Ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus
ten city-kingdoms of ancient Cyprus listed by the Assyrian king Esarhaddon
The "ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus" is a traditional term for the autonomous polities run by basileis on the island of Cyprus in the late Iron Age and early Classical antiquity. The term, derived from a 673–672 BC tribute list of the Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon, is doubly imprecise by standards of modern scholarship. The actual number of polities fluctuated over time until their final dissolution under the Ptolemies in the late 4th century BC, and the designation "city-kingdom" has been called into question in favor of the more conventional terms "city-states" or "poleis". Historical sources and modern scholarship identify additional autonomous Cypriot centers including Amathus and Lapathus, with twelve such polities being a widely accepted count. The "city-kingdom" polities were largely autonomous, with alternating periods of Phoenician influence and Assyrian client-king status. Their sovereign structures collapsed during the Wars of the Diadochi (322–272 BC) and were finally dissolved under Ptolemaic administration in the early 3rd century BC.
Esarhaddon's list
The names of ten of the "city-kingdoms" of Cyprus are listed in a 673–672 BC inscription found in Nineveh and attributed to Esarhaddon, who ruled the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669. Esarhaddon recorded the polity names alongside their respective rulers:
Idalion (Edi'il), ruled by Akestor (Ekištūra)
Chytri (Kitrusi), ruled by Philagoras (Pilagurâ)
Salamis (Sillu'ua), ruled by Kīsu
Paphos (Pappa), ruled by Etewandros (Itūandar)
Soli (Silli), ruled by Erēsu
Kourion (Kuri), ruled by Damasos (Damāsu)
Tamassos (Tamesi), ruled by Admetos (Admēsu)
Qarti-hadasti ("New Town" / Kition), ruled by Damysos (Damūsi)
Ledra (Lidir), ruled by Onasagoras (Unasagusu)
Marion (Nuria), ruled by Buthytes (Buṣusu)
Seven of these ten client rulers bore Greek names, while three held West Semitic or Phoenician names. Esarhaddon's list omits the contemporary polities of Amathus and Lapathus.
History
Origins
The "city-kingdom" system has its roots in the transition from the Middle (1900–1600 BC) to the Late Bronze Age (1600–1200 BC), which saw a shift from prehistoric communities to a protohistoric, literate society which drove the island's later urban development and social stratification.
In the Late Bronze Age, the major Cypriot polity of Alashiya maintained an international maritime trade network that developed into a system of independent city-states which became known as "city-kingdoms".
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