Observations on the site of SalamisÉtienne Coche de La Ferté

1 October 1946

Observations relating to the site of Ma Salamine

The site of Salamine in Cyprus, State property, now protected by a guard service, is no longer, according to the competent authorities, the object of clandestine excavations as in the past. It is covered by a forest planted and likewise guarded by the public services; if it adds to the charm of the place, it also makes the configuration of the ground less easily discernible.

The extent of the area over which the ruins now visible survive reveals the importance of the town that occupied it, but by drawing the archaeologist's attention in every direction, it risks leading him to scatter his efforts: 800 to 900 m. separate the Marble Forum from the Grand Forum, and these remains do not represent the extreme points of the habitation, which must have covered a larger area and is still extended to the North and West by necropolises not entirely included in the zone acquired by the State. A tomb was thus recently discovered near the Monastery of Saint Barnabas, in open countryside.

Fortunately, valuable reference points are given by the monuments excavated in 1890 by the English mission. [handwritten: forest] Inspected in 1939 by Mr Campbell, who gave a detailed assessment of them in his report; we only claim to add here a few supplementary observations.

The Marble Forum, not far from which lie the baths also cleared by Mr Jeffrys, offers by the richness of its ruins a precise and inviting goal for new research. Its extent, modest relative to the other monuments, would allow the excavations to be bounded fairly easily the extension and marks it as a desirable objective for a trial campaign, as Mr Campbell noted. One must nevertheless take into account the depth at which it lies buried, a depth varying from about 3m. in the South to 6 and 7M. in the North. Finally one may note point out that certain of the columns already cleared, though broken, appear to be entirely preserved, and could doubtless lend themselves to an anastylosis.

This forum is situated at the highest point of Salamine, near the forester's house, and it is not improbable that in this area one may find remains older than those of the imperial-period city, the only one identified so far. It would be interesting in this respect to clear the surroundings of an imposing limestone wall which runs along the forum to the South.

To the North of these constructions extends a very densely wooded area where tombs are scattered, generally looted, sometimes still open and visible. Here and there under the bushes, a rounded contour of the ground is detected which suggests some building shallowly buried. Thus for example, two folds of the ground several hundred metres apart from one another, and of which the nearer is about 200m. from the marble forum, semi-cylindrical in form and extending over several tens of metres, whose possible witnesses would correspond to differently oriented fragments.

Handwritten marginal note, left margin: "probably channel"