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CHAPTER I.

HISTORY OF CYPRUS.

THERE is perhaps no place which has been called by so many Various names different names as Cyprus; in ancient times we find it called of the Island. Cerastis in allusion to its numerous promontories; Sphecia, from its ancient inhabitants, the Spheces; Collinia, from its many hills; Ærosa, from its mines of copper; Macaria, from its excellent situation and rich products, and various other more or less poetic appellations.

Through its Greek population the island received the name of Kypros, a title which is believed to be derived from the Hebrew Kopher (Henna-Lawsonia alba), a plant found there in great abundance, and from which various highly prized oils and salves were produced.

This origin of the present name of the island is generally accepted, though some authorities have endeavoured to trace the word to the Roman cyprum, or cuprum, copper; to the Greek cryptos, hidden; and it has even been suggested that the island was called Cyprus from the cypress-tree; but this opinion is not supported by anything beyond the similarity in the names.

The earliest notice we have of the inhabitants of Cyprus is de- Early settlers. rived from Josephus, who clearly identifies the island with the Chittim of the Old Testament, the place in which the descendants of Kittim, son of Javan, son of Japhet, settled and founded the ancient Citium. This race appears to have held the island, or a portion of it, down to the time of Solomon. Bryant intimates that the Cuthites were also amongst the first settlers in Cyprus.

nicians.

In these early ages the Phoenicians, belonging to the rising Colonization kingdom of Tyre, were the great traders of the Mediterranean, and by the Phoefrom Eratosthenes we learn that about the year B.C. 1045, this people established settlements in Cyprus. The history of the island at this period is, however, so involved in an accumulation of legends which have gathered round and obscured the original facts, that no precise information regarding the colonization by the Phoenicians can be procured. It appears that the early settlers maintained from the first a connection with the mother country, and in the time of Hiram, King of Tyre, about B.O. 1,000, we find them revolting against the tribute levied by that sovereign. This revolt was suppressed, and it appears that for a long subsequent period the island continued to be tributary to Tyre.

Equally uncertain is the history of the Greek colonies which Greek are found to have been formed after those of the Phoenicians, and colonies.

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