Nicosia - Cyprus Museum

Nicosia (aka Lefkosia) is the capital of Cyprus. Its northern part is the de facto capital of Northern Cyprus. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years.

In 1960, Nicosia became the capital of the Republic of Cyprus, a state established by the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. In 1974, there was a coup d'état led by the Greek military junta to unite the island with Greece. The coup ousted president Makarios III and precipitated the invasion of the island by the Turkish army. The Turkish army advanced their positions, eventually capturing 37% of Cypriot territory including the northern part of Nicosia.

Today, Nicosia is divided by the Green Line into a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot quarter, which is monitored by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force.

There are more than a dozen archeological museum ons Caprus, but the Cyprus Museum is the oldest and largest archaeological museum in Cyprus.

The museum was founded in 1882 to preserve the country’s ancient art treasures. The background to this was that Cyprus was, at that time, being systematically plundered of its archaeological treasures. The American ambassador, Luigi Palma di Cesnola, alone had acquired 35,000 artefacts for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, whilst his brother, Alessandro Palma di Cesnola, stood trial for art theft. A law passed in 1905 to protect archaeological remains enabled the museum to safeguard artefacts and sites more effectively. In 1908, the museum moved to its current building and in 1961, an extension was added to the building.

Kernos
Bellapais-Vounous necropolis, clay, bronze age, c 2025-1850 BCE

The statuette is interpreted as a representation of a female deity or matron deity. The figure has a tall, stylized body and stands on a base with four bowls.

Such idols likely served as symbols of fertility.

Kernos vessels (vessels with multiple bowls), were often used for ritual libations or religious ceremonies in the Early to Middle Cypriot Bronze Age.