The most current expedition led by Peter Fischer at Hala Sultan Tekke, near the modern-day city of Larnaca on the south coast of Cyprus, started in 2010 and has continued for 13 seasons. The excavations have shown that the city covered at least 25 hectares, 14 of which comprised its center, surrounded by a city wall. The workshops produced a lot of soot and were positioned in the north of the city so that the winds generally from the south would blow the odor and the soot away from the city. The name of the Bronze Age city comes from the exploration having at first called the website after the mosque, Hala Sultan Tekke, which now stands close to the excavation website. Trade grew in the city for nearly 500 years, but like numerous other sophisticated Bronze Age civilizations around the Mediterranean, Hala Sultan Tekke collapsed just after 1200 BC.
” Our excavations and investigations show that Hala Sultan Tekke was larger than was formerly thought, covering a location of some 25 to 50 hectares, which is a big city by that durations requirements. Typically, settlements at this time and in this location covered just a couple of hectares,” says Peter Fischer.
Throughout the Bronze Age, Cyprus was the largest copper manufacturer around the Mediterranean. This metal alloyed with tin formed the basis for making bronze which was then utilized for casting tools, weapons, and precious jewelry before iron started being used.
” Remains in the city show substantial copper production in the kind of smelting heating systems, cast molds, and slag. The ore from which the copper was extracted was brought into the city from mines in the neighboring Troodos Mountains. The workshops produced a lot of soot and were put in the north of the city so that the winds generally from the south would blow the odor and the soot far from the city. Today, this kind of production would be difficult, considering that the production process generates waste items such as arsenic, lead, and cadmium, however at that time individuals did not know how hazardous the process was,” states Peter Fischer.
Imported products from Sardinia (1 ), Italy (2 ), Crete (3 ), Greece (4 ), Türkiye (5 ), Israel (6 ), Egypt (7 ), Iraq (8 ), locket with beads and a scarab (Ramesses II) from Egypt, Afghanistan and India (9) have actually all been discovered in Hala Sultan Tekke. Credit: T. Bürge
Large amounts of imported goods
The central location of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean and a well-protected harbor created very favorable conditions for vibrant sell Hala Sultan Tekke. Big quantities of imported items in the type of pottery, jewelry, and other high-end items from neighboring regions such as modern-day Greece, Türkiye, the Middle East, and Egypt, in addition to longer-distance imports from Sardinia, the Baltic Sea region, Afghanistan and India have actually been found. These finds show that the city was among the biggest trade hubs in the duration 1500– 1150 BC and was of excellent value during the initial period of worldwide trade in the location.
The city likewise exported and produced pottery with particular painted concepts of plants, humans, and animals. The scientists refer to the artist behind these painted concepts as the Hala Sultan Tekke painter.
” The excellent aspect of the many pottery discovers is that we can help our colleagues around the Mediterranean and beyond. No pottery has the exact same spread as the desirable Cypriot pottery during this period. By finding locally made pottery that we can date in the very same layer as other imported pottery that was previously challenging to date, we can integrate these and assist associates date their finds,” states Peter Fischer.
The name of the Bronze Age city comes from the exploration having initially named the website after the mosque, Hala Sultan Tekke, which now stands near the excavation site. Trade thrived in the city for nearly 500 years, but like numerous other advanced Bronze Age civilizations around the Mediterranean, Hala Sultan Tekke collapsed simply after 1200 BC. The dominating hypothesis was that the Sea Peoples got into the eastern Mediterranean around this time, destroying its cities and bringing the Bronze Age civilizations to an end.
There are now new analyses of written sources from this period in Anatolia (modern-day Türkiye), Syria, and Egypt, which tell of epidemics, scarcity, revolutions, and acts of war by invading peoples. All of this may have had a domino impact, that individuals in search of much better living conditions moved from the central Mediterranean towards the south-east, thus coming into conflict with the cultures in modern-day Greece, on Cyprus and in Egypt,” concludes Peter Fischer.
Reference: “Interregional trade at Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus: Analysis and chronology of imports” by Peter M. Fischer, 14 November 2022, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.DOI: 10.1016/ j.jasrep.2022.103722.
Copper slag from one of the citys workshops. Credit: T. Bürge
Scientists from the University of Gothenburg have exposed proof that highlights the significance of the Cypriot village of Hala Sultan Tekke throughout the Late Bronze Age. Through excavations, the group has established that the villages tactical area and its plentiful reserves of the coveted metal copper played an important function in making it one of the most important trade hubs throughout the early phases of worldwide trade in the Mediterranean. The findings have actually been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
” We have actually found big quantities of imported pottery in Hala Sultan Tekke, however also high-end products made from gold, silver, ivory, and semi-precious gemstones which reveal that the citys production of copper was a trading product in high demand,” says Peter Fischer, emeritus professor at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Gothenburg and the leader of the excavations.
The most recent expedition led by Peter Fischer at Hala Sultan Tekke, near the modern-day city of Larnaca on the south coast of Cyprus, started in 2010 and has actually continued for 13 seasons. The excavations have actually shown that the city covered at least 25 hectares, 14 of which comprised its center, surrounded by a city wall.
