SOME EVIDENCE FROM CYPRUS

OF APOLLINE CULT IN THE BRONZE AGE*

The universality of his nature, his aloofness and distance
from worshippers have made Apollo the most emgmatic member
of the Olympian family of gods. His origins and history are
obscure, and are likely to remain so, because the Apollo we meet
in c1assical Greek religion is a composite figure resulting from
a combination of elements whose age and provenance are diffi-
cult to disentangle. The god's strong oriental connections have
long been recognized, and since Nilsson they have been establish-
ed on a scientific foundation. In fact it has become fashionable
to seek Apollo's horne in the east whence he is believed to have
come to Greece and the western Aegean in general about 800
B.C. or even later
l
).
This date seems unduly pessimistic, however, and does not
agree with the evidence of the history and distribution of Greek
cult. Although his name does not appear on the extant Linear
B records, important features of Apollo's Arcadian and Laconian
cult associations imply his presence in that part of the world
before the end of the Bronze Age
2
). Apollo's festivals, like those
of his sister Artemis, were not confined to one ethnic or tribaI
group such as the Dorians 3), which means that he was worshipped
in Greece before the lomans and Dorians had gone their separate
ways and evolved individual dialects. Certain aspects of the
c1assical Apollo had come to the west quite early therefore and
these it should be possible to isolate without attempting any kind
of unrewarding search for one single origin of so complex a
figure.
One promising line of research in this respect consists in
the ancient tradition of Apolline cults in Cyprus. Of special
interest for our purposes is Apollo's identification in Idalion with
*) The main arguments of this paper were incorporated in a lecture
which was delivered at the XIIIth Congress of the International Association
for the History of Religions, in Lancaster, August 1975.
I) B.g. C. Schaeffer, "Gtter der Nord- und Inselvlker in Zypern",
Archiv fr Grientforschung 21 (1965) 68.
2) Cf W.Fauth, Der Kleine Pauly "ApolIon", 446.
3) J. Sarkady, "Die jonischen Feste und die jonische Vorgeschichte",
Acta Classica Debrecen 1 (1965) 15 f.
1 Rhein. Mus. f. PhiJoJ. 12lfl
2 B. C. Dietrich
the Syrian Reshef. A fourth century B.C. bilingual inscription
4
)
from there - Phoenician-Cypriot syllabic - translates the Phoeni-
cian Reshef Mikal into Greek as Apollo Amyklos. Amyklos and
Amyklaios are obviously identical in this equation, for the latter
occurs on another dedication (third century) to Apollo Amyklaios
by a certain Mnaseas and was written in alphabetic Greek5).
The Phoenician Reshefpossessed an equally universal nature
as the Greek Apoll0 6) and both gods would readily have been
identified in the minds of Greek and Phoenician worshippers in
Cyprus. The dosest points of contact seem to have been their
protecting, apotropaeic and purificatory powers which were also
responsible for their common attributes of bow and arrows 7).
More surprising is the juxtapositionin Idalion of the two epithets
Mikal and Amyklos, Amyklaios, because the latter were strictly
localized titles oE Apollo in Laconian Amyklai 8) and in Gortyn,
Crete
9
).
4) CIS I, 89; Reshef Mikal's name occurs on five other Phoenician
dedications from Idalion, CIS I, 90-94.
5) Mnaseas was a hellenized Phoenician, according to O.Masson,
Cultes Indigenes, Cultes Grecs et Cultes Orientaux aChypre (Elements Orientaux
dans la Religion Grecque Ancienne), Paris 1960, 138; Syria 45 (1968) 308.
6) The most recent study of the god is by D.Conrad, "Der Gott
Reschef", Zeitschriftfr die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 83 (1971) 157-183.
Other modern discussions of the topic are referred to in Syria 45 (1968) 307
n.I. See now also W.Burkert, "Rdep-Figuren, Apollon von Amyklai und
die "Erfindung" des Opfers auf Cypern", Grazer Beitrge 4 (1975) 51-79.
This last article came to hand after the present essay had been written, but
it is gratifying to see that on some fundamental points of Apollo's eady
history and cult in Cyprus Prof. Burkert's conclusions are not dissimilar
to mine.
7) The god sends death as weH as heals sickness. Reshef's bow, arrows
and lance are shown in 17th century B. C. Syrian iconography - P. Matthiae,
Or. An. 2 (1963) 35 ff., PI. XIV-, and are described in Ugaritic texts, Con-
rad, Ztschrft. (1971) 172. The etymology ofrsp. (e.g. in the Keretepic) appears
to be "pestilence", Conrad, op. cit. 159. Conrad is, however, more inclined
(p. 181 n. 191) to emphasize the common nature of Apollo and Reshef as
war and solar gods. However, ApoHo's solar nature most likely belonged to
a later stage of the god's development, cf M. P. Nilsson, Geschichte der grie-
chischen Religion", Munich 1967, 529. Cf. Wernicke, P.-W. "Apollon" 2of.;
Fauth, Kleiner Pauly, "Apollon" 442. Burkert also favours the theory that
Reshefwith bow and arrows was a kind of"Kriegergott' (Gr.B. (1975) 56),
and he cites as an example ofthis figure the terracotta head from the Laconian
Amyklaion (op. cit. 64).
8) Polybius 5, 19, 3.
9) Law of Gortyn III, 8; SGDI II, 5016, 24 = name of month Amy-
klaios.
Some Evidence from Cyprus of Apolline Cult in the Bronze Age 3
Since Greek speakers settled in Cyprus some three to four
centuries before the Phoenicians, it was thought that the name
Mikal was the Semitic transcription of Amyklos
10
) whose cult
had been imported from Laconia. One of the dedications 11)
actually referred to Reshef Mikal of Idalion suggesting that this
combination was peculiar to the place
I2
). This conclusion proved
to be wrong, however, since a fifth century inscription from
Kition refers to Mikal on his own13). Some other compelling
evidence establishes Mikal as an independent god of Semitic
origin in Beth Shan as early as the fourteenth century B. CH).
It is hardly surprising then that the position was reversed and
Amyklos came to be thought of as a Greek transcription of the
Canaanite Mikal
I5
). In other words, Amyklos, Amyklaios were
now said to have arisen from the Semitic god16) after the arrival
in Cyprus of the Phoenician colonists
l7
) late in the ninth cen-
turyI8), and consequently possessed no cultic significance of their
own. If, however, the syncretism of Reshef Mikal and Apollo
Amyklos was confined to Cyprus 19), it is hard to explain why
10) References are collected in Masson, Cultes 138 and n. 5.
11) CIS I, 90.
12) Cf. A. Caquot-O. Masson, "Deux Inscriptions Pheniciennes de
Chypre", Syria 45 (1968) 308. Compare two other fourth century bilinguals
from Tamassos with dedications to Apollo Heleitas and Alasiotas. The
epithets are Cypriot toponyms which were translated into the Phoenician
equivalents, Revue des Etudes Semitiques 1212, 1213. Masson, Cultes 139, cites
and righdy rejects the idea that Alasiotas was a place name in the Peloponnese
from which the tide under discussion was derived.
13) CIS I, 86A-B, I. 14. Cf A. van den Branden, "Elenco delle Spese
del tempio di Cition, CIS 86A et B", Bibliotheca OrientaNs 8 (1966) 245-62.
14) The name Mikal occurs on an Egyptian stele from the temple at
Beth Shan which was dedicated to the god by Thuthmosis III, L. H. Vincent,
Rev. Bib. 37 (1928) 524-8; A. Rowe, The Topography and History of Beth Shan,
Philadelphia 1930, 14f.; W. A. Ward, "The Egyptian Inscriptions of Level
VI", in E. W. James, The Iron Age at Beth Shan, Philadelphia Univ. Mus. 1966,
171; Conrad, Ztschrft. (1971) 164.
15) E.g. W.F.Albright, Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, Balti-
more 1956, 79; Masson, Cultes I 38f.; Syria 45 (1968) 309f.; M.Astour, Hel-
lenosemitica, Leiden 1965, 311; Burkert, Gr.B. 4 (1975) 70.
16) I.e. Mikal + prothetic a-; Astour, ibM.
17) Syria45 (1968) FO.O.EissfeldtbelievesthatMikalarrivedinCyprus
from the east during the second millennium B. c., "Philister und Phnizier",
Der Alte Orient 34 (1936) 15.
18) Masson, Cultes 137; G.F.Hill, A History of Cyprus, Cambridge
1940, I, 96ff.; E.Gjerstad, Swedish Cyprus Expedition IV, 2, 436ff.; V.Kara-
georghis, B.C.H. 96, (1972) 1064; K.Nicolaou, A.J.A. 77 (1973) H.
19) Syria 45 (1968) 312.
4
B. C. Dietrich
the cult of Apollo Amyklos should only have travelled to one
other site and nowhere else, unless concealed beneath the Lacon-
ian Amyklos there lay an older cult which was the same as that
in honour of Reshef - Apollo in Cyprus 20). This point will come
up again presently.
Although Mikal seems real enough on the Beth Shan stele 21)
receiving worship no later than the second half of the second
millennium B. C. 22), certain features do cast doubt on his inde-
pendent personality. These are in the main the Idalion inscrip-
tions in which Mikal was reduced to an epithet of Reshef23), and
to our knowledge Mikal was only ever associated with Reshef.
Also suspicious is the use of the definite article between Reshef
and Mikal in an unpublished dedication from the same localit
y
24).
Reshef the Mikal apparently demonstrates the adjectival quality
of the title. Considered from the point of cultic significance it is
immaterial, of course, whether Mikal was a toponym, since
places generally owed their names to gods and cults and not the
other way round. The case against Mikal's being a place name
is certainly not as strong as Caquot and Masson believe 25) in
view of e.g. Apollo's numerous localized epithets - especially in
Cyprus -, or those of Reshef or BaaI
26
). Appearances notwith-
standing, it is impossible to be sure that Mikal existed merely in
the shadow of Reshef27): more probably he achieved personal
status in his own right but was subsequently absorbed by the
greater god. What is certain, however, is that Reshef and Mikal
came together early, i.e. before Phoenician settlement in Cyprus
20) Cf Hill, Hist. Cypr. I, 87 n. 3.
21) Theories of Mikal's Sumerian origin are generally based on the
god's and Reshef's affinity with the chthonic figure of Nergal- W.F.Al-
bright, Bulletin of the American Schoolof Oriental Research 90 (1943) 33 f.;
Astour, Hellen. 309f. This derivation is unconvincing mainly because of
Reshef's universal nature. Etymologies of Mikal from Sumerian also remain
suspect, cf. Syria 45 (1968) 310.
22) Rowe proposed- Topography ofB. Shan, 17- that Mikal was brought
to Beth Shan by mercenaries from the western Mediterranean. See Caquot's
and Masson's argument against this in Syria (1968) 309 n. 6.
2.3) ].B.Peckham, "Notes on a Fifth-Century Phoenician Inscription
from Kition, Cyprus (CIS 86)", Orientalia 37 (1968) 320, explains this as
a syncretism of the Phoenician Mikal of Kition with the Apollo of Idalion
which was politically subject to the former city in the fifth century.
24) Now in the British Museum.
25) Syria (1968) 310.
26) Conrad, Ztschrft. (1971) 175.
2.7) See n. 25.
Some Evidence from Cyprus of Apolline Cult in the Bronze Age
and during the Bronze Age. Conrad convincingly argues that
Reshef and Mikal were also associated outside Cyprus namely at
Beth Shan28). The stele there was dedicated by Egyptians to the
local god Mikal who is shown, not unnaturally in the circum-
stances, in the form, and with the attributes, of the Egyptian
Seth, because Seth often replesented 'foreign' gods including
both Mikal and Reshef
29
). Now the archaeological remains in
the temple area at Beth Shan indicate continuity of cult between
Levels IX (14th century) and V (IO/9th century), which means
quite probably that the same god was worshipped as the Lord
of Beth Shan for these four or five centuries, even though he
was called Mikal on the Egyptian stele but Reshef on a tenth
century seal from the same place30).
There has been a good deal of speculation about the etymo-
logy of Mikal
31
), much of which is linguistically possible but
difficult to prove in view of Mikal's elusive background. How-
ever, the explanation which is both philologically sound and fits
the religious context translates Mikal by "Lord, the All-power-
ful" ete.
32
). Some other divine names of the Canaanite pantheon
simply mean "Lord" or "King"33). In Syrian religion Baal signi-
fied "Master, Lord", so did Adon, while melek meant "King"34).
A few of these never rose beyond epithets 35); others, like Mikal,
were gods in their own right, though they too tended to be
closely associated with a major deity. This was the case for
example with Adonis whose history conceals important informa-
tion about the cultural relationship of Canaan and Cyprus. Muta-
tis mutandis the association between Reshef and Mikal really re-
28) Ztsehrft. (1971) 165.
29) Conrad, op. eit. 165; 167.
30) The gods' attributes are similar. Mikal carried a sceptre and the
symbol oflife in his hands. A conical cap on his head has a pair ofhorns in
front from which bands are suspended. On the seal Reshef is shown holding
sickle-sword and the symbol oflife sign. He is wearing the same type conical
cap but with the head of a gazelle in front and double bands at the back.
Conrad, Ztsehrft. (1971) 165; 175.
31) Astour, Hellen. 311 f.; Caquot-Masson, Syria 45 (1968) 31of. have
made up a list of recent proposals.
32) For references see Syria (1968) 31of. and Conrad, op. eit. 166 n. 65;
175 f. Cf Burkert, Gr.B. 4 (1975) 69, "der Mchtige".
33) The general Semitic word for god - e/- means "power".
34) H. Ringgren, The Religion of Aneient Syria in Historia Religionum,
Leiden 1969, 1,198; 200, ete.
35) This seems to be true of me/ek, which is recorded e.g. as a tide of
Reshef - Ugaritiea V TML 12: VO 7.
6 B. C. Dietrich
sembled that of Astarte, Aphrodite with Adonis whose inde-
pendent name and perhaps personalityrepresented a development
in Phoenician religion36).
Invocatory titles like "King" and "Lord" were used by the
Minoans and Mycenaeans whose habit of calling their gods
Wanax, Wanassa and Potnia is reflected in the Linear B tablets.
The custom survived to some extent in Greek literature
37
) and
in a particular type of cult
38
) which from the beginning had re-
volved about the figure of the Wanax. Many of the cult's basic
aspects the Mycenaeans shared with the Minoans and ultimately
with Syrian and Mesopotamian religions. Therefore the use of
the titles (W)anax, (W)anassa is a sure indication that we are
dealing with an ancient cult which had continued from the
Bronze Age. Cyprus was no exception to the rule: at Paphos an
old tradition recorded that Aphrodite used to be called Wa-
nassa
39
). We cannot press this kind of evidence too far
40
) without
knowing more of the nature of Mikal's and Reshef Mikal's cult
which will become clearer if we consider the background to the
Greek side of the identification.
The evidence concerning the Laconian Amyklai has been
examined elsewhere
41
). The site was settled uninterruptedlyfrom
Early Helladic
42
). Although there is, of course, no direct witness
that the name of the settlement remained the same from the
beginning, Greek tradition is unanimous that Amyklai was an
ancient "Achaean" bastion43). Ancient means Bronze Age in this
36) E.g. R.Dussaud, Religion des Phiniciens, Paris 1949, 366.
37) B.C.Dietrich, Tbe Origins of Creek Religion, Berlin 1974, 180ff.
38) B.Hemberg, Anax, Anassa und Anakes, Uppsala 1955,passim.
39) This is her title in local syllabic inscriptions, Masson, Cultes 13 5
40) There was a Mycenaean temple (Sanctuary I) below that of Aphro-
dite at Palaepaphos. Associated finds (horns of consecration, two stone capi-
tals and other architectural features), which are the same as those in similar
sanctuaries at Kition, Enkomi and Myrtou-Pigadhes, date the temple to
the twelfth century B.C., B.C.H. 98 (1974) 874f.
41) "The Dorian Hyacinthia" Kadmos 14 (1975) 133-14
2
.
42) There is abrief ceramic gap between IIOO and 1000 B. C. Sources
and modern discussions are cited in my paper (see previous note). The
archaeological evidence is set out by H. Waterhouse-R.Hope-Simpson,
"Prehistoric Laconia" Parts I & II, B.S.A. 55 (1960) 67-17; 56 (19
61
)
II4-I75. P.lin, Das Ende der mykeniscben Fundstlten auf dem
Festland, Lund 1962, 92f.; V.Desborough, Tbe Last Mycenaeans and tberr Suc-
cessors, Oxford 1964, 88f.; Tbe Creek Dark Ages, London 1972, 240f.; 280;
A.M. Snodgrass, Tbe Dark Ages of Creece, Edinburgh 197
1
, 13
1
; 275
43) E.g. Paus. 3, 2, 6.
47) L.Deroy proposed that Amyklai derived from an Eteocypriot
toponym Samuklai which the Greek setders called Amathous, "La Valeur
du Suffixe Prehellenique -nth- d'apres quelques Noms Grecs en -vOo,",
Glotta 35 (1956) 185.
48) In Crete: Gortynian calendar, I.C. 4,182.,2.3 (3/2.nd cent. B.C.).
49) Amyklaios may have been scratched on a roof tile - I. G. V, 1,
863 - otherwise the tide is used of the cult statue in Amyklai on Laconian
coins of Antigonos Doson (3rd. cent. B. C.) and on imperial coins of Com-
modus and Gallienus. The references have been collected inP.-W. "Sparta"
(Ziehen) 1458.
50) Cf P.-W. "ApolIon" (Jessen) 43; "Sparta" (Ziehen) 1456.
51) Cf Nonnus, Dion. II, 365; 12., 160, where Hyakinthos and Amy-
klaios are identified.
Some Evidence from Cyprus of Apolline Cult in the Bronze Age 7
context, for we may be pretty certain that the Cretan Amyklaion
near Gortyn was founded as early as that from the Laconian
Amyklai 44) even though the name occurs only much later in the
written sources 45). This early date is most important for the
assessment of the Cypriot connection of divinities and cult what-
ever the etymology of Amyklai might be
46
).
There is not much to be learned from this particular research
except that the word need not be Semitic but could be Cypriot
47
).
Also Amyklai, Amyklaios were non-Greek intrusive words like
other mainland toponyms. But the adjectival form does not
quite fit Apollo who was generally referred to as sv 'A,uVXAatq, sv
'A,uvxAar rather than 'A,uvxAaioq, "A,uVXAOq. Amyklaios as cult
tide, and as month name
48
), were comparatively late
49
) as op-
posed to Apollo's more familiar epithet Hyakinthos, Hyakin-
thios 50). This does not imply that Amyklai, Amyklaios and Hya-
kinthos represented two distinct elements in the Laconian
festival: both referred to the same cult which was in Apollo's
charge51). But the significance of the former seems to reside in
44) H.G.Buchholz in his review of F. Kiechle, Lakonien und Sparta,
Munich 1963, in Historische Zeitschrift 2.00 (1965) 368; R. F. Willetts, Cretan
Cults and Festivals, London 1962., 2.61; "Amyklai", Epeteris tou Kentrou
Epistemonikon Ereunon, V, Leukosia, 1971-1972., p f.; Cf Sp. Marinatos,
Arch. Anzeiger (1962.) 915 f. and V. Ehrenberg, From Solon to Socrates, Lon-
don 1968, 382. n. 8, " ... ifthat name (Amyklaion) was imported from La-
conia ... it points to a pre-Dorian colony". For a different view see Kiechle,
op. cit. 78.
45) Law ofGortyn III, 5-9; I.C. 4,172. (3/2.nd century B.C.) refers to
Amyklaion; cf. Steph. Byzant. 'A/.Ltmilm[aTt "al n6ilt, 'A/.Lv"ilawv Sv K e ~ T n
"aloe/.Lo,.
46) Amyklai is an Aegean, pre-Greek word, according to ].B.Haley,
"The Coming ofthe Greeks", A.J.A. 32. (192.8) 145; A.Fick, Vorgriechische
Ortsnamen als Quelle fr die Vorgeschichte Griechenlands, Gttingen 195, 91;
113
8 B. C. Dietrich
its particular form of cuIt building or locality, such as for example
its open position on a hill 52) prior to the transference of the
Amyklaion to Crete, i. e. before the end of the Bronze Age. Amy-
klai doubtless referred to a central aspect of the Laconian cult
which was also connected with Hyakinthos and with Apollo who
absorbed the former figure in his own worship. The ReshefMikal
- Apollo Amyklos notices of Idalion similarly reflected actual
cult which should not have materially differed from that in
Amyklai.
The archaeological evidence is explicit: Achaeans came to
Cyprus in large numbers from the end of the thirteenth century
B.C. in Late Cypriot IIJ53). Greek tradition tells the same story
of settlement in Cyprus following the Trojan War, particularly
from Arcadia and Laconia54). Accounts like Agapenor's founding
of Paphos, or that of Lapethos by Laconian Praxandros, arose
from historical events 55) and largely agree with the archaeological
evidence
56
). Thus firm ties bound Cyprus to the Peloponnese,
so that religious ideas, deities and cuIt were passing both ways
across the Aegean before the Bronze Age had been rung out
5
?).
Pausanias records the curious popular memory of Laodike,
daughter of Arcadian Agapenor, dedicating atempIe to Aphro-
dite Paphia in her old horne in Tegea58). Should one not then
consider the very real possibility that the name Amyklai came
52) See below n. 77 for the possible connection of Hyakinthos with
peak cult. Cypriot cult shared with that of the Mycenaeans the use of open
air sanctuaries. See the archaeological reports of e.g. Kition cited below and
R. V. Nicholls, "Greek votive statuettes and religious continuity, c. 1200
-700 B.C.", in Auckland Classical Essays, presented to E.M.Blaiklock (B.F.
Harris ed.), Auckland 1970, 8; 9.
53) H. W. Catling, "Cyprus in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Periods",
C.A.H.2 1966, II, 22 (b) 64f.; V. Karageorghis, The Ancieni Civilization of
Cyprus, London 1969, 62f.
54) See Steph. Byzant.Aaxsatllwv[an xai ideaAaxsatllwv Kv:rr.eov
IlsaOyEtO'. Eust. 11.2,581, [an e xai Kv:rr.etaAaxsatllwv.
55) Paus. 8, 5, 2; Lycophr. 479ff.; Strabo 14, 683, 682; Lycophr. 586ff.
andschol. The evidence has beencollected by E. Gjerstad, "The Colonization
of Cyprus in Greek Legend", Opuscula Archaeologica 3 (1944) 17-123;
Kiechle, Lakonien 68-75.
56) Compare Gjerstad, op. eil. 1I2; II 9. Kiechle has to make room for
the Dorian invasion of Greece and accordingly postpones the migration to
Cyprus until after the Mycenaean Age, p. 72.
57) This point has been debated by some modern scholars, e.g. K.J.
Beloch, Griechische Geschichte
2
, Strassburg 1913, I, 2, 106; Gjerstad, Op. Arch.
(1944) IIof., who also cites Enmann.
58) Paus. 8, 53, 7
Some Evidence from Cyprus of Apolline Cult in the Bronze Age 9
from Cyprus or even further east
59
)? But questions about the
"how" and "when" of this transmission are still beyond uso
The earliest remains of cult at Amyklai belong to L. H.
IIIB/e. They consist of typical Mycenaean "Psi" figurines and
wheel-made animals 60). Miniature votive double axes complete
the pieture of a Minoan-Mycenaean type cult which survived the
end of the Bronze Age
61
) and continued in its essentials in the
historical Amyklaian festival. The old Aegean figure of Hyakin-
thos was central to this cult whose apotropaeic content and ritual
attracted the attention of the more important god. Apollo's own
apotropaeic nature and early date of involvement with the Hya-
kinthia are evident from his ancient image at Amyklai for which
Bathycles centuries later buHt the massive marble throne
63
). The
semi-iconic statue was in the form of a bronze pillar, but with
arms, which carried spear and bow, feet and head plus helmet.
The curious form appears on Spartan coins which, though late,
doubtless preserved a tradition that began in prehistoric times 64).
We are reminded ofApollo Pythaios, whose identical armed and
pillar-shaped image stood on the hill Thornax in Laconia. The
cult, too, was the same for both figures, because the Spartans felt
free to use the gold which Croesus had sent for Pythaios to adorn
the Amyklaian Apollo 65).
Stone columns or pillars were extremely common symbols
of Apollo throughout Greece from Acarnania, Laconia, Megara
to Attica and in the east
66
) in his capacity as purifying god,
protector and defender against evil (Alexikakos, Apotropaios) 67).
59) For a different view see Gjerstad, op. eil. II 2.
60) B.S.A. 55 (1960) 75 and n. 44.
61) See the discussion in Kadmof (1975).
62) Celebrated in the month of Hekatombaion, JG V, I, 188, 1. 8;
cf I. Chirassi, Elementi di Culture Preeereali nei Miti e Riti Greei, Rome 1968,
171 and n. 28.
63) Fifth century B.C., Paus. 3, I, 3; 19, 3. The throne concealed
Hyacinthus' tomb in its base.
64) See above n. 47 and F.Imhoof-Blumer and P.Gardner, "Numis-
matic Commentary on Pausanias: Megarica, Corinthiaca",j. H. S. 6 (1885)63.
65) Herod. I, 69; Paus. 3, 10, 8; cf S. Wide, Lakonifebe Kulte, repr.
Darmstadt, 1973,88.
66) The evidence is collected by Reisch, "Agyieus" P.- W. 909 ff.;
A.B.Cook, Zeuf, Cambridge 1925, H, I60ff.; L.R.Farnell, Tbe Cullf of tbc
Greek Statu, Oxford 1907, IV, 371 ff.; S. Solders, "Der ursprngliche Apol-
Ion", AfRW 32 (1935) I42ff.
67) JGHl" 4850; 4995. Cf my article "Minoan Peak Cult: A Reply",
Hiftoria 20 (1971) pof.
10 B. C. Dietrich
His best known epithet in this function was Agyieus 68); but he
could also be called Prostaterios 69), Thyraios 70), Propylaios 71)
ete., as his pillars were placed in front of private houses or
protected public buildings, like theatres and sanctuaries 72), or
even public roads
73
). The shape of the column was typically
baetylic, i. e. pointed or cone-shaped74), and appears on coins
from Oricus, Apollonia and Ambracia 76).
In short the evidence for this aspect of Apollo is strong and
suggests that the god's apotropaeic qualities, together with the
primitive image, belonged to his earliest nature which became
submerged later in a confusing multitudeof functions. Quite
probably, as Nilsson suggests 76), the community and city-god
Apollo Patroos evolved from the function of the protector of
individual homes and byways. However, for our purposes two
points are very important: firstly the history of the divine pillar
in Minoan-Mycenaean cult in general, and secondly the particular
association of this "baetylic" Apollo with the east. Both points
are related really, because they refer to common basic cult
practices and beliefs of the Bronze Age which the Aegean peoples
shared with much of the east at the time. Mycenaean stone and
pillar cult and its beginnings have been fully discussed77): it
seems clear that the anicomc preceded the iconic statue and was
thought to represent the god and his power. Therefore Apollo's
semi-iconic imagery and connection with stone worship are an
indication of the antiguity ofhis cult not only in the east
78
), but
also in the Greek world79), wmch seems to support our conten-
68) Harpocr. q.V. Loxias, Photius, Bib/ioth. 535.
69) See the inscriptions in n. 64.
70) Macrob. 1,9,6, where he cites Nigidius.
71) Aristoph., Wasps 875.
72) E.g. the Athenian Thesmophorion, Aristoph., ibM. and Thesmoph.
73) Herodian, II, 889, 28; schol. Eur., Phoen. 63 I.
74) ",[w'V o;v 7jywv, schol. Aristoph., Wasps 875; Harpocr.; Suidas
q. v. - ",[w'V, schol. Eur., Phoen. 631; Eust. II. 2, 12.
75) Head, Hist. Numm. 265f.; 270.
76) Cesch. I, 557.
77) A.Evans, "The Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult", from].H.S. 21,
London 191; M.P.Nilsson, Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and its Survival in
Creek Religion', Lund 1950, eh. VII; Ceseh. I, 20Iff.; Dietrich, Origins 107ff.
78) Nilsson, Ceseh. I, 562f.
79) Clem. Alex., Strom. I, 418P, cites the poet Eumelus as his authority
that Apollo was worshipped in Delphi in pillar-shape. The god's baetylic
omphalos is probably better evidence for his long residence in Delphi, cf.
Sorne Evidence frorn Cyprus of Apolline Cult in the Bronze Age I I
tion that Apollo came to the Amyklaian cult in Mycenaean times
as protector and defender against eviI
80
).
It seems that the figure of Apollo the protector originated
in the east, possibly in Anatolia: perhaps he had already guarded
the ancient city of Troy, for the baetyls, which were found
flanking the gates of Troy VI, might well have been symbolic
of Agyieus
81
). But the strongest memory of Agyieus' eastern
origins survived in the double function of his stone as divine
image and sacrificial altar
82
). This dual purpose was Semitic and
particularly at horne in Phoenician belief according to which the
stone baitylos served at once as the God's house and His altar
on which He received His sacrifice
83
). Such AtOOl lfl'!jJvXOt inci-
dentally played an important rle in Phoenician Creation Myths,
so that their cultic use also travelled to Greece by the secondary
route84).
It was, one imagines, the apotropaeic and protecting quali-
ties inherent in Apollo's stones and pillars which brought hirn
together with Reshef Mikal in Cyprus. Mikal's precise value in
this equation remains unknown, but independently, or as part
of Reshef, he must have exercised the same functions in this
syncretism as his other partners. Thus it becomes possible to
interpret two items of direct evidence in the light of this cultic
background: Mikal's pillar is actually mentioned in the Kition
inscription85), and there is no reason to suppose that its signi-
Nilsson, Gesch. I, 204. In Megara Apollo Karinos was represented by a small
pyrarnid-shaped stone near the Nyrnphades Gates, Paus. I, 44, 2; Apollo
Lithesios was shown standing beside a stone in Malea, Steph. Byzant. q. v.
Adhjaw,. The same applies, of course, to other Greek deities with sirnilar
associations, like Dionysus Perikionios in Thebes (schol. Eur., Phoen. 65 I;
Clern. Alex., Strom. I 24, 418P); Zeus Meilichios and Arternis (Patroa) in
Sicyon (pyrarnid and pillar, Paus. 2, 9, 6); and Hera (Clern. Alex., ibM.).
80) There is an obvious connection between this type of cult on Ayia
Kyriaki and peak cult which also survived frorn the Minoan-Mycenaean Age.
In classical tirnes Apollo with the epithet of Hyakinthos received offerings
on peak cult sites in Crete (Tylissos) and on the rnainland, B. C. H. 91 (1967)
133 and n. 1.
8I) This was first suggested by W. Drpfeld, Troja undI1ion, 192, 134,
PI. 44 & 45; S. Biegen et al., Troy III, The Sixth Settlement, 1953, 96f.; 15;
PI. 47, 49,50,51,74. Cf Nilsson, Gesch.. 1,562 n. 5, PI. 34, 1.
82) Hesych. q. v. dyvtev,' 6 neo .wvOvewveauiJ, Wf-LO, iv axf)f-Lan "lovo,.
Suidas q. v. dyvtal. ... 01 neo Tiv ol"twv Wf-Lol ...
83) Ringgren, Rel. 01 Anc. Syria I, 210.
84) Dietrich, Origins 55
85) CIS I, 86, I. 14. This is the translation of the Sernitic 'stt (prothetic
12 B. C. Dietrich
ficance greatly differed from that of Apollo's baetyl. Secondly we
are in possession of some interesting information from the ar-
chaeological remains of the Phoenician temple in Kition which
may have housed the dedication. According to the excavator's
report, the entrance to this temple was flanked by two stone
columns, and it does not seem too far fetched to ascribe to these
the same kind of powers that were feIt to reside in the pillars of
Agyieus 86).
There is, however, a depressingly wide chronological gap
between the Achaean and Phoenician periods of colonization and
the inscriptional evidence. This and other grave problems will
have to be squarely faced. The question of continuity, as in
Greece, can to some extent be answered by the archaeological
evidence. It is as weIl to remember, however, that no identifiable
temple of Mikal has yet been uncovered. In Kition, for example,
which has been the site of the most sensational discoveries in
recent years one important Phoenician temple
87
) has come to
light which belonged to Astarte, the Phoenician Aphrodite. Now
the accounts (CIS 86) which mention Mikal's name actually
concerned Astarte's temple, although Mikal is said to have his
own temple. Should we therefore assurne the same temple to
have housed the two ? Perhaps, perhaps not; but the monumental
remains of Kition do in fact suggest that twin deities (male and
female ?) where revered in the temple area. There certainly
existed a dose relationship between the Amyklaian Apollo and
Aphrodite in Laconia88). Possibly the puzzling epithets of
Tetracheir and Tetraotos, which also belonged to Apollo in
Amyklai, on the usually reliable authority of SosibiuS
89
), arose
from such cuItic background of twin figures. These points are
aleph) which has been proposed by Peckham, Donner-Rllig and M.Da-
hood, cited in Syria 46 (1969) No. 96, p. 338f.
86) V.Karageorghis, B.C.H. 94 (1970) 25Z.
87) Remains of others are mentioned in B. C.H. 97 (1973) 652.
88) The armed Aphrodite is called Amyklaia by Nonnus, Dion. 43, 6.
There were two statues of Aphrodite in Amyklai by Gitiades and Polyclitus,
the second of which carried the epithet naed ' Ap,vxAap (Paus. 3, 18, 8; 4,
14, 2). Furtwngler believed that the famous statue on Bathycles' throne
represented Aphrodite Enhoplios, Roscher, Myth. Lex. I, 408. Cf also the
curious column-shaped image (like a meta) of the Paphian Aphrodite, Tac.,
Hist. 2, 3.
89) In Zenobius i, 54; cf. Hesych. q.v. Kovet&o,; FarnelI, CultsIV, 127.
Some Evidence from Cyprus of Apolline Cult in the Bronze Age 13
plausible, particularly in view of the history of Aphrodite and
Apollo cult in Cyprus, but can not be proved, alas 90).
Such reservations aside, the archaeological pieture of some
of the major Cypriot settlements does bring out two significant
aspects: firstly there is much evidence of cult continuity beyond
the end of the Bronze Age, and secondly Cyprus, perhaps like
nowhere else in the ancient world, practised a religious syncretism
which was composed of so-called Eteocypriot elements, no doubt
containing some Anatolian ideas which settlers had brought
with them in the Early Bronze Age, as well as Mycenaean Greek
and Phoenician elements, not to mention others of minor im-
portance. The same kind of continuity and religious mixture
which, as Schachermeyr rightly saw, resulted for example in the
famous statue of the Horned God at Enkomi 91), is also evident
in the remains of the Kition site which had been settled from the
beginning of the Bronze Age or earlier
92
). The large temple,
which the Phoenicians buHt for Astarte at the end of the ninth
century B.C. 93) not only stood in what had been the sacred area
from at least the Late Bronze Age, but in one way or another
linked up with the preceding Eteocypriot and Mycenaean pre-
cincts and sanctuaries.
There were four earlier temples each one concerned with
the same type of cult. The two oldest were Temple II and the
much smaller Temple III which had been buHt alongside one
another by the local inhabitants in L. Cypr. II94). At the end of
the thirteenth century B.C. (L. Cypr. III) the Mycenaean settlers
in Kition erected the east wall of their own Temple 19
5
) on top
of what had been one of the walls of Temple II which also re-
90) This also applies to Apollo's arms and helmet at Amyklai, despite
the obvious parallels from Syrian iconography of Reshef (bow), and armed
Astarte.
91) Anzeiger fr die Altertumswissenschaft 25 (1972) 156. Although
scholars' opinions differ concerning the identity of the figure, most agree
that the statuette was the result of a mixture of styles, e.g. P. Dikaios, "The
Bronze Statue of a Horned God from Enkomi", Archologischer Anzeiger
(1962) 29f.; C.F.A.Schaeffer, Archivfr Orientforschung 21 (1965) 68.
92) Karageorghis, Cyprus 144.
93) Karageorghis, B.C.H. 93 (1969) 520-527; 94 (197
0
) 25
1
-
2
58;
95 (197
1
) 377
ff
.
94) B.C.H. 95 (1971) 384ff.; 96 (1972) 1058ff. Most recent finds are
recorded in 97 (1973) 648ff.; 98 (1974) 866f.
95) B.C.H. 95 (197
1
) 3
8
1.
14
B. C. Dietrich
mained in use but was modified at the same time96). The smaller
of the twin temples Temple III, disappeared at the time of the
constroction of Temple I but its site became part of a sacred
ternenos and sawcult in conjunction with Temples I and II, since
a stone altar and horns of consecration were found in the area97).
This entire temple complex functioned until the destruction of
the site, probably by earthquake
98
), in the eleventh century99).
Subsequently there was an architectural gap until the Phoenician
arrival in the ninth century, but not a cultic one: worship plus
burnt offering went on throughout the troubled times in the
ternenos, on and about some four successive altars, perhaps until
the end of the Phoenician temple100). The latter was in fact a
reconstroction of the Achaean Temple I (cf. a similar reuse of
Temple IV by the Phoenicians)101) which continued the same
worship of the same deities, albeit under different names, pro-
bably until Ptolemy in 3I Z B. C. ordered the destroction of
Phoenician sanctuaries in Kition102).
To judge from the remains, which have been discovered in
the sacred area, the cult was cosmopolitan with all the elements
mentioned above103) and presenting a panorama of religious
96) B. C.H. 95 (1971) 384ff. Temple IV was discovered in 1973, east
01' the sanctuaries complex, with its south wall against the city wall. Like
Temples I-IlI, Temple IV was built in the thirteenth century B. C. and
continued in use until c. 1000 B. C. It was rebuilt as a Phoenician sanctuary
duringtheninth century, B.C.H. 98 (1974) 8661'.; A.J.A. 79 (1975) 129.
97) B. C.H. 95 (1971) 386. In the following report, 96 (1972) I059ff.,
the excavators divide the sacred area into Ternenos A (subsequently aban-
doned), north 01' Temple I, and Ternenos B, east 01' it. Another ternenos and
altar came to light in the course 01' the 1973 campaign. Both ternenos (like
Ternenos A) and altar (with evidence 01' burnt offerings) date from L. Cypr.
III (i.c. they were in use during Levels I-lII) and were taken over by the
Phoenicians for their own sacrificial rites, B.C.H. 98 (1974) 867.
98) Karageorghis, Cyprus 148; B.C.H. 96 (1972) 1063.
99) B.C.H. 95 (197
1
) 3
86
; 9
6
(197
2
) 1
06
4.
100) B. C. H. 95 (1971) 388.
101) B. C. H. 96 (1972) 1064. Cf n. 93 above.
102) Diod. 19, 79; B. C. H. 94 (1970) 252.
103) Some 01' the monumental remains illustrate this mixture : c.g.
portions 01' Minoan-type columns from Temple I (cf. similar finds from En-
komi and Myrtou-Pigadhes), B. C.H. 95 (1971) 386; Mycenaean day sta-
tuettes, ibid., induding a 'Psi' figurine which may have come from Temple
III or a nearby tomb, B. C.H. 97 (1973) 651. Examples 01' Cypro-Minoan
script should perhaps also be dassed in this category, B. C.H. 95 (1971)
384; 97 (1973) 653 Oriental influence, prior to Phoenician settlement in
Cyprus, is evident from e.g. a miniature bronze liver, and the wing 01' an
ivory sphinx from the debris beneath Temple I, B. C. H. 95 (1971) 384.
Some Evidence from Cyprus of Apolline Cult in the Bronze Age 15
beliefs which were adapted to Cypriot conditions but whose
common Aegean heritage never disappeared. The two most
noticeable examples of this fact are the part played in cult by the
bull and the dose association of the vital copper foundries and
workshops with the deities guarding the welfare of the settle-
ment. The horns of consecration in the ternenos beside Temple
P04) could have been made by the Mycenaean settlers; but the
cult associated with them had been at horne in Cyprus from the
beginning of the Bronze Age and earlier times, as witness inter
aHa the famous day model of an open air sanctuary with buHs
from Vounous 105) and the recently found miniature sanctuaries
with bucrania from Kochati near Idalion106). The cult may ori-
ginaHy have come to the island from Anatolia107), but it was
sharedthroughoutthe BronzeAge with otherAegean cultures 108),
so that horns of consecration, bucrania or buH-masks are evi-
dence of old inherited features of island culture, whatever new
ideas foreign settlers brought with them. This applies to the horns
in the ternenos beside, and contemporary with, Temple I at Ki-
tion, as much as to the bucrania and masks belonging to the
Phoenician temple
109
). The buH in cult and its association with
a goddess of nature had, of course, been familiar to Mycenaeans
and Phoenicians before they came to Cyprus.
Another practice that appeared to be peculiarly Cypriot,
but in fact constituted a local variation of common ideas, is the
association of copper foundries with the community sanctuaries
and gods. The Kition "Industrial Quarter" for example, west
of Temple III, was directly related to the temples and sacred
ternenos throughout L. Cypr. IIIllO) and continued with the
Such models of the liver were used for divinatory purposes in the Near East
and especially in Ugarit, cf. op. eil. n. 84 for references. Another feature
with distinctly oriental fiavour is the sacred garden in Temple I, B. C. H.
97 (1973) 64
8
, figs. 78, 79 and n. 49.
104) B. C.H. 95 (1971) ;86; 97 (197;) 65; & fig. 86 (Temenos B);
cf the examples from Myrtou-Pigadhes and from Aphrodite's temple at
Paphos, ibid.
105) Karageorghis, Cyprus IIO and PI. 49.
106) B.C.H. 95 (1971) 344, fig. 16-19.
107) Cf Karageorghis, Cyprus l09f.; B.C.H. 94 (1970) 251.
108) Cf Dietrich, Origins l04f.; II4ff.
109) B.C.H. 94 (197
0
) 255
IIO) B.C.H. 95 (1971) ;88; 96 (1972) 1058f. Apparently the copper
workings at Kition extended across the entire period of settlement from
L. Cypr. II, B.C.H. 98 (1974) 866.
16 B. C. Dietrich
Phoenician temple. The latter was also used for copper working
in the course of its fourth and last period from the mid-fifth to
the late fourth century B.C.
111
). However, the gods revered in
these workshops and sanctuaries were still the same protectors
of the community and of its source of revenue as those we are
familiar with from other centres in the Aegean world of the
Bronze Age. In Cyprus the community's most precious posses-
sion was its copper, so that it seems reasonable to connect the
farnaus bronze statuette fram Enkomi of a bearded and armed
figure standing on a copper ingot with the Cypriot version of
the protecting deit
y
1l2).
Karageorghis believes that the deities receiving warship
in the "twin" Temples land 11 in Kition were the patron god
and goddess of the copper industry113). This explanation is
plausible, even though only one goddess figure on an ingot has
so far come to light
114
). But these divinities ought to be seen in
a wider religious arena, in the sense that they must have played
a part in the cult which continued into historical times and which
incorporated the various elements we have discussed. For
example, in Kition it should be possible to identify such com-
munity gods with the Phoenician Astarte whose temple after
all became an integral part of the earlier temples and ternenos
and functioned concurrently with them. Somewhere in the same
cultic background we should also be able to find the figure of
M ~ k a l , as weIl as that of the related Reshef and Apollo Amyklaios
whose names were inscribed in the Idalion bilinguals. In other
words, can one fit together the archaeological with the inscrip-
tional evidence? To do this convincingly would require written
source material from the critical last period of the Bronze Age
and the ensuing Dark Age. But our dose look at what evidence
there is allows some useful condusions.
Reshef Mikal and Astarte were, of course, intruders in
Cyprus; but they probably arrived before Phoenician colonies
lII) B.C.H. 94 (1970) 252. Many ivory carvers found in the temple
point to another kind ofindustry, 97 (1973) 652. Compare also the copper
workshops in Tamassos which were associated with the cult of Astarte, and
similar arrangements in Enkomi, 97 (1973) 665; Syria 50 (1973) IIr.
112) Schaeffer, Archivfr Orientforschung 21 (1965) 59ff.; B.C.H. 95
(197
1
) 3
88
; 9
6
(197
2
) 159
II3) B.C.H. 96 (1972) 1059.
114) In a private collection which is to be published by H. W. Catling,
according to Karageorghis, B. C. H. 95 (1971) 388 and n. 89.
Some Evidence from Cyprus of Apolline Cult in the Bronze Age 17
actually established themselves on the island in the ninth century.
In any case these two took over local cults and deities with the
same functions as their own and deriving from a common Aegean
background. There are some indications that, following old
Aegean practice115), the gods of Cyprus were addressed as
"Queen" and "Lord" by their worshippers
116
). Mikal, too,
meant "Lord" in Phoenician like Adon, while Astarte is referred
to as "the holy Queen" in her temple accounts from Kition117).
As far as it is still possible to read Mikal's character and
functions, he was an apotropaeic figure, although his identity
was subordinate to the great god Reshef. In Kition Mikal appears
to have been closely associated with Astarte, and he may have
beeninvokedas the protector ofthecommunity'scopper industry.
This same function of protector and guardian against evil caused
Apollo Amyklaios to be recognized as the eguivalent of Reshef
Mikal in Idalion. The epithet Amyklaios is poorly attested in
Greece and the logical conclusion seems to be that the name was
borrowed from the Semitic Mika!. If so, then we would be in
possession offurther evidence in favour ofthe earlyestablishment
in Cyprus ofMikal's cult, for the simple reason that the Laconian
Amyklai was known prior to the end of the Bronze Age. In any
case Amyklaios described the same function of Apollo as his
older tide Hyakinthios, which does mean unfortunate1y that we
can leam nothing about the cult from the history of the name
Amyklaios. As Sir John Myres suggested some time agons),
the Greek and Semitic gods concealed Eteocypriot figures;
true, but, though the names differed, their functions were the
same.
What can be leamed about the age of Apollo's cult from the
Cypriot evidence ? The god was known on the island at the same
time as, and guite possibly earlier than, in Laconia where it is
like1y that he had established himse1fbefore the end of the Bronze
Age. It would not be sensible, however, to pursue the guestion
whether Apollo came to Greece first and only from Cyprus;
we ought not to shut the door on Apollo's many other cult
associations and their background. But we are concemed with
115) Dietrich, Origins 185ff.
116) Wanassa is estahlished hut not Wanax.
117) mlkt qdst in line 7 of CIS I, 86, Syria 46 (1969) 338 with further
modern literature.
118) ).L.Myres, Handbook Cesnola Collection, New York 1914, 127; cf.
Hill, Hist. 01 Cyprus I, 87 n. 3.
2 Rhein. Mus. f. Philol. 121/1
18 B. C. Dietrich
the apotropaeic god and protector of the community, both func-
tions which formed part of Apollo's earliest nature and which
he acquired in the east. Thus we are led to the historically pro-
bable conclusion that on their arrival the Mycenaeans already
foundApollo well enttenched inCyprus asAlasiotas forexample
or Heleitas, or under another of his local titles 119).
Cyprus provided an important cultural entrep6t between
east and west and evidently transmitted some aspects of the uni-
versal figure that is known as Apollo. The history of the island's
cult does suggest that Apollo could well have reached the Greek
world during the Late Bronze Age. This date should, however,
be regarded as a terminus ante quem: other earlier routes to the
west were certainly also open to him, especially over Minoan
Crete, ifwe are to trust in the traditional accounts which survived
in the Greek historians. There is furthermore the connection of
Apollo Hyakinthios with Cretan peak cult which may have come
about quite early. These avenues will have to be explored more
closely, and particularly the relationship between the Alexikakos
and the oracular Apollo.
Grahamstown B. C. Dietrich
119) Compare Burkert's very similar conelusion, Gr. B. 4 (1975) 70.
He believes, however (p. 74), that a Minoan-Mycenaean Paiawon figure
coalesced with the Syrian Reshef Mikal in Cyprus during the twelfth century
B. c., and that from this cult, once it had been introduced to Greece, evolved
the Dorian god Apellon - Apollon in the Geometrie period. This elose link
of Apollo with the Dorians (presumablyan alien element in the Myeenaean
world) - whatever the etymologieal merit of Apollo from Apellai - produces
its own problems (cf. above p. I), as Burkert realised, "Appellai und Apol-
Ion", Rheinisches Museum 118 (1975) 17.