The First Cyprus Treasure or ''Lamboussa Treasure'' is the name of a major early
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
silver hoard found near
Kyrenia, Cyprus. Currently in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...
's collection, the treasure is largely composed of liturgical objects that may have belonged to an ancient church or monastery. It is called the ''First Cyprus Treasure'' to distinguish it from the so-called ''Second Cyprus Treasure'', which is now split between the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...
and the
Cyprus Museum
The Cyprus Museum (also known as the Cyprus Archaeological Museum) is the oldest and largest archaeological museum in Cyprus.
The museum houses artifacts discovered during numerous excavations on the island. The museum is home to the most exten ...
.
Metropolitan Museum Collection
/ref>
Discovery
The hoard was found by accident at the end of the nineteenth century near the Acheiropoietos Monastery
The Acheiropoietos Monastery ( el, Μονή Ἀχειροποίητου, also Παναγία Ἀχειροποίητος and Acheripoetos) in Lambousa near the village of Karavas in the Kyrenia District, was a medieval Byzantine Orthodox Monaste ...
, west of Kyrenia at the ancient site of Lambousa
Lapithos or Lapethos ( el, Λάπηθος; tr, Lapta) is a town in Cyprus. ''De facto'', it is under the control of Northern Cyprus.
Archeologists claim that Lapithos was founded by the Achean brothers Praxandros and Cepheus.
According to Stra ...
. It is unclear why the treasure was deposited, but it may have been deliberately hidden to evade the invading Arab armies of 653 AD. Following its discovery, the entire treasure came into the possession of the French aristocrat Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Duc de Dino, who in turn sold it to the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...
in 1899.
Description of the treasure
The treasure was probably made in Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
, the capital of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
, and is composed of 28 different objects, all made of silver. It includes a bowl with a half length image of a saint (possibly Saint Sergius), a paten with cross in the centre, a hexagonal censer and twenty-five pear-shaped spoons, eleven of which are engraved with leaping animals. The bowl is marked with five stamps from the reign of emperor Constans II, who reigned between 641-51 AD.
Gallery
Image:Cyprus Treasure BM (2).JPG, Eleven spoons with running animals and censer from the treasure
Image:Cyprus Treasure BM (3).JPG, Silver Paten with cross from the treasure
Image:Cyprus Treasure BM (1).JPG, Silver bowl with half length portrait of a saint in the tondo
See also
* Lampsacus Treasure
References
{{reflist
Bibliography
*D. Strong, Greek and Roman Silver Plate (British Museum Press, 1966)
*D. Buckton (ed.), Byzantium: Treasures of Byzantium (London, The British Museum Press, 1994)
*J.P.C. Kent and K.S. Painter (eds.), Wealth of the Roman world, AD 300-700 (London, The British Museum Press, 1977)
* O. M. Dalton: Byzantine silversmith’s work from Cyprus, in: ''Archeologia'' 57, S. 159-174
* R Merrillees: The modern history of the first Lambousa Treasure of Byzantine Silverware from Cyprus, in: ''Antiquaries Journal'' No 89, 2009, Pages 389-403
Treasure troves of Medieval Europe
Silver objects
Medieval European objects in the British Museum
Byzantine Cyprus
Byzantine art