Philia culture
Encyclopedia
The Philia culture existed on the island of Cyprus
in the Middle and Late Bronze Age
between 2400 and 1600 BC.
in Cyprus which was also found in Anatolia
from the Early Bronze Age II period.
Further discoveries showed that this type of ceramic ware was not limited to the Ugarit
area as further examples were later found over most of the island. The finds were concentrated in the middle section of the island running from north to south. Excavations on Kissonerga
in south west Cyprus have uncovered over 300 shards of Red Polished Ware including a small jar with lime-filled incisions.
The type which has attracted most interest in archaeology is a globular jug which has a vertical cut-away spout and is usually traced to Cilicia
.
Finds of this type of pottery have also been found in other areas of the middle east including at Tarsus
, Troy
(Hisarlik
) and others in western Anatolia.
has a bowl found in a tomb on the slopes of Vounous in Cyprus. This particular bowl however is thought to have originally been used for storing dried seeds.
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
in the Middle and Late Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
between 2400 and 1600 BC.
Discovery
The culture was first identified by Porphyrios Dikaios in 1942 at Philia (Laksia tou Kasinou) in the Ovgros valley of Cyprus. Diakos discovered pottery, known as "Red Polished Ware", from the start of the Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
in Cyprus which was also found in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
from the Early Bronze Age II period.
Pottery
The Red Polished Ware pottery was a significant change in the lineage of ceramic ware on the island; mainly in decoration rather than morphology. The pottery was always handmade. The completed pot was coated with a mixture of liquid clay and this was then polished to give the work its important smooth finish. The quantity of iron oxide in the clay combined with later incised decorations allowed for a variety of decorations to be applied.Further discoveries showed that this type of ceramic ware was not limited to the Ugarit
Ugarit
Ugarit was an ancient port city in the eastern Mediterranean at the Ras Shamra headland near Latakia, Syria. It is located near Minet el-Beida in northern Syria. It is some seven miles north of Laodicea ad Mare and approximately fifty miles east of Cyprus...
area as further examples were later found over most of the island. The finds were concentrated in the middle section of the island running from north to south. Excavations on Kissonerga
Kissonerga
Kissonerga is a village in South West Cyprus, about 5 miles north of Paphos, in a region notable for the cultivation of banana plantations, an area known as the Ktima Lowlands. In 1980 the population of the village was 700 people....
in south west Cyprus have uncovered over 300 shards of Red Polished Ware including a small jar with lime-filled incisions.
The type which has attracted most interest in archaeology is a globular jug which has a vertical cut-away spout and is usually traced to Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
.
Finds of this type of pottery have also been found in other areas of the middle east including at Tarsus
Tarsus, Mersin
Tarsus is a historic city in south-central Turkey, 20 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Turkey with a population of 2.75 million...
, Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
(Hisarlik
Hisarlik
Hisarlik , often spelled Hissarlik, is the modern name for the site of ancient Troy, also known as Ilion, and is located in what is now Turkey...
) and others in western Anatolia.
Access
There are examples of this pottery in Vienna and in the Getty collection. The British MuseumBritish Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
has a bowl found in a tomb on the slopes of Vounous in Cyprus. This particular bowl however is thought to have originally been used for storing dried seeds.
External links
- Red Polished Ware bowl British Museum page for a bowl in the museum - Complete with history of Polished Red Ware