A Clergyman's Journey: Abbé Mariti's Cyprus and its Incidental Antiquities

Published in Dublin in 1792, Abbé Giovanni Mariti's "Travels through Cyprus, Syria, and Palestine" offers a clergyman's observations on the Levant in the late 18th century. Mariti was not an archaeologist; his account is that of an educated European traveller. His narrative details governance, commerce, local customs, and the island's natural resources. As a byproduct of his travels, he also recorded the remnants of past civilizations he encountered across Cyprus, predominantly from the classical, Roman, Lusignan, and Venetian periods, with occasional, less distinct references that might point to earlier times.

Mariti's Cyprus was under Ottoman administration, a situation he often found lamentable. He observed how the government had "banished from them the least traces of those arts for which they were once so famous," a sentiment that colours his descriptions of ancient sites. He commented on the Cypriot people, noting their temperate lifestyles and the women's striking "pyramidal head drefles," which he considered contrary to "both taſte and good sense." He experienced the arbitrary nature of Ottoman rule, such as a "ſingular tax" once imposed on everyone named George, and noted the contrast between the island's ancient reputation for fertility and its then uncultivated lands.

As he travelled from Larnaca (Salines) towards Nicosia, evidence of the past was readily apparent. Near the coast, Mariti identified an "immenfe pile of ruins" as ancient Citium. He noted how "labourers, in ploughing up the ground, discover every day large stones with which the houses of Salines and Larnic are constructed," a common practice of reusing ancient building materials. A significant find at Citium in 1767 occurred when a quarry was opened, revealing "a head of Caracalla, of white marble; and several Roman medals of Septimus Severus, Antoninus Caracalla, and Julia Domna, with a Greek in- scription...KOINON KYΠPIΩN." Mariti himself obtained some of these medals. He also observed "remains of antient aqueducts" and stone reservoirs, using the coins to date Citium's destruction to around 210 AD.

His explorations around Larnaca provided further glimpses into the past. On one estate, a "fubterranean grotto was discovered, in which nothing was found but some ſmall idols, and lamps of baked earth." While "idols" is a general term and terracotta lamps span many eras, finds in a grotto could suggest earlier cultic activity. The potential significance of this discovery is underscored by Mariti's comment that the Turkish government had "forbid, under the moſt rigorous punishment, all fubterranean reſearches," a policy that likely kept much of Cyprus's ancient heritage concealed. Another Larnaca discovery, by a Venetian merchant in 1766, uncovered "some tombs of foft marble, without any in- scription... In some of them were ſeveral skulls; and around them were placed vafes of baked earth, filled with bones." The absence of inscriptions and the simple "vases of baked earth" (terracotta) are interesting. Unadorned funerary pottery can sometimes indicate earlier, pre-classical periods like the Bronze or Iron Ages, but Mariti provided no stylistic details.

The journey to Nicosia revealed a city with Lusignan influences. He observed the "foundations of a citadel, erected by King James the First of the Lusignans" and the Church of St. Sophia (then a mosque) containing Lusignan, "ancient Cypriot," and Venetian tombs, though inscriptions were mostly illegible. Near the capital, on the road to Cerines, he passed "amidst tombs...of the most beau- tiful white marble...The ruins of the ancient edifices at Nico- sia have in general supplied materials for con- structing these monuments."

The northern coast also yielded encounters with antiquity. At Cerines, he noted "ruins of edifices, and the remains of walls, which are certainly of very re- mote antiquity." More significantly, he saw "a great many grottos, the mouths of which feem to be cut out with the chifel...which the natives call the fepulchres of the gentiles." This local term often referred to pre-Christian, and potentially pre-Roman, burial sites. Nearby, the Lusignan Monastery of Lapasis, though medieval, housed two large Roman sepulchral urns of white marble, one intricately carved.

His description of Salamis, said to have been founded by Teucer after the Trojan War, conveys a sense of loss: "No edifice has survived the wreck of time... Nothing is to be seen but scattered columns; heaps of stones embrowned by age." The harbour was "al- most entirely choaked up." The mention of Teucer, however, links the site to Bronze Age heroic traditions. Similarly, his references to the island's "nine kingdoms" in antiquity (a political structure of the Iron Age) appear in his descriptions of sites like Amathonte (ancient Limassol, known for its temple to Venus and Adonis), Curias (Piscopia), and Acamantis (Crusocco). At ancient Paphos, he notes the "celebrated temple of Venus; which...was deftroyed by an earthquake, so that the leaft veftige of it is not now to be feen."

Mariti's narrative also includes observations of Cypriot life. He describes a local hunting match near Petrophanes, "a ſpectacle very common in the island," complete with distinguished observers, music, and trained dogs. He details the making of Cyprus wine, from the festive grape harvest to fermentation in large earthen pitchers, and the collection of labdanum by shepherds whose goats' beards gathered the resin from plants. He recounts his own experience with "tertian and quartan agues," cured by a local remedy of old Cyprus wine.

Travel itself presented challenges. During a later part of his journey from Jaffa to Jerusalem, recounted in this volume, he travelled in Arab disguise to avoid robbers, facing tense encounters with groups demanding "gafar" (a toll). One such encounter resulted in a thrown stone that "grazed my forehead." The constant threat of plague also shaped his travels.

When considering Mariti's contribution to the understanding of pre-classical Cyprus, it's important to recognize the context of his era.

• The "sepulchres of the gentiles" near Cerines are the most direct, though indefinite, indication of potentially older burials.
• The "small idols" and "vases of baked earth" from the Larnaca grotto and tombs are notable. If these were simple, undecorated terracottas, they could belong to earlier periods.
• The repeated mention of Cyprus's "nine kingdoms" alludes to a pre-Hellenistic political landscape.
• Foundation myths, like Teucer establishing Salamis, connect to traditions with roots in the Bronze or early Iron Ages.
• The copper mines near Amathonte, known to Ovid, point to the Bronze Age metallurgical importance of Cyprus, though Mariti does not make this specific connection.

Abbé Mariti's "Travels" provides an interesting record of Cyprus in the late 18th century. He documents the visible remains of classical and medieval structures, the reuse of ancient materials, and the difficulties of exploring the past under Ottoman rule. His observations on Cypriot life, from its governance and customs to its agriculture and the hazards of travel, offer a backdrop to the antiquities he happened upon. While his understanding of Cyprus's pre-classical past was limited by the knowledge of his time, his account preserves incidental clues—local traditions, the nature of certain chance finds—that hint at a deeper history, later to be more fully explored by archaeologists. His work reflects the interest of an educated European in the remnants of past civilizations, even if their full chronological depth was not yet understood.