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Amathus or Amathous () was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about east of Limassol and west of Larnaca. Its ancient cult sanctuary of Aphrodite was the second most important in Cyprus, her homeland, after Paphos.Walter Burkert, Greek Religion 1985, p. 153; John Karageorghis, La grande déesse de Chypre et son culte, 1977.
Archaeological work has recently been continued at the site and many finds are exhibited in the Limassol Museum.
It was said in antiquity that the people of Amathus were autochthonous, most likely Eteocyprian or "Pelasgian". Their non-Greek language is confirmed on the site by Eteocypriot inscriptions in the Cypriot syllabary which alone in the Aegean world survived the Bronze Age collapse and continued to be used down to the 4th century BC.Baurain, C. 1984. Réflexions sur les origines d’Amathonte d’après les sources littéraires, in P. Aupert and M.- C. Hellmann (eds) Amathonte I. Testimonia 1. Auteurs ancients, Monnayage, Voyageurs, Fouilles, Origines, Géographie: 109–117. Paris: École Française d’Athènes/Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations.
Amathus was built on the coastal cliffs with a natural harbour and flourished at an early date, soon requiring several cemeteries. Greeks from Euboea left their pottery at Amathus from the 10th century BC. During the post-Phoenician era of the 8th century BC, a palace was erected and a port was also constructed, which served the trade with the Greeks and the . A special burial ground for infants, a tophetAgelarakis A., Kanta A., and N. Ch. Stampolidis, “The Osseous Record in the Western Necropolis of Amathous: an Archaeo-Anthropological Investigation”, Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete 16th-6th c. B.C., Proceedings of the International Symposium: The Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete 16th-6th c. B.C., Rethymnon, Crete, 1998: 217-232Agelarakis A., “The Amathous (tophet) cremations in Cyprus”, In D. Christou on “Human Cremations at the Western Necropolis of Amathous”
The earliest remains hitherto found on the site are tombs of the early Iron Age period of Graeco- influences (1000-600 BC). Amathus is sometimes identifiedFor example by E. Oberhummer, Die Insel Cypern, i., 1902, pp. 13-14. with Qartiḫadasti (Phoenician "New-Town") in the Cypriote tribute-list of Esarhaddon of Assyria (668 BC) and some Phoenician inscriptions from the island, although others identify this Qartiḫadasti with Kition or a part of it. It certainly maintained strong sympathies, for it was its refusal to join the philhellene league of Onesilus of Salamis which provoked the revolt of Cyprus from Achaemenid Persia in 500-494 BC,Herodotus, v. 105 when Amathus was besieged unsuccessfully and avenged itself by the capture and execution of Onesilos. Herodotus reports
Amathus was a rich and densely populated kingdom with a flourishing agriculture (grainStrabo 340, quoting the mid-6th century writer Hipponax. and sheep) and copper mines situated very close to the northeast Kalavasos.See Ovid, Metamorphoses x. 220, 227. 531.G. Mariti, i. 187; L. Ross, Inselreise, iv. 195; W. H. Engel, Kypros, i. 111 ff.
From the 4th century BC the pedestals of two sculptures donated by the last Basileus of Amathous, Androkles, representing his two sons, Orestheus and Andragoras, have survived. Their inscriptions are in both Eteocyprian and Greek languages.
The decline of Amathus is often measured by the Ptolemaic gifts to Argos, where Amathus donated only 40 drachmas in 170-160 BC, but Kition and Salamis gave 208, Kourion 172, and Paphos 100. However, this figure contradicts the archaeologic evidence of new buildings in this period including a balneion, a bath, a gymnasium, as well as fortifications of the Acropolis, including a new tower. The port of Paphos appears to have lost traffic compared to Amathus in the Ptolemaic period, an indication that Paphos, as the capital of the island, perhaps offered fewer drachmas than the other cities for different reasons, like Amathus.Giorgos Papantoniou: Religion and Social Transformations in Cyprus. From the Cypriot Basileis to the Hellenistic Strategos, Brill, 2012, S. 221.
A Roman temple was built in the 1st century AD on top of the Hellenistic predecessor. The temple facilities remained so important in Roman times that 'Amathusia' was used as a synonym for 'Cypriot'.
Today, Amathus is a see of the Church of Cyprus and is also listed (under the name "Amathus in Cypro", to distinguish it from "Amathus in Transjordan") as a titular see by the Catholic Church, which however, in line with the practice adopted after the Second Vatican Council, has made no appointments to the bishopric since the death of the last Latin Church titular bishop in 1984. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 830
Anastasius Sinaita, the famous 7th-century prolific monk of Saint Catherine's Monastery, was born here. It is thought that he left Cyprus after the 649 Arab conquest of the island, setting out for the Holy Land, and eventually becoming a monk on Sinai.A. Binggeli, 'Anastasius of Sinai' in D. Thomas (ed.) et al., Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 1 (600-900). Brill 2009, pp. 193-202; K.H. Uthemann, 'Anastasius the Sinaite' in A. Di Berardino, Patrology: the Eastern fathers from the Council of Chalcedon (451) to John of Damascus (+750). Cambridge 2006, 313-331
Amathus declined and was already almost deserted when Richard Plantagenet won Cyprus by a victory there over Isaac Comnenus in 1191. The tombs were plundered and the stones from the beautiful edifices were brought to Limassol to be used for new constructions. Much later, in 1869, a great number of blocks of stone from Amathus were used for the construction of the Suez Canal. A ruined Byzantian Empire church marks its site.
Otherwise, the same burial customs were observed in most of the tombs. Many were reused multiple times, in which case the burial gifts were pushed into the corner of the tomb. Later, during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Amathus was once again used for burial. These burials did not damage or alternate the earlier tombs since they were usually somewhere in the upper layers. The tombs are dated from the Cypro-Geometric I to the Roman period.
Further archaeological objects found during the excavations are preserved at both the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and the Limassol District Archaeological Museum.
In the agora there are marble columns decorated with spirals and a huge paved squares. On the coastal side of the city there is an Early Christian basilica with mosaic floors decorated with semi-precious stones. Further, near the terraced road leading to the Temple, situated on the top of the cliff, several houses built in a row dating to the Hellenistic period have been discovered. At the east and west extremes of the city the two acropoleis are situated where a number of tombs have been found, many of which are intact.
Two small sanctuaries, with terracotta votive offerings of Graeco-Phoenician age, lie not far off, but the location of the great shrines of Adonis and Aphrodite have not been identified (M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, i. ch.1).
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