Twelfth to fourth centuries BCE
Idalion lies at modern Dali between Nicosia and Larnaca. Tradition connects the foundation of the city in the twelfth century BCE with Aegean settlers after the Trojan War and names Chalkonor as its first king.
Aphrodite was worshipped in the city. For a period Idalion came under the control of Kition and the Phoenicians. Excavations uncovered texts in the Cypriot syllabary and in Phoenician; bilingual or closely parallel monuments helped scholars read Cypriot inscriptions.
In the museum we examine an Aeolic capital with spiral volutes, a Phoenician inscription of King Baalmilk II and a fourth-century BCE bronze tablet, while at the excavations we look at the city’s administrative buildings.
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