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The structure of the Cypriot syllabary is very similar to that of Linear B. This is due to their common origin and underlying language (albeit different dialects). [2] The Cypriot script contains 56 signs. [3] Each sign generally stands for a syllable in the spoken language: e.g. ka, ke, ki, ko, ku. Hence, it is classified as a syllabic writing ...
Eteocypriot is an extinct non-Indo-European language that was spoken in Cyprus by a non-Hellenic population during the Iron Age.The name means "true" or "original Cypriot" parallel to Eteocretan, both of which names are used by modern scholars to mean the non-Greek languages of those places. [2]
The inscription, known as BM 125320 [1] George Smith's decipherment of the Cypriot syllabary. The Idalion bilingual is a bilingual Cypriot–Phoenician inscription found in 1869 in Dali, Cyprus. [2] It was the key to the decipherment of the Cypriot syllabary, in the manner of the Rosetta Stone to hieroglyphs. [3]
Literacy was introduced to Cyprus with the Cypro-Minoan syllabary, a derivation from Cretan Linear A. It was first used in early phases of the late Bronze Age (LCIB, 14th century BC) and continued in use for c. 400 years into the LC IIIB, maybe up to the second half of the 11th century BC. It likely evolved into the Cypriot syllabary.
It is thought to be somehow related to the later Cypriot syllabary. The Cypro-Minoan Script was in use during the Late Cypriot period from the LC IA:2 period until the LC IIIA period or roughly from 1500 BC until 1150 BC. This is mainly based with the stratigraphy of the Kourion site but is in line with examples excavated at other sites. [2]
Full Hellenisation of Cyprus took place under Ptolemaic rule. During this period, the Eteocypriot and Phoenician languages disappeared, together with the old Cypriot syllabic script, which was replaced by the Greek alphabet. A number of cities were founded during this time. For example, Arsinoe was founded between old and new Paphos by Ptolemy II.
It is reckoned written language first made its appearance in Cyprus in the 16th century BCE with the yet-to-be-deciphered Cypro-Minoan syllabary, an offshoot of Linear A "with some additional elements of hieroglyphic affiliation" that was the basis for the later Cypriot syllabary.
The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examples dating to around 1450 BC. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] It is adapted from the earlier Linear A , an undeciphered script perhaps used for writing the Minoan language , as is the later Cypriot syllabary , which also recorded Greek.