Menelaos Markides (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Μενέλαος Μαρκίδης) (1878,

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

- 1942) was a Cypriot archaeologist and the first curator of the

Cyprus Museum The Cyprus Museum (also known as the Cyprus Archaeological Museum) is the oldest and largest archaeological museum in Cyprus, located on Museum Street in central Nicosia. The museum is home to the most extensive collection of Cypriot antiquities ...

(1912-1931).

Early life and education

He was born in Nicosia in 1878 and graduated from the Pancyprian Didaskaleion, a two year college for school teachers. Later he earned his PhD in Philology from the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

in 1899. In 1897 he volunteered during the Greco-Turkish war. After returning to Cyprus he worked as a professor of history at the

Pancyprian Gymnasium The Pancyprian Gymnasium (), is the oldest still operational Lyceum, high school in Cyprus, founded in 1812. History In the location of the current school, an older school existed, established in 1753 known as Ellinomouseion (). The ''Pancypri ...

, as well as schools in

Limassol Limassol, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

, Port-Said,

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Caesarea Caesarea, a city name derived from the Roman title " Caesar", was the name of numerous cities and locations in the Roman Empire: Places In the Levant * Caesarea Maritima, also known as "Caesarea Palaestinae", an ancient Roman city near the modern ...

Archaeological career

In 1909 he was sent with a scholarship from the

Committee of the Cyprus Museum The Committee of the Cyprus Museum was established in 1882, it acted as a governing body for the newly established Cyprus Museum. It has been succeeded by the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus. History The workings of the Committee were regulate ...

to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, where he studied under

John Myres Sir John Linton Myres (3 July 1869 – 6 March 1954) was a British archaeologist and academic, who conducted excavations in Cyprus during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Having been a fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford and then Ch ...

, as well as in Germany to study Classical archaeology. Upon his return in 1911 he was appointed as the curator of the

, a position he weld for two decades. Markides organised the Museum in a systematic basis. In 1912 he invited his former tutor John Myres to excavate with him in Cyprus, they excavated together in

Idalion Idalion or Idalium (, ''Idalion'', Phoenician: 𐤀𐤃𐤉𐤋, , Akkadian: ''e-di-ʾi-il'', Edīl) was an ancient city in Cyprus, in modern Dali, Nicosia District. The city was founded on the copper trade in the 3rd millennium BC. Its name d ...

. Between 1913 and 1917 Markides along with John Myres and Leonard Halford Dudley Buxton conducted systematic excavations on behalf of the Cyprus Museum at the Early-Middle Bronze Age site ''Vrysi tou Barba'' in

Lapithos Lapithos or Lapethos (; ) 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 Strabo, the ancient settlement o ...

. Their excavations were among the first excavations in Cyprus that followed some scientific methods. Additionally, Markides excavated at Arpera, Skouriotissa, Katydhata, and in 1917, he excavated an Iron Age sanctuary at Arsos which was later published by the

Swedish Cyprus Expedition The Swedish Cyprus Expedition was assembled to systematically investigate Cyprus’s early Archaeology, archaeological history. The expedition occurred between September 1927 and March 1931 and was led by the three archaeologists Einar Gjerstad, E ...

, more specifically A. Westholm, due to his ill health. In 1916 and 1918, he excavated 50 tombs at

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

. He also excavated at

Enkomi Enkomi (; ) is a village near Famagusta in Cyprus. It is a short distance from a prominent 2nd millennium BC archaeological site also named Enkomi. Enkomi is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. In 1974, Enkomi had about 800 Gree ...

and Golgoi. He studied and published Cypriot sculpture. In 1931 he retired as curator of the Cyprus Museum and

Porphyrios Dikaios Porphyrios Dikaios (Greek: Πορφύριος Δίκαιος) FSA (Nicosia, 16 August 190423 August 1971) was a Cypriot archaeologist. Early life and education Porphyrios was born in Nicosia and graduated from the Pancyprian Gymnasium. He ...

succeeded him as curator.

Publications

* Markides, M. (1910). ''My notes on Sites and Antiquities'' ''in Cyprus.'' * Markides, M. (1912)
A Mycenaean Bronze in the Cyprus Museum
''The Annual of the British School at Athens'', 18, 95-97. *Markides, M. (1913)
A Marble Head from Cyprus
''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', 33, 48-49. *Markides, M. (1916). Excavations at Skouriotissa and Katydhata. ''Annual Report of the Curator of Antiquities for 1915'', ''15''. *Markides, M. (1916)
Rapport du conservateur des antiquités à Chypre pour l'année 1914
''Revue Archéologique'', 4,157-162. * Markides, M. (1917). Excavations at Skouriotissa and Katydhata. ''Annual Report of the Curator of Antiquities for 1916'', 4-20.

References

External links

Alfred Westholm Daniel Alfred Westholm (22 June 1904 - 7 June 1996) was a Swedish archaeologist. He participated in the Swedish Cyprus Expedition, along with archaeologists Einar Gjerstad and Erik Sjöqvist and with architect John Lindros. Biography Daniel ...

, of the

wrote about Menelaos Markides, the Director of Cyprus Museum
Greek Cypriots 1878 births 1942 deaths 20th-century Cypriot archaeologists 20th-century Cypriot people People from Nicosia District People from Nicosia {{archaeologist-stub National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni

Early life and education

Archaeological career

Publications

See also

References

External links