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A Water Cistern with Byzantine Paintings, Salamis, Cyprus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2012

Joan du Plat Taylor
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Extract

Early in March this year, shepherds reported to the Forest Department that they had found a cave, with paintings, on the ancient site of Salamis, Famagusta District. This information was passed to the Museum, for whom I inspected the place. All that was then visible was a large hole in the sand, about 15 ft. deep and 6 ft. wide, which led into a narrow shaft opening on to a round chamber; this was full, nearly to the top, with sand and rubbish. The paintings and upper inscriptions (pl. XI, 2) were all visible, and it was possible to crawl through to the second chamber, which was practically clear.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , April 1933 , pp. 97 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1933

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References

page 98 note 1 The excavator was much indebted to Mr. F. Houry and Mr. Branco of Famagusta, for the gift of sacks for revetting, and also to the Harbour Department for the loan of rope and tackle to clear the cistern. The Forest Department were at all times most helpful, and supplied timber and lights.

page 100 note 1 Near the top were two 1st cent. A.D. lamps of the handleless type, with volutes and rounded spouts; one bore the common figure of a lion, the other four leaves radiating from the centre.

Almost on top of the second cistern part of a large black dish with ivy-leaf design in white was recovered, and may be as early as 2nd cent. B.C. The rest of the pottery was of common types which might range anywhere between those dates.

page 102 note 1 This bearded type is said by Dalton to have originated in Palestine and Syria (Byz. Art and Arch., p. 671). The ‘Pantokrator’ is usually assumed to belong to the 7th–8th cent., or even as late as the 11th cent., but in this case seems to bear a greater resemblance to the head on the Constantine Bowl (ibid., fig. 385) of early 4th cent. The panel with its aquatic scene is also of a type belonging to N. Syria (p. 276).

page 102 note 2 The incrustations proved to be a kind of excrescence of the gypsum with a little calcium carbonate. Efforts were made to remove this from a small part of the inscriptions with dilute hydrochloric acid, but it hardly moved the incrustation, and too easily destroyed the paint.

page 105 note 1 Several of these stones bear mason's marks similar to those found by the expedition of 1890 for the Cyprus Exploration Fund (J.H.S. xii, 113).

page 107 note 1 Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, pp. 116 and 162, for underground cisterns. Byzantine covered cisterns are not known, apparently, before the 5th cent. (Dalton, East Christian Art, p. 115).