Observations on the site of SalamisÉtienne Coche de La Ferté

1 October 1946

Observations relating to the site of Salamis

The site of Salamis 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; while it enhances the charm of the place, it also makes the configuration of the ground less easily discernible.

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

Fortunately, valuable reference points are provided by the monuments excavated in 1890 by the English mission. Inspected in 1939 by Mr Campbell, who gave a detailed assessment of them in his report; we only intend to add here a few complementary observations. The Marble Forum, not far from which lie the baths, likewise cleared by Mr Jeffery, offers through the richness of its ruins a precise and promising goal for new research. Its extent, modest relative to the other monuments, would allow the whole of the excavations to be bounded fairly easily, and it 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 is buried, a depth that varies from about 3m. in the South to 6 and 7M. in the North. Finally one may mettre note that some of the columns already cleared are somewhat broken, apparently entirely preserved, and could doubtless lend themselves to an analysis.

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

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

Handwritten: illegible marginal annotation

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