Archaeologists from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, who are excavating the Bronze Age city of Hala Sultan Tekke/Dromolaxia Vizatzia on the island of Cyprus, have uncovered a spectacularly rich tomb dating from about 1200 BC.
Mycenaean vessel with fish motifs, c. 1300 BC. Image credit: Peter Fischer.
Hala Sultan Tekke/Dromolaxia Vizatzia flourished between 1600 and 1150 BC. The city occupied an area of up to 50 hectares and had far-reaching trade connections.
“In May-June we discovered a city quarter from around 1250 BC and outside the city we found an incredibly rich grave, one of the richest in Cyprus from this period, and an offering pit next to it,” said team leader Prof. Peter Fischer.
“The fact that we have discovered a burial site from the Late Bronze Age is quite sensational, since those who died around this time were usually buried within the settlement.”
“The grave seems to be a family tomb for eight children ages 5–10 years and nine adults, of whom the oldest was about 40 years old. The life expectancy was much shorter back then than it is today,” Prof. Fischer said.
The team found over 100 ceramic vessels and several gold objects, including a diadem, beads, earrings and Egyptian scarabs.
The finds also include gemstones and five cylinder seals, some produced locally and some from Syria and Mesopotamia, as well as a bronze dagger.
Left: two pairs of gold earrings, c. 1400-1300 BC. Right: Mycenaean vessel depicting a female (goddess, princess?) dressed in Minoan clothes. Image credit: Peter Fischer.
Prof. Fischer and his colleagues assign the greatest importance to the more than 140 complete ceramic vessels, most of which were decorated with spectacular illustrations of for example people sitting in a chariot drawn by two horses and a woman wearing a beautiful dress. There were also vases decorated with religious symbols and animal illustrations.
Many of the vessels were imported mainly from Greece and Crete but also from Anatolia (present-day Turkey).
“The pottery carries a lot of archaeological information,” Prof. Fischer said. “There were for example high-class Mycenaean imports, meaning pottery from Greece, dated to 1500–1300 BC.”
“The motif of the woman, possibly a goddess, is Minoan, which means it is from Crete, but the vase was manufactured in Greece. Back in those days, Crete was becoming a Greek colony.”
According to the archaeologists, the painting of the woman’s dress is highly advanced and shows how wealthy women dressed around this time.
The motif can also be found on frescos for example in the Palace of Knossos in Heraklion, Crete.
Left: gold-mounted scarab of steatite with the cartouche of Thutmose III (1479-1425 BC), remains of blue color on scarab. Right: Egyptian faience button, c. 1200 BC. Image credit: Peter Fischer.
Other finds are from Egypt. Two of the stone scarabs are gold-mounted and one features hieroglyphs spelling ‘men-kheper-re’ next to an illustration of a pharaoh.
This has given the archaeologists a unique opportunity to tie the roughly 3,500-year-old find to a historic person.
The inscription refers to Egypt’s most powerful pharaoh Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC), during whose reign Egypt peaked in size and influence as he conquered both Syria and parts of Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq.
“We also found evidence in the city of large-scale manufacturing and purple-dying of textiles,” Prof. Fischer said.
“These products were used in the trade with the high cultures in Egypt, Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Crete and Greece, which explains the rich imported finds.”
