script (the local script), in Phoenician and in Greek.
In the fourth century, after the battle of Issus in 333, the Cypriotes became part of Alexander the Great's possessions. After his death the island formed a battleground between his successors (mainly Antigonus and Ptolemy), each with the support of different kingdoms.
Ptolemy finally conquered the island in 294, having abolished the Cypriote kingdoms between 312 and 310/9.