Miscellaneous

10

In tomb 83 were found a gold finger ring of the 4th century with intaglio design of a female head to the left (Pl.XIII,Fig.17), and two silver rings, one with a gold setting in which has been a small paste of a yellowish colour; the other has a scaraboid setting of banded agate (Pl.IV, Curium 5), on which is an intaglio design of Heracles in the archaic running attitude to left, armed with bow and club; though small, it is good archaic Greek work of about 480 B.C. Tomb 73 contained a gold ring with aplmettes in filagree on the bezel (Pl.XIII,Fig.14), and another (Pl.XIII, Fig.16=Pl.IV,Curium 7) engraved with an intaglio design of a nude woman reclining with face to right, resting on right elbow, and extending left hand, probably of the 4th century B.C.; also two silver rings, one with an intaglio design on the bezel (Pegasos to right, with palm trees in the background), and a gold-plated bronze ring with setting for a gem now lost.

The only objects of silver worth mentioning are (1) a mastos, or hemispherical cup, from tomb 80, without handles (Fig.78); (2) another cup from tomb 83 (Fig.79); (3) two silver pins with large heads, one from tomb 63 and the other from site C, similar to three which were found in Messrs. Williamson and Co.'s excavations in 1883. The engraved gems have already been described, with three exceptions: (1) a black basalt scarab from tomb 26, with intaglio design of an ibex (Pl.IV,Curium 3); (2) a sard intaglio with head of Athene, now in the Nicosia Museum; (3) the Egyptian scarab from tomb 1 (Pl.IV, Curium 2), which is of grey steatite, engraved with a double clump of lotos-flowers and the praenomen of Thothmes III, Men Keper-Ra, and a device. The date of this tomb is the 6th century B.C., and the scarab is no doubt one of the imitations of Thothmes scarabs, which are very common in Cyprus.2

Bronze Objects

The site of Curium was especially rich in bronzes, though more so in respect of quantity than quality. Hardly a tomb that was opened did not contain a mirror or some other article in this material.

Site D yielded several knives and spearheads (Figs.80,81) and a dagger with hooked handle (tomb 58, now in the Nicosia Museum), all common types in Bronze Age tombs in Cyprus; these objects are of pure copper, and should more strictly be spoken of as belonging to the Copper Age.3 An axe-head and a ploughshare, both now in the Nicosia Museum, should also be mentioned.4 The spearheads are of the usual Bronze Age type, hammered and not cast.5 The only other bronze object

1 For a similar example from Curium see Cyprus Mus.Cat.4883. 2 Ibid.pp.20,135. 3 Brit.Mus.Cat. of Bronzes, Introd.p.xxi. 4 The latter is described by Myres, Cyprus Mus.Cat.No.609; a similar object was found at Enkomi in 1896 (see p.15,Fig.25,No.1477). 5 Cf. Brit.Mus.Cat.of Bronzes, No.29 and p.lxvii.