Enkomi is among the most important settlements of middle Bronze Age Cyprus. Originally it's situated on the east coast as a prime shipping port near a sea-fed inlet, which today is filled with natural delta silt from the Pedieos River, at Famagusta Bay.
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From about the 16th century BCE to the 12th, it's a significant copper smelting and trade center. Located near the mouth of the Pedieos River watershed at the southeast of the island, Enkomi has strong ties to Ugarit, on the facing coast of Syria.
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Enkomi is a hotly disputed region with several battles attesting to the perils of Mediterranean Sea trade. Everyone wants control of copper, a commodity in demand for the making of bronze.
Bronze is c. 88% copper and 12% tin, though the recipe can vary. Tin hardens the copper. Another metal, arsenic, makes it even harder, and is favored by the Egyptians for weapons.
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Brass, in use since c. 5000 BCE, is an alloy of copper and zinc. Pure copper is also desirable in ornament, ritual and jewelry. Whoever owns copper, owns the known world.
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Stratigraphy of the site is in poor condition, complex and disrupted. Elkomi is represented in four primary phases with subsets.
Level A, a stone wall on bedrock.
Level I A, and B date to the beginning of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600 - 1200 BCE). Twice, invading forces destroy fortifications. By the 14th century Mycenaean Greeks begin migrations to Cyprus.
Level II A and B, have many subdivisions and covers expansion of the 14th and 13th centuries, ending in mass destruction c. 1220 BCE.
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Level III A, B & C show Mycenaean settlers and a destructive attack, possibly related to Sea Peoples. Level IIIA is culturally continuous with IIIB, ending in destruction c. 1125 BCE. IIIC shows a final, Mycenaean phase with decreasing inhabitants.
From the 13th century BCE, other towns along the south coast of Cyprus compete with Enkomi, battering its resources. After an earthquake c. 1050 BC, the site is abandoned. Anatolian and Aegean people move in, leading to the rise of Salamis.
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The people settle in the fertile valley cove and create a foundation myth. The founder of Salamis is Teucer, son of Telamon. Telamon has an impressive background, being sired by a king and a mountain nymph. As an Argonaut he accompanies Jason on adventure.
His son Teucer, also fighting in the Trojan War, fails to avenge the death of his brother Ajax, a mighty warrior, thus can't return home. The area is occupied before the Greeks arrive. It's thought the town of Salamis is built when Enkomi is isolated from the sea by alluvial soil.
Some scholars believe either Enkomi or Cyprus is "Alasia" of the Amarna letters, a series of requests and trade documents sent to Egypt in the the 14th century. Some are from the king or the ministers of Alashiya. It's considered another name for Cyprus or a city on the island.
Today many historians believe the site of Enkomi is the capital of the ancient kingdom Alashiya. They assert the kingdom of Alashiya covers the entire island of Cyprus in ancient times. The King is recorded as having ships, and the kingdom is raided by the Lukka.
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The first recorded name of a Cypriot king is Kushmeshusha. His name appears on letters sent to Ugarit in the 13th century BCE. Akkadian cuneiform tablets at Ras Shamra mention a king of Alashiya, Kushmeshusha, who writes two letters to Niqmaddu, king of Ugarit.
Another town, Alassa in southwest Cyprus, is also seen as a possible Cypriot capital, showing Bronze Age ruins. Around 1200 BC, the Hittite kings Tudhaliya IV and Suppiluliuma II wage military campaigns in Alashiya and forced its king to sign a treaty of submission
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In the 19th century the area is heavily looted due to extravagance of the grave goods. Finally an archaeologist from the British Museum begins work 1894 - 1896. Several expeditions follow. Excavations find evidence of child burials in urns, a harbor and cemetery.
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Notable finds from Enkomi include clay balls with Cypro-Minoan inscriptions, a writing style loosely called Linear C. The horned god, a bronze figurine dated to the early 12th century BC, is a deity wearing a helmet with horns.
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Another well-known statue is the "ingot god", a statue wearing a horned conical hat and greaves, armed with shield and spear, and standing on a miniature hide-shaped ingot. He's protector of the ingots, or copper, or the town.
Between 1927 - 1930 the Swedish Cyprus Expedition excavates about 20 tombs at the Enkomi necropolis or City of the Dead. Archaeologists are at first unsuccessful as many tombs are destroyed by Byzantine Era (395 - 1493 CE) houses.
Finally they discover an unexplored part of the necropolis and to their delight find many rich graves. A single tomb can contain around 300 objects, mostly pottery, but also objects of gold, silver, faience, ivory, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and amber from the Baltic.
The deceased are sitting or lying down. They are dressed in robes fastened with gold pins. Some have diadems on their foreheads decorated with geometric ornaments, floral motifs or figures, and gold tin over their mouths.
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Covering of the mouth is often done to keep evil spirits from entering the body. This superstition is the original reason people cover their mouths when yawning.
One of the women wears a gold necklace with beads shaped like Mycenaean shields. A Minoan style, the motif comes to Cyprus with the Mycenaeans. Similar shields are shown on frescoes such as at Knossos, Crete.
The same woman has rings in her hair, ears, on her fingers and toes. Archaeologists find food and drink in bronze and ceramic vessels set around the deceased. The type of grave goods indicate Cyprus's political relationships and economic standing in the Bronze Age.
Objects like the silver Enkomi Cup or Enkomi Bowl (c. 1400 BCE) arouse controversy. The bowl is believed to be decorated with neillo, an advanced technique used especially in Antiquity through the Middle Ages. Niello is a black mix, of sulfur, copper, silver and lead.
It's used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It's applied as powder or paste, then fired. Earlier uses of niello appear in 19th century BCE in Syria, and Egypt in the 16th century BCE. Daggers of the same period in niello style appear in Mycenae.
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A necropolis is often on the west side of a settlement, relating to the setting sun, and/or near water, spiritually connected to death and Otherworld or Afterlife. In many Mycenaean tombs people are dressed, bejeweled and given food and drink, a banquet of the dead.