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Kourion (; ) was an important ancient Greek city-state on the southwestern coast of the island of Cyprus. In the twelfth century BCE, after the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces, Greek settlers from Argos arrived on this site.
In the fourth century, Kourion suffered from five heavy earthquakes, but the city was mostly rebuilt. The acropolis of Kourion, located 1.3 km southwest of Episkopi and 13 km west of Limassol, is located atop a limestone promontory nearly 100 metres high along the coast of Episkopi Bay.
The Kourion archaeological area lies within the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia and is managed by the Cyprus Department of Antiquity.
Occupation in the Early Cypriot period ( 2300–1900 BCE) is uninterrupted from the preceding Chalcolithic period, with occupation continuing along the Kouris River Valley and the drainages to the west. Sotira-Kaminoudhia, located to the northwest of Sotira-Teppes, on the lower slope of the hill, was settled. It dates from the Late Chalcolithic to EC (Early Cypriot) I ( 2400 – 2175 BCE). In the ECIII-LC (Late Cypriot), IA ( 2400–1550 BCE) a settlement was established 0.8 km east of Episkopi at Episkopi-Phaneromeni. The Middle Cypriot (1900–1600 BCE) is a transitional period in the Kouris River Valley. The settlements established during the MC flourished into urban centres in the Late Cypriot II-III, especially Episkopi-Bamboula.
In the Late Cypriot I-III (1600–1050 BCE), the settlements of the Middle Cypriot period developed into a complex urban centre within the Kouris Valley, which provided a corridor in the trade of Troodos copper, controlled through Alassa and Episkopi-Bamboula. In the MCIII-LC IA, a settlement was occupied at Episkopi-Phaneromeni. Episkopi-Bamboula, located on a low hill 0.4 km west of the Kouris and east of Episkopi, was an influential urban centre from the LC IA-LCIII. The town flourished in the 13th century BCE before being abandoned c.1050 BCE.
Although Cyprus came under rule, in the Cypro-Archaic period (750–475 BCE) the Kingdom of Kourion was among the most influential of Cyprus. Damasos is recorded (as Damasu of Kuri) as king of Kourion on the prism (672 BCE) of Esarhaddon from Nineveh.
Between 569 and ca. 546 BCE, Cyprus was under Egyptian administration.
In 546 BCE, Cyrus I of Persia extended Persian authority over the Kingdoms of Cyprus, including the Kingdom of Kourion. During the Ionian Revolt (499–493 BCE), Stasanor, king of Kourion, aligned himself with Onesilos, king of Salamis, the leader of a Cypriot alliance against the Persians. In 497, Stasanor betrayed Onesilos in battle against the Persian general Artybius, resulting in a Persian victory over the Cypriot poleis and the consolidation of Persian control of Cyprus.
In the Classical Period (475–333 BCE), the earliest occupation of the acropolis was established, though the primary site of settlement is unknown. King Pasikrates () of Kourion is recorded as having aided Alexander the Great in the siege of Tyre in 332 BCE. Pasikrates ruled as a Vassal state of Alexander, but was deposed in the struggles for succession amongst the diadochi. In 294 BCE, the Ptolemies consolidated control of Cyprus, and therefore Kourion came under Ptolemaic governance.Thonemann, Peter, "A ptolemaic decree from Kourion", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, pp. 87-95, 2008
Under the Roman Cyprus, Kourion possessed a civic government functioning under the oversight of the provincial proconsul. Inscriptions from Kourion attest elected offices that including: Archon of the City, the council, clerk of the council and people, the clerk of the market, the various priesthoods including priests and priestesses of Apollo Hylates, and priesthoods of Rome. It is thought that Kourion flourished and quality of life increased due to good trade with the rest of the Roman Empire.
In the first to third centuries, epigraphic evidence attests a thriving elite at Kourion, as indicated by a floruit of honorific decrees (Mitford No.84, p. 153) and dedications, particularly in honour of the emperor, civic officials and provincial proconsuls. In the first and second centuries, Mitford suggests excessive expenses by the council of the city and peoples of Kourion on such honours, resulting in the sanctions and oversight of expenditures by the proconsul (Mitford 107), particularly during the Trajanic restorations of the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates.
Local participation in the imperial cult is demonstrated not only by the presence of a high priesthood of Rome, but also the presence of a cult of Apollo Caesar, a veiled worship of Trajan as a deity alongside Apollo Hylates. Epigraphic honors of the imperial family are particularly notable during the Severan Dynasty in the late third and second centuries AD.
As one of the most prominent cities in Cyprus, the city is mentioned by several ancient authors including: Ptolemy (v. 14. § 2), Stephanus of Byzantium, Hierocles and Pliny the Elder.
During the Diocletianic Persecution, Philoneides, the Bishop of Kourion, was martyred. In 341 CE, the Bishop Zeno was instrumental in asserting the independence of the Cypriot church at the Council of Ephesus. In the later-4th century (365-370), Kourion was hit by five strong earthquakes within a period of eighty years, as attested by the archaeological remains throughout the site, presumably suffering near-complete destruction. In the late fourth and early fifth centuries, Kourion was reconstructed, though portions of the acropolis remained abandoned. The reconstruction included the ecclesiastical precinct on the western side of the acropolis. In 648-49, Arab raids resulted in the destruction of the acropolis, after which the centre of occupation was relocated to Episkopi, 2 km to the northeast. Episkopi was named for the seat of the bishop (Episcopus).Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 1057–1058Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 438
In 1895, led by H.B. Walters, the British Museum conducted the first quasi-systematic excavations at Kourion as part of the Turner Bequest Excavations.[3] A.S. Murray, A.H. Smith and H.B. Walters, "Excavations in Cyprus (Bequest of Miss E.T. Turner to the British Museum)", pp. 57-85, 1900
G. McFadden, B.H. Hill and J. Daniel conducted systematic excavations at Kourion for the University Museum at the University of Pennsylvania in five seasons between 1934 and 1938 and in eight seasons between 1947 and 1954, mainly on the acropolis. The also worked in the cemeteries, including in the Kaloriziki field where they excavated twelve LC III-Iron Age tombs.[4] J.F. Daniel, "Kourion, Past Achievements and Future Plans", University Museum Bulletin 13.6, pp. 7-15, 1948G.H. McFadden, "A Tomb of the Necropolis of Ayios Ermoyenis at Kourion", AJA 50.4, pp. 449-89, 1946Daniel, John Franklin, "Two Late Cypriote III Tombs from Kourion". American Journal of Archaeology 41.1, pp.56-85, 1937Benson, J. L., "Pictorial Mycenaean Fragments from Kourion", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 53–54, 1961 and in the Late Cypriote II and III areas of Bamboula. Finds included 4 pots and 7 sherds bearing Cypro-MInoan Script signs and the famous Kourion Sceptre (in Tomb 40).Daniel, John Franklin, "Excavations at Kourion: The Late Bronze Age Settlement-Provisional Report", American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 261–75, 1938Goring, Elizabeth, "The Kourion Sceptre: Some Facts and Factoids", Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement, no. 63, pp. 103–10, 1995Smith, Joanna S., "Seals, Scripts, and Politics at Late Bronze Age Kourion", American journal of Archaeology 116.1, pp. 39-103, 2012 Following the death of McFadden in 1953, the project and its publication stalled. The excavations of the Early Christian Basilica on the acropolis were continued by Peter Megaw, Director of Antiquities for the Government of Cyprus, from 1956 to 1959.A.H.S. Megaw, "Kourion City: The Basilica: The Cathedral Precinct of the Early Christian City-Area VI", in H.W. Swiny (ed.), An Archaeological Guide to the Ancient Kourion Area and the Akrotiri Peninsula, Nicosia, 1982
M.C. Loulloupis of the Cyprus Department of Antiquities excavated at the House of Gladiators and the Apsed Building between 1964 and 1974. A. Christodoulou (1971–1974), and Demos Christou (1975–1998) also worked at Kourion. A.H.S. Megaw returned to work on the site, on behalf of Dumbarton Oaks Centre for Byzantine Studies, from 1974 to 1979 at the Early Christian Basilica.A.H.S. Megaw, "Excavations at the Episkopical Basilica of Kourion in Cyprus in 1974 and 1975", Dumbarton Oaks Papers 30, pp. 345–71, 1976A.H.S. Megaw, "The Atrium of the Episkopical Basilica at Kourion, A Preliminary Report", Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 1979
Between 1978 and 1984, D. Soren conducted excavations at the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, and on the acropolis between 1984 and 1987. D. Parks directed excavations within the Amathus Gate Cemetery between 1995 and 2000. Since 2012, the Kourion Urban Space Project, under director Thomas W. Davis of the Lanier Center for Archaeology at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, has excavated on the acropolis.Buell, D. Matthew, Christopher Mavromatis, and Danielle A. Parks, "The Kourion Mapping Project: a contextual spatial analysis of the Kourion acropolis", Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 261-94, 2010Grimsley, Lucas, et al., "The Kourion Urban Space Project (KUSP): Preliminary Results of the First Three Seasons, 2012-2014", Reports of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 2016Swantek, Laura A., et al., "Kourion Urban Space Project: Preliminary Report of the 2016 Season", Buried History: The Journal of the Australian Institute of Archaeology 58, pp. 27-34, 2022
A structure of the late-fourth century BC, located east of the later sacred way, and south of the altar served as the residence of the priests of Apollo and the temple treasury. This building was subsequently renovated in the first, third and fourth centuries AD.
The present form of the sanctuary dates to the first century AD and to the restoration under Trajan in the early second century following the earthquake of AD 76/77. Under Augustan patronage at the end of the first century BC or early first century AD, the sacred street was laid out, with the palaestra, temple, structure north of the Paphian gate and the circular monument were constructed. The Augustan temple is 13.5 m long and 8.35 m wide with a tetrastyle pronaos and cella.
Under Trajan and the Proconsul Quintus Laberius Justus Cocceius Lepidus, the sanctuary underwent restoration and expansion. The southern portico, southern buildings, which likely functioned as dormitories for devotees and the bathhouse were built under this restoration. The temple was subsequently abandoned after a period of decline in the late fourth century AD, after it was sustained significant damage in an earthquake.
The remains of a Hellenistic public structure, approximately 30 m in length are located 30 m southeast of the nymphaeum. This structure was used from ca. 325 to 50 BCE. Additional Hellenistic remains were uncovered in 1948/49 by the University of Pennsylvania Museum Expedition immediately east of the Complex of Eustolios in the form of black and white pebble mosaic.
The theatre was repaired in the late-first century BCE, likely following the earthquake of 15 BCE. The theatre's scene building was seemingly reconstructed in 64/65 CE by Quintus Iulius Cordus, the proconsul, and it was likely at this time the ends of the cavea were removed, reducing it to a Roman plan of 180 degrees. The orchestra was likewise shortened to a semi-circular form. The theatre received an extensive renovation and enlargement under Trajan between ca. 98–111 CE, bringing the theatre to its present size and seating arrangement. The scene building (scaenae frons), now preserved only in its foundations, was rebuilt, bringing it to the height of the cavea. This structure would have originally obscured the view of the Mediterranean to the south.
Between 214 and 217 CE, the theatre was modified to accommodate gladiatorial games and venationes but it was restored to its original form as a theatre after 250 CE. The theatre was abandoned in the later-fourth century CE, likely the result of successive seismic events, the earthquake of 365/70 perhaps resulting in its abandonment. The enlarged cavea of the Roman phases could have accommodated an audience of as many as 3,500. The present remains of the theatre have been restored extensively. The theatre is one of the venues for the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama. Cyprus Centre of International Theatre Institute site
In Antiquity, the ascent to the Amathus gate was along a board ramp ascending gradually from the southeast. The cemetery was situated on two tiers along the lower and upper cliffs east of the Amathus gate, the lower tier being obscured by the modern roadway embankment.
From the third century BC until the first century AD, the cemetery of Ayios Ermoyenis, consisting primarily of rock-cut chamber tombs with single or multiple chambers and multiple interments, functioned as the primary cemetery of Roman Kourion. Between the first and third centuries, a row of chamber tombs was cut into the upper and lower faces of the eastern cliffs. These chamber tombs were heavily damaged by quarrying in the late fourth to sixth centuries AD, though numerous arcosolia from these chamber tombs remain in the cliff face. Between the late fourth and sixth centuries, burials in this cemetery consist of cist burials cut into the quarried rock shelf.
Joseph S. Last identified two aqueducts that transported water to the city from two perennial springs: one near Sotira (the smaller source) 11 km distant and Souni (the larger source) at 20 km distant. The western aqueduct from Sotira was made of an estimated 30,000 terra-cotta pipes 0.20 m in diameter and 0.20–0.50 m long. A trunk line of this aqueducts supplied water to the Sanctuary of Apollo. The eastern aqueduct from Souni consisted of an estimated 60,000 pipes with a 0.30 m diameter and 0.30 m length. Last concluded that the eastern aqueduct was a later addition to supplement the western aqueduct.J.S. Last: The Ancient Water Supply, in: Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society vol 199-1 (1975) pag 39 – 72
Prior to the construction of these aqueducts, sometime in the first century CE, the acropolis would have been largely dependent on rain water stored in cisterns due to the absence of natural water sources on the site.
The main wing of the structure is arranged around a central peristyle courtyard. The northern and eastern portico of the atrium contains two panels depicting gladiators in combat, the only such mosaics in Cyprus. The structure was extensively damaged in the earthquakes of the late-4th century, but the east rooms seem to have been used until the mid-7th century.
The structure is arranged around a central peristyle courtyard, its northeastern portico retaining fragmentarily preserved mosaic pavements in the northeastern portico. The most important of these mosaic depicts the unveiling of Achilles's identity by Odysseus in the court of Lycomedes of Skyros when his mother, Thetis, had hidden him there amongst the women so that he might not be sent to war against the Trojans. Another room contains a fragmentary mosaic depicting Thetis bathing Achilles for the first time. In yet another room a fragmentary mosaic depicts the Rape of Ganymede. The structure was destroyed in the earthquakes of the late fourth century AD, likely the 365/370 earthquake.
The earthquake house, in its initial phases was likely constructed in the late first or early second centuries AD. Throughout its use it was subsequently reused and redesigned with interior spaces being subdivided and the structure expanded to fit the changing needs of its inhabitants.
Its destruction in the earthquakes of the late fourth century, and the absence of rebuilding in this area of the city subsequently provides a dramatic view on non-elite life at Kourion. Among the evidence of destruction found were the remains of two sets of human skeletal remains postured in an embrace, the remains of a juvenile who had fallen from the upper floor into the stable area when the floor collapsed, the remains of a young adult woman with an infant being held by an adult male approximately twenty-five years old, and three sets of adult male skeletal remains between the ages of 25 and 40. The remains of a mule were found in the stable area, its remains still chained to a limestone trough.
The earthquake house, initially uncovered in a sounding by the University of Pennsylvania Museum expedition was excavated by Soren between 1984 and 1987. Archaeological investigations were continued in 2014 with excavations by the Kourion Urban Space Project.
The nymphaeum, was developed in four successive phases from the early first century AD to the mid seventh century, and was among the largest nymphaea in the Roman Mediterranean in the second and third centuries. In its earliest phase the nymphaeum consisted of a rectangular room with a tri-apsidal fountain set in its northern wall flowing into a rectangular basin along the length of the same wall. After an earthquake in 77 AD, the nymphaeum was rebuilt between 98 and 117. The nymphaeum was internally dived by a courtyard with a room to the south containing an apsidal fountain and rectangular basins. In this phase, the nymphaeum measured 45 m long and 15 m wide. After its destruction in the earthquakes of the late fourth century, the nymphaeum was rebuilt as a three-aisled basilica with apses along the southern wall. This structure was used as a temporary church between 370 and 410 during the construction of the ecclesiastical precinct to the west. It was abandoned in the mid seventh century.
The baths, which surround the nymphaeum at the northwestern end of the forum, were constructed in the early to mid fourth century AD following repairs to the nymphaeum. The baths were divided into east and west wings by the nymphaeum. The eastern baths were arranged around a central corridor which opened onto a sudatorium, a caldarium, and a tepidarium to the north. The western baths possessed a series of axially aligned baths along the northwest wall of the nymphaeum.
The bathing complex is arranged around a central rectangular hall and included a frigidarium with an antechamber, a tepidarium, and a caldarium. The frigidarium is paved with a figural mosaic depicting a personification of Ktisis (Creation) holding an architect's ruler. The complex remained in use until its destruction in the mid-7th century. The household was probably constructed as a private elite-residence, but was converted into a publicly-accessible bathing facility in the early-fifth century.
The precinct was constructed at the end of the fourth and very beginning of the fifth centuries CE, a time in which Kourion was recovering from the devastation of the earthquakes of 365/370. The allocation of such resources to this basilica, as well as the concurrent abandonment of the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, indicates the centrality Christianity had assumed to the city's religious institutions. The precinct was destroyed during the Arab raids of the seventh century, after which the seat of the Bishop of Kourion was moved inland
The basilica was constructed on an easterly orientation. The central nave and aisles were paved with marble slabs. The central apse possessed a synthronon for the clergy, with the chancel set apart from the nave by marble screens and an opus sectile pavement. The basilica was accessed through a colonnaded peristyle courtyard and narthex west of the basilica. The atrium was entered from its northern and southern sides. The peristyle courtyard was centred upon a rectangular cistern. Also accessed off the narthex and atrium were two catechumena, flanking the basilica to the north and south, and a diakoinon to the north. The basilica was abandoned in the mid-7th century during the early Arab raids on the southern coast of Cyprus.
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