The document summarizes the history of Cyprus from the earliest inhabitants over 12,000 years ago to modern times. It describes how Cyprus progressed from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age with inhabitants mining copper on the island. Various foreign rulers then governed Cyprus, including Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Persians. Cyprus became part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. After a period of Arab rule, the island was ruled by the French Lusignan dynasty until the Ottoman conquest in 1570. Cyprus then came under British control in 1878 until gaining independence in 1960. The document outlines this long historical timeline of Cyprus in detail.

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2.  Cyprus became independent in 1960.
 The capital is Nicosia.
 The Cypriot speak Greek and Turkish.
 Cyprus uses Euro as their national currency.
 Cyprus’ timezone is EET (UTC +2), the same
timezone as Estonia.
 Cyprus drives on the left.

3. The first inhabitants came to the island about
12 000 years ago. The first villages that were
found date back to 6 000 B.C. The people
used stones to make tools and other
important things. The stone age ended in
3000 B.C.

4. The houses were made of clay. The roofs were
made of thick branches and dry grass. They
made pots and bowls out of clay. They
hunted animals for skin, meat and bones.

5. Copper is a soft metal, which is not the best
material to make tools out of, but it was better
than stones. The Age of Copper lasted from 2500
B.C and ended in 1050 B.C. Cyprus was full of
copper, so it became rich. Very early on, they
made an alloy from tin and copper called bronze,
which was much harder and better for tools. In
1600 B.C, the Greeks colonized Cyprus. In 1200
B.C, there was a great kingdom of Alassia. The
town was built on the delta of the Pedeios river,
which flows into the Mediterranean sea, form
where Cyprus exported it’s copper.

6. Foreign rulers governed Cyprus most of the
time.
In ancient times, Cyprus was made up of many
kingdoms. In 1200 B.C, there was a war
between ancient Greeks and the city of Troy.
Some of the Greek kings who did not return
home, settled in Cyprus.

7.  The religion of ancient Cypriots was
polytheistic, which means they worshipped
many gods. Many temples were built in
Cyprus in honour of the Olympian gods,
several of which were identified with ancient
gods and godesses of ancient Cyprus.
 From the 12th century, when the first Greeks
established themselves on the island, Cyprus
became hellenised, and Cypriots started to
speak Greek.

8.  The Phoenicians came in the 9th century B.C and
confined themselves to the town of Kition.
 Assyrians never established themselves on the
island, they obliged the Cypriot kingdoms to pay
tribute (8th to 7th century B.C).
 Cyprus became an Egyptian colony in 570 B.C
and was mainly used as a supply of copper and
wood.
 In 546 B.C, Cyprus declared itself vassal of the
Persian king Kiros. The Persians allowed the
Cypriots to keep their city states.

9.  The historical period from the life and works
of Alexander the Great up to the
predominance of the Romans is called the
Hellenistic period.
 Th kingdoms of Cyprus kept their
independence ruled by Cypriot kings. When
Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C, the
island fell into the power of Ptolemy Lagus
(king of Egypt, who’s dominance ended the
existence of the Cypriot kingdoms, which had
lasted hundreds of years.

10.  In first century B.C, Cyprus was annexed by the
Roman empire. The capital of Cyprus became
Pafos.
 Romans constructed new roads, which linked all
the towns of the island.
 The conditions of peace that prevailed during the
Roman period, accelerated economic
development and contributed to a situation of
political stability on the island.
 The Romans built amphitheatres, musical
conservatories, gymnasia (stadiums), aqueducts
and private dwellings, the ruins of which have
survived to the present day.

11.  In 45 A.D, the apostels Barnabas and Paul and
Mark the Evangelist came to Cyprus. Slowly
Christianity began to spread.
 Barnabas, who was stoned to death by the
Jews and the Romans, became the much-
loved saint of all Cyprus.
 In 313, Christianity was declared as the
official religion of the Roman state.

12.  In the 7th century, Arabs started to raid Cyprus.
Byzantium was then very weak militarily and
economically, for a short period, the taxes
Cyprus paid were divided between the Arabs and
the Byzantines.
 In 965 the Arabs were defeated and liberated
Cyprus. Cyprus again became an important
strategic centre.
 The commerce with the West expanded greatly
during this period. Cyprus sold aromatic plants
and wine. Merchants of Cyprus became very rich.

13.  The crusades played a great role in the
history of Cyprus.
 Richard the Lionheart, king of England,
conquered Cyprus during the 3rd Crusade.
Richard I sold Cyprus to the Templar Knights,
who imposed very heavy taxes on Cypriots
and were finally rushed out from Cyprus.
 Richard then sold Cyprus to Guy de Lusignan
in 1193.

14.  The kingdom of the Lusignans lasted for 3
centuries. It was a Frankish kingdom.
 Main social classes during that period:
◦ The feudal lords
◦ The urban class
◦ The settlers or colonists
◦ The Perpirarii
◦ The Enfranchised (freed slaves)

15.  The Ottomans landed in Lemessos in 1570.
When the Ottomans overran the island, they
looted all the palaces and the stately houses.
They turned the Frankish churches into
mosques. They left the Orthodox churches to
Orthodox Christians, the Latins either
escaped from the island or became Christian
or embraced the Moslem faith.

16.  The Greek War of Independence, also known as
the Greek Revolution was a successful war of
independence waged by Greek revolutionaries
against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and
1830.
 In total, over 1000 Cypriots fought in the War of
Independence, many of whom died.
 In total, it is estimated that over 2,000 Greeks of
Cyprus were slaughtered as an act of revenge for
participating in the revolution. This was a very
significant proportion of the total population of
the island at the time.

17.  The British rule of Cyprus began in 1878.
 The British rented Cyprus from the Ottomans.
 In 1914, the Ottomans were the allies of
Germany.
 In 1925, the British declared Cyprus as crown
colony.
 Cyprus was for the British an essential colony,
a base and a military platform during the
Second World War.

18.  In 1960, Cyprus became independent after the enactment of the Zurich-
London agreements.
 In 1st of May, 2004, Cyprus became part of the EU.
 In 1st of January, 2008, Cyprus became part of the eurozone.
 The Republic of Cyprus has de jure sovereignity over the entire island,
including its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, with the
exception of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, which
remain under British control according to the London and Zürich
Agreements. However, the Republic of Cyprus is de facto partitioned into
two main parts: the area under the effective control of the Republic,
located in the south and west, and comprising about 59% of the island's
area; and the north, administered by the self-declared Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus, covering about 36% of the island's area. Another
nearly 4% of the island's area is covered by the UN buffer zone. The
international community considers the northern part of the island as
territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces. The
occupation is viewed as illegal under international law, amounting to
illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of
the European Union.

19. I hope you enjoyed

20.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_War_of_I
ndependence
 “Join us and discover the history of Cyprus”
Leto Severis, Maria Pyliotou, Nicosia 1999