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:''Not to be confused with Amathus, Palestine'' Amathus () was one of the most ancient royal cities of Cyprus, on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about 24 miles west of Larnaca and 6 miles east of Limassol. Its ancient cult of Aphrodite was the most important, after Paphos, in Cyprus, her homeland, though the ruins of Amathus are less well-preserved than neighboring Kourion.〔Walter Burkert, ''Greek Religion'' 1985, p. 153; J. Karageorghis, ''La grande déesse de Chypre et son culte'', 1977.〕 ==Pre-history and ancient era== The pre-history of Amathus mixes myth and archaeology.〔T. Petit, "Eteocypriot myth and Amathousian reality," ''JMA'' 12 (1999:108-20〕 Though there was no Bronze Age city on the site, archaeology has detected human activity that is evident from the earliest Iron Age, c. 1100 BC.〔〔; M. Iacovou, "Amathous, an early Iron Age polity in Cyprus: the chronology of its foundation", ''Report of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus'' (2002) pp 101-22.〕 The city's legendary founder was Cinyras, linked with the birth of Adonis, who called the city after his mother Amathous. According to a version of the Ariadne legend noted by Plutarch,〔Plutarch, ''vita'' of Theseus (20.3-.5), citing the lost text of an obscure Amathusan mythographer, Paeon.〕 Theseus abandoned Ariadne at Amathousa, where she died giving birth to her child and was buried in a sacred tomb. According to Plutarch's source, Amathousians called the sacred grove where her shrine was situated the Wood of Aphrodite Ariadne. More purely Hellenic myth would have Amathus settled instead by one of the sons of Heracles, thus accounting for the fact that he was worshiped there. It was said in antiquity that the people of Amathus were autochthonous, or "Pelasgian".〔 Their non-Greek language is confirmed on the site by Eteocypriot inscriptions in the Cypriot syllabary which alone in the Aegean world survived the Bronze Age collapse and continued to be used down to the 4th century BC. Amathus was built on the coastal cliffs with a natural harbor and flourished at an early date, soon requiring several cemeteries. Greeks from Euboea left their pottery at Amathus from the 10th century BC. During the post-Phoenician era of the 8th century BC, a palace was erected and a port was also constructed, which served the trade with the Greeks and the Levantines. A special burial ground for infants, a ''tophet''〔Agelarakis A., Kanta A., and N. Ch. Stampolidis, “The Osseous Record in the Western Necropolis of Amathous: an Archaeo-Anthropological Investigation”, Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete 16th-6th c. B.C., Proceedings of the International Symposium: The Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete 16th-6th c. B.C., Rethymnon, Crete, 1998: 217-232〕〔Agelarakis A., “The Amathous (tophet) cremations in Cyprus”, In D. Christou on “Human Cremations at the Western Necropolis of Amathous” The earliest remains hitherto found on the site are tombs of the early Iron Age period of Graeco-Phoenician influences (1000-600 BC). Amathus is identified〔For example by E. Oberhummer, ''Die Insel Cypern'', i., 1902, pp. 13-14.〕 with ''Kartihadasti'' (Phoenician "New-Town") in the Cypriote tribute-list of Esarhaddon of Assyria (668 BC).〔But see Citium.〕 It certainly maintained strong Phoenician sympathies, for it was its refusal to join the philhellene league of Onesilos of Salamis which provoked the revolt of Cyprus from Achaemenid Persia in 500-494 BC,〔Herodotus, v. 105〕 when Amathus was besieged unsuccessfully and avenged itself by the capture and execution of Onesilos. Herodotus reports :"Because he had besieged them, the Amathusians cut off Onesilos’ head and brought it to Amathous, where they hung it above the gates. As it hung there empty, a swarm of bees entered it and filled it with honeycomb.〔The mytheme of bees in the carcase, familiar from the legend of Samson ( Judges 14:8, a lion's carcase) and the Greek myth of Aristaeus (a bullock carcase), and in Virgil's ''Georgics'', is examined by Othniel Margalith, "Samson's Riddle and Samson's Magic Locks" ''Vetus Testamentum'', 36.2 (1986:.〕 When they sought advice about this event, an oracle told them to take the head down and bury it, and to make annual sacrifice to Onesilos as a hero, saying that it would be better for them if they did this. The Amathusians did as they were told and still perform these rites in my day." (''Histories'' 5.114) About 385-380 BC, the philhellene Evagoras of Salamis was similarly opposed by Amathus, in conjunction with Citium and Soli;〔Diodorus Siculus xiv. 98.〕 and even after Alexander the city resisted annexation, and was bound over to give hostages to Seleucus.〔Diodorus Siculus xix. 62.〕 Its political importance now ended, but its temple of Adonis and Aphrodite Amathusia remained famous in Roman times. The epithet ''Amathusia'' in Roman poetry often means little more than "Cypriote," attesting to the fame of the city. The wealth of Amathus was derived partly from its grain〔Strabo 340, quoting the mid-6th century writer Hipponax.〕 partly from its sheep and copper mines,〔See Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' x. 220, 227. 531.〕 of which traces can be seen inland.〔G. Mariti, i. 187; L. Ross, ''Inselreise,'' iv. 195; W. H. Engel, ''Kypros,'' i. 111 ff.〕 Amathus was a rich and densely populated kingdom with a flourishing agriculture and mines situated very close to the northeast Kalavasos. In the Roman era it became the capital of one of the four administrative regions of Cyprus. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Amathus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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