ExcavationDepartment of Antiquities

Amathus: Department excavations of the lower city, agora and east necropolis (Loulloupis)

Name: Amathus: Department excavations of the lower city, agora and east necropolis (Loulloupis)
Start: 1972
End: 1987

1972–1987 · Amathus

Also known as Department of Antiquities excavations at Amathus, lower city

Department of Antiquities work at Amathus under Michael Loulloupis, 1972 to 1987: built tombs and a basilica in the east necropolis, then a paved court with stoas and colossal Bes statues in the lower city.

Map of Cyprus

Where the work took place

Ground above 200, 500, 1,000 m

Site

1Amathus

Modern coastline (OpenStreetMap) and relief (Copernicus DEM).

The project

In the lower city of Amathus the Department of Antiquities uncovered a paved court that the annual notices took for the agora¹, and more than thirty-five fragments of limestone Bes statues, among them colossal figures^2,3. The work was directed by Michael Loulloupis and documented in the annual notices from 1972 to 1987^4,5.

The east necropolis and the basilica, 1972 to 1976

The first season, in 1972, was an emergency excavation in a very restricted area⁴. It produced a built tomb of dressed limestone with a 13-step dromos, recorded as robbed, dated by the report to the Classical period with use into the Roman period, and the foundations of a small Hellenistic temple⁴. In summer 1974 work continued at three points in the east necropolis: a second built tomb with a 22-step dromos and two chambers, dated to the Cypro-Classical period with last burials in early Byzantine times; the basilica; and the altar and west facade of a pagan temple near the east enclosure wall⁶.

In 1975 the team uncovered a four-aisled basilica with evidence for a fifth aisle, a paved court leading to a complex of seventeen rooms, rock-cut cisterns and an oil press. Four chamber tombs were excavated in the necropolis, and soundings in adjoining fields found houses, figurines and robbed tombs⁷. The 1976 campaign aimed at the final clearance of the basilica and continued work in the necropolis beyond the east wall of the ancient town⁸. It cleared the basilica's annexes, water installations, mill and olive press, and excavated nine tombs: three rock-cut in hard limestone, five in soft chavara and one built⁸. The report described the combination of a burial chamber with a vaulted dromos as a new type in Cypriot funerary architecture, with cult places above the chambers; the necropolis was in use from the Geometric period to the end of the Roman imperial period, given as 900 BC to AD 400⁸.

The lower city, 1977 to 1987

In 1977 the Department excavated on the south-east slope of the acropolis, where the French School was working, with the stated aim of exploring part of the lower city⁹. The season found a paved open space with Doric architectural fragments, concentric curved walls on the slope, a late circular defensive wall, and the lower part of a colossal limestone male statue⁹. The notice of 1977 suggested that the excavated area had been part of the agora or of a large atrium building; by 1979 it called the complex very probably part of the agora of the lower city^1,9.

The 1978 season showed that the paved space belonged to a public building complex, with two built piers on a stylobate to the west and a stair on the north. It also produced a colossal limestone Bes statue, which the report calls the second colossal Bes from Amathus, the first (found in 1873) being in Istanbul, and two inscriptions on limestone plaques¹⁰. In nearly two months of 1979 the excavators explored a stoa on the south-west side with small rooms behind, probably shops, and found a sphinx-shaped incense burner and bronze coins¹. The fourth season, in 1980, exposed the stoa stylobate and outer wall over 34 m and a large rectangular building to the north, and yielded limestone statue fragments, a marble Dionysos statuette and Greek inscriptions¹¹.

In 1981 the berms left since the start of excavation were removed to join the separately excavated parts of the paved esplanade. This exposed the west portico with cordiform piers and the temple-like building with a colonnade in antis³. Work in 1982 at three points around the court uncovered two contiguous paved rooms with a stone probably serving as an altar or offering-table base, and the continuing stair with a drain¹². In 1983 the team found a public fountain and water cistern at the north corner of the west portico, and a hoard of early Christian bronze vessels from the lower city¹³. The 1984 season continued at the fountain and cistern, producing a built water cistern and an open reservoir; the report places the last use of the fountain structures in the period of the Arab raids¹⁴.

Restoration went with excavation. From 1986 columns were re-erected, funded by a committee for the development of the Amathus region¹⁵. The seven-week season of 1986 cleared the east stoa stylobate, uncovered the north stoa stylobate and exposed a longer stretch of the late defensive wall. A Greek inscription on a limestone slab, re-used in a later wall, named the limits of a Sanctuary and an Asylum¹⁵. Aupert reports that the excavation produced a boundary scheme for a sacred place of asylum¹⁶. In 1987 the east side of the agora was cleared completely, four Doric columns were restored from re-used drums found in the late wall, and, on the floor of a room beside the stoa, wall-painting fragments and plaster door-jamb mouldings; a 17 m covered corridor linked the stoa to a bath installation⁵.

Later readings

Kaldeli states that the Agora functioned from around 300 BC until the fourth century AD and was largely abandoned in the seventh¹⁷. Prête and Tassignon, studying the agora in 2000, saw a Hellenistic works programme possibly linked to the large harbour and at least three Hellenistic phases of the west stoa. They write that the end of the layout cannot yet be dated precisely, with the early Principate the more likely². For the late use of the area they describe an abandoned craftsmen's quarter, no longer an agora². Tassignon notes that the Bes fragments come from a general Roman-period context but that it is not certain the statues date from the same period². Prête and Tassignon date the excavation 1976 to 1991 and Flourentzos gives 1974 to 1990; the Department's later project in the lower city began in 1991^2,18.

Directors and team

Directed by

Michael Loulloupis1972–1987

Team

Ino (Ioanna) Nicolaou

Institutions

Department of Antiquities of CyprusSponsor
Limassol District MuseumPartner

Seasons

14 seasons

1972
Limited rescue dig: a robbed built tomb of fine limestone (13-step dromos, saddle-roofed chamber) from the Classical period used to Roman times; foundations of a small Hellenistic temple and a small possible cult-of-the-dead sanctuary.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[7]
1974summer 1974
Three sectors: a second built tomb (22-step dromos, two chambers, Cypro-Classical with last burials early Byzantine, looted) after the first of 1972; the basilica (nave badly damaged, aisle later turned into a one-aisle church, three burials); and the altar and west facade of a pagan temple.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[9]
1975
Directed by M. Loulloupis: early Christian four-aisled basilica next to the rock-cut chapel of St Barbara (mosaic floors, frescoes, burials, sarcophagi), adjacent complex of 17 rooms, two cisterns and an oil press; necropolis: four chamber tombs (two in hard rock with moulded door-frame and stone door leaves) with Archaic-Classical and Roman goods, rock-cut cult features above the tombs; sondages found houses and figurines.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[3]
1976
Final clearing of the early Christian basilica (monks' cells, third ossuary, water supply, mill and olive press) and nine tombs in the East necropolis (three rock-cut, five in soft chavara, one built), showing use from c. 900 BC to AD 400; a new type with vaulted dromos; cult places with altars, offering tables and stelae above the chamber tombs; gold and silver jewellery, diadems, two clay boat models, inscribed stelae and an Attic ostrakon.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[4]
1977
30 x 40 m paved open space with Doric capitals, column drums, an acanthus cornice and epistyle fragments; concentric curved walls on the hill slope; a Byzantine/medieval defensive wall; lower part of a colossal limestone male statue, bronze coins, lamps.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[13]
1978
Public-building complex with a large paved open space, two piers on a stylobate and a north stair, Doric and Corinthian fragments; a colossal limestone statue of Bes holding two lion cubs, plus a Greek honorific inscription for Gordian III (?) and half a Latin inscription for Didius Gallus.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[20]
1979nearly two months
Nearly two-month campaign on the paved esplanade: SW colonnade with stylobate and shops behind, the esplanade reappearing in the NE, architectural fragments, a sphinx-shaped incense burner, inscribed plaques, bronze coins; interpreted as the agora of the lower city.
Directed by M. C. Loulloupis[21]
1980
Fourth season: paved esplanade and stoa stylobate exposed over 34 m; a large rectangular building 10 x 12 m with antae to the north; limestone statue fragments, marble Dionysos statuette, Greek inscriptions, altar fragment, coins, ivory, architectural fragments; Byzantine-medieval houses over the south part.
Directed by M. C. Loulloupis[14]
1981
Berms removed to join the paved esplanade: west portico with cordiform piers and Doric columns, temple-like building with a columned front in antis, Corinthian marble capitals, colossal limestone Bes fragments, a marble female statue, a sphinx, coins.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[22]
1982
Excavation around the paved court: two paved rooms with an altar or offering-table base, the continued stair and drain north of the court, reused architectural pieces in later walls, a building with sculpted blocks; marble and limestone statue fragments, coins.
Directed by M. C. Loulloupis[23]
1983
Lower City: a public fountain and cistern in the NW corner of the west portico of the paved court, drain, small stair foundations; East Necropolis: many rock-cut tombs, one with a two-leaf limestone door and two chambers with arcosolia, funerary stele bases, mnemata; Archaic (c. 650) to late 1st c. AD. A Christian-period bronze vessel hoard (jugs, lamp with cross) and a gold ring with Artemis of Ephesus.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[24]
1984
Continued work on the public fountain and adjoining cistern in the north-west of the probable agora: a vaulted water cistern with a stone channel and an open reservoir; last used in the Arab-raid period (mid-7th c.), built earlier; lamps and bronze coins.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[15]
1986seven weeks
Ninety-four chamber tombs (nos. 437–530) rescued through the year, mostly Cypro-Archaic to Classical with some Roman reuse; rich terracottas, imports (Attic, Euboean, Cycladic, Ionian, Protocorinthian), jewellery, a six-sided steatite cylinder seal (T. 444), and Cypro-Geometric tomb 521 with elaborate askoi. Material in Limassol Museum. Seven-week season: east stoa stylobate cleared with four column drums in place and a heart-shaped end pier; inscribed limestone slab naming a 'Sanctuary' and 'Asylum'; north stoa stylobate uncovered; late defensive wall built over the abandoned agora, tentatively 7th c. AD. Three columns re-erected.
Directed by M. Loulloupis[25]
1987
Complete clearance of the agora's east side: step and drain continue under the east stoa stylobate, courtyard fully paved; demolition of part of the late defensive wall yielded re-used architecture (Ionic capitals, column drums) used to restore four Doric columns; painted walls and plaster door jambs in a room; a 17 m covered corridor towards the baths.
Directed by C. Loulloupis[16]

What was found

Periods

Features and finds

built tomb; Hellenistic temple; basilica; pagan temple; chapel of St Barbara; oil press; four chamber tombs; ossuary; vaulted dromos tombs; gold diadem; paved area; colossal Bes statue; paved esplanade; stoa; north building; portico; temple-like building; fountain; cistern; reservoir; east stoa; north stoa; Greek inscription; defensive wall; agora; covered corridor; baths.

Tombs

T. 437, T. 438, T. 440, T. 441, T. 442, T. 443, T. 444, T. 450, T. 452, T. 454, T. 455, T. 456, T. 459, T. 461, T. 462, T. 466, T. 467, T. 468, T. 469, T. 470, T. 475, T. 478, T. 480, T. 481, T. 482, T. 484, T. 486, T. 487, T. 488, T. 491, T. 494, T. 496, T. 499, T. 500, T. 502, T. 504, T. 506, T. 507, T. 508, T. 509, T. 515, T. 516, T. 517, T. 519, T. 521, T. 522, T. 523, T. 524, T. 526

Publications

14 items

Chronique des fouilles (Bulletin de correspondance hellénique)

Other fieldwork at Amathus · 14

2 more

References

1.V. Karageorghis, 1980, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1979, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 104.
2.Jean-Paul Prête, Isabelle Tassignon, 2001, L'agora d'Amathonte, Cahiers du Centre d'Etudes Chypriotes 31.
3.V. Karageorghis, 1982, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1981, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 106.
4.V. Karageorghis, 1973, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1972, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 97.
5.V. Karageorghis, 1988, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1987, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 112.
6.V. Karageorghis, 1975, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1974, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 99.
7.V. Karageorghis, 1976, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1975, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 100.
8.V. Karageorghis, 1977, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1976, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 101.
9.V. Karageorghis, 1978, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1977, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 102.
10.V. Karageorghis, 1979, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1978, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 103.
11.V. Karageorghis, 1981, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1980, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 105.
12.V. Karageorghis, 1983, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1982, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique.
13.V. Karageorghis, 1984, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1983, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 108.
14.V. Karageorghis, 1985, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1984, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 109.
15.V. Karageorghis, 1987, Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1986, Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 111.
16.Pierre Aupert, 2015, Duplex Amathusia, Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 45.
17.Anthi Kaldeli, 2009, Trade and the transmission of Roman values to Cyprus, as evidenced by the amphorae, Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 39.
18.Pavlos Flourentzos, 2007, An unknown Graeco-Roman temple from the lower town of Amathous, Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 37.

Sources

1.More than a Church: Late Antique Ecclesiastical Complexes in Cyprus, p. 40.
2.Trade and the transmission of Roman values to Cyprus, as evidenced by the amphorae, p. 371.
3.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1975, p. 888; pp. 51–54.
4.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1976, p. 1977; pp. 58–60.
5.L'apport des fouilles françaises d'Amathonte à l'archéologie chypriote, p. 88.
6.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1967, p. 348.
7.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1972, pp. 86–88.
8.Archaeology in Cyprus, 1969–76.
9.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1974, pp. 37–39.
10.An unknown Graeco-Roman temple from the lower town of Amathous, p. 299.
11.Roman amphorae from Cyprus: integrating trade and exchange in the Mediterranean, p. 57.
12.Chronique d'archéologie chypriote, p. 49.
13.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1977, pp. 45–46.
14.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1980, pp. 34–35.
15.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1984, p. 66.
16.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1987, p. 804; pp. 40–41.
17.Archaeology in Cyprus, 1976–80, p. 66.
18.Archaeology in Cyprus, 1981–85.
19.Egypt and Cyprus in Antiquity: proceedings of the international conference, Nicosia, 3–6 April 2003, p. 118.
20.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1978, pp. 37–38.
21.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1979, pp. 35–37.
22.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1981, p. 47.
23.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1982, pp. 31–32.
24.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1983, p. 65.
25.Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques à Chypre en 1986, pp. 34–61; pp. 30–31.
26.Encore des chapiteaux hathoriques, p. 67.
27.La sculpture en marbre à Chypre à l'époque hellénistique et sous l'Empire : essai de bilan, p. 157.
28.Duplex Amathusia, p. 90.
29.Archaeological News from Cyprus, 1977–1978, p. 68.
30.Archaeological News from Cyprus, 1972, p. 432.
31.Une tête de Bès chypriote au Musée de Cannes, p. 24.