Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Archaeologist · Excavator

Paul W. Lapp

d. 1970 · United States

Near Eastern archaeologist. Worked for Institute for Cypriot Studies, SUNY Albany; worked with John C. Overbeck and James Heaphey.

Life and work

  1. 1970
    After refusing to work under the new conditions in the West Bank, went to Cyprus to find a site to excavate and was attracted to Idalion, which looked like a Palestinian tell.

    IdalionDavis 1989

  2. 1970
    Asked, at the instigation of Prof. James Heaphey (SUNY Albany), whose new Institute for Cypriot Studies had been assigned Idalion by government authority, to form a team and start excavation in 1970; Mary Goggin supported the plan.

    IdalionStager et al. 1974

  3. 1970
    Planned with John Overbeck (SUNY Albany) to open excavations at Idalion in spring 1970; after Lapp's accidental death only mapping of the city site and surface reconnaissance were done.

    IdalionNicolaou 1972

  4. April 1970
    Drowned in a violent undertow while swimming at the 'Six-mile Beach' west of Kyrenia, a few days before digging was to begin, aged 39.

    KyreniaStager et al. 1974Davis 1989

  5. 1971
    G. Ernest Wright (president of ASOR) intervened so that the Idalion permit was not lost; the project was reactivated in 1971 as the American Expedition to Idalion with field direction left to Anita Walker and Larry Stager.

    IdalionDavis 1989Stager et al. 1974

Connections

3 people
John C. OverbeckGeorge Ernest WrightJames HeapheyPaul W. Lapp
FieldworkColleagues

Fieldwork & employment

Colleagues & contacts

Sources

  1. 1.Thomas W. Davis (1989). “A History of American Archaeology on Cyprus”. The Biblical Archaeologist 52, 163-169. Online
  2. 2.Kyriakos Nicolaou (1972). “Archaeological News from Cyprus, 1970”. American Journal of Archaeology 76, 311-320.
  3. 3.L. E. Stager (ed.), A. Walker (ed.), G. E. Wright (ed.) (1974). American Expedition to Idalion, Cyprus: First Preliminary Report, Seasons of 1971 and 1972. American Schools of Oriental Research.
  4. 4.Eric M. Meyers (ed.) (1997). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. New York, Oxford University Press.