The 'Royal Tombs' at Salamis (Cyprus)

Ideological Messages of Power and Authority

Abstract

The rich burial assemblages ('Royal Tombs') excavated in a cemetery to the west of the ancient burial city of Salamis on the eastern coast of Cyprus have attracted widespread notice. Standard interpretations of these Iron Age burials characterize them simple as ostentatious displays by a few petty kings of Salamis with a mixture of Near Eastern and 'Homeric' styles and formats. The focus of this article is a re-examination of these burial assemblages in light of the major political, social and economic changes that occurred in Cypriote society in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. These changes were stimulated and influenced by the Phoneticians and in a lesser, indirect fashion by the Assyrians. The central thesis argued here is that the assemblages should be viewed as conscious, symbolic statements of political, social and economic power by the first rulers of the kingdom of Salamis. The ideological messages contained in various components of the burials were intended to impress upon members of the highest stratum of Salaminium society the legitimacy of the new kings' power and authority in a cost-effective fashion. When this manipulation of the power base was no longer required to consolidate and manipulate the kings' position, this particular medium of ritual communication ceased to be used in Cyprus.