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Updated: 2024.11.17 
 065x40.png "Qephri: scarab-face god of the rising sun (Cyprus & copper)"){kind=small}
► קפרי ► yrpq ► 
 0350x230.png "Kitim Pula Kition Larnax colony (Cyprus)") |
 1600x1052.png "Click to enlarge"){kind=small} (קֶפְּרִי, modern Cyprus). Famed since the beginning of the Khalcolithic (Copper) Age (cBCE 6500) as a primary source of copper (which is named after the island—ergo, ultimately after the Egyptian |
QëꞋphᵊr•i (Hellenized to Linear-B) to the modern Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
There are two hypotheses, both post-LBAC 
Classical Greek-based:
Κύπριος, copper.
κάπρος, pig, wild boar (pig and boar are lumped into the same term in Hebrew, undifferentiated; see below).
Interestingly, the Isle of Capri, southwest off of the coast of Italy, also derives from κάπρος, probably for the same reason.
Unlike Semite peoples who loath pork, Greeks were great lovers of bacon, ham & other pork. Only post- LBAC , Classical Greek, mariners who couldn't relate to the foreign (Semitic) original name of the island (קפרי, later yrpq). could have found it clever and funny to substitute their own—Greek—sound-alike play-on-words denoting the island's plentiful supply of their favorite dish: spit-roasted pork—i.e. κάπρος ("Pig Island").
This would have been deeply offensive to the autochthonous Semite peoples of the entire Eastern Mediterranean Basin coastlands.
Most researchers and historians begin the story of Cyprus with the Epipaleolithic Age: cBCE 18–8k; the beginnings of nomadic hunter-gatherers and first evidence of maritime traders on the Island of QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ. However, the geodynamic story of QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ, which dictates the parameters defining autochthonous fauna and flora of the island, extends back ½ Ba (half a gigaannium ago)!
The island was originally named קפרי, meaning "copper", by the sparsely populated autochthonous early human inhabitants of this Cimmerian Terranes Island (see below).
Due to the relatively small and isolated land mass and resources on the island, it would have been sparsely populated with fauna. Yet, because of its strategic location, QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ island, along with its fellow Cimmerian Terranes voyager (see below) Kᵊrē•të (Hellenized & Anglicized to Crete), became essential maritime caravansary-style ports for ancient seafaring sailors and traders—most likely long before copper became important cBCE 4000 (and before it was named after copper).
The essential crew required much of the earliest seagoing ships' cargo space. Yet, products for trade and sale made space on each vessel a premium. Food provisions for long voyages detracted from cargo space. Thus, the ability of stop-over island ports to restock provisions from the island for the remaining voyage, rather than carry food for the entire voyage, was a matter of profit—the raison d'être for the voyage. A trip to each of these islands specifically for the purpose of releasing a few breeding pairs of whatever desired animals each island may have lacked (e.g., pigs, cats, goats, cattle and dogs) would have been an excellent investment (and one that would have been regarded as worth protecting by a navy and port).
("In recent years, finds from Gath, Ekron, and Ashkelon have all suggested that [Pūlossian] culture was eclectic and had parallels in Late Bronze Age cultures from throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Researchers have analyzed dog bones from [Pūlossian] sites that suggest that, like pigs, dogs were part of the [Pūlossian] diet, as they were across the Aegean and [Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha]… DNA analysis of some remains… showed the deceased individuals likely came from [QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ]." )
Then, rather than carrying meat provisions for a long sea voyage, the extra drain on, and growing scarcity of, game would have clearly suggested dropping off some "[small wild boars], cats, goats, cattle, and dogs" to propagate herds of game for visiting sailor-traders to eat and restock their ships during their layovers on the island. Further, tending these animals, and farms as well, would have provided income to support additional colonist islanders.
Some researchers have suggested, based solely on the presence of these "small wild boars" (which they assumed were brought to the island by colonists), that "Cyprus" derives from the Greek κάπρος (wild boar). However,
Subject only to the island's capacity to sustain fauna and flora limited to a certain size (which included "[small wild boars], cats, goats, cattle, and dogs"—as well as the extinct pygmy elephants and hippos whose remains have been discovered on the island, I've found no compelling reason in the literature to rule out the surviving presence on the islans of the primate ancestors that led to Homo (human) species and Homo sapiens)! So, I find no compelling reason why any species of Pangean-African fauna and flora couldn't survive on the larger Cimmerian Terranes islands, particularly as connected by landbridge or close sea proximity, during their transoceanic voyage.
Further, it's becoming increasingly clear that the names of these islands became widely known among Cimmerian Terranes fellow-islanders—including the Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshans, Semites of A•dãm•ãhꞋ and Pelopónnese (foreign to the Eur-Asian Greek continent), whose Semitic-Aramaic languages long predated the Greek era.
The ancient (and modern) Hebrew term for pig (swine, hog, boar, pork, ham, bacon, etc.) is חֲזִיר—which sounds nothing like "Cyprus". The similarity is only in Greek, evidencing its Greek origin and Hellenist time-frame.
It's quite clear that the notion that the island was named κάπρος, i.e. "Pig Island"—in Greek could only have occurred after the Mediterranean Basin was well Hellenized—after LBAC by Classic Greece. Even the Pūlossians were Pelopónnesens (islands in the Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshan (Anatolian-cousin) Cimmerian Terranes voyage).
Analyses of geo-archaeological evidence over gigaannia by 21st century science labs have turned "traditional" history and arts-degreed "Indiana Jones" adventurer-"archaeology" on its head! Until now, historians and non-scientist archaeologists "knew" that Genus Homo (human) "arrived" on Crete and Cyprus no earlier than ≈10 Ka.
Recent 14C findings, however, have pushed this back to at least 130 Ka, overturning traditional assumptions! And pre-history has, until recently, gone unnoticed as irrelevant
"When archaeologists speak of prehistory, they have epochs in mind as [the] bronze age, [or] stone age. In other words, epochs that are revealed to us by means of artefacts [sic], left overs of a human culture. The word prehistory validates this idea, as indeed those epochs are from before the emergence of written or pictographical sources, in short, what we call ‘history’. However, this is only a very small part of the chronological truth: the world did of course not start with the human culture. There is far more prehistory than history, and major part lies well before the archaeological prehistory. This is the domain of the palaeontology [sic], where geological epochs are revealed by means of fossils in the broad sense.
But, then van der Geer, like many others, neglected to dig down to bedrock and assumed that "Up to the Vallesian period of the Late Miocene (9,0 Ma ago), Crete was connected to the mainland of Asia Minor, as shown by fossil remains of mainland fauna…" (ibid.) That is mistaken. Many scientists specializing int geo tectonics note that Crete was part of the Cimmerian Terranes that broke off from Pangea and crossed the Neotethys Ocean to join up with Eur-Asia about 40 Ma. Until then, Crete, Cyprus and Pelopónnese were all part of mainland Gondwana, Pangea—on the far side of the planet from the Eur-Asian (Laurasian) continent!
The real question seems to be: Lacking relatively recent archaeological evidence, what genetic (or other) evidence might indicate episodic (climate and tectonic enabled, seasonal driven) interisland revisitations during the transoceanic voyage of these "ocean-like" Cimmerian Terranes resulting in genetic interactions underlying an indigenous "ocean-like" islands' fauna?
Moreover, the presence of 14C-dated bones of extinct elephants and hippos on both of these islands demonstrates mammalian habitation that precedes 2.8 Ma —concurrent with the various Primates that evolved the superfamily Hominoidæ and, ultimately, Genus Homo (humans) and subspecies Homo sapiens!
In 2000, Hadjisterkotis, et al. stated,
"All fossil terrestrial mammal sites on the island of Cyprus are dated from the Late Pleistocene [Era (≈12.8 to ≈11.7 Ka)] and consist almost exclusively of the remains of two terrestrial mammals, pygmy hippopotamus (Phanourios minutus) and pygmy elephant (Elephas cypriotes). Two theories exist on the arrival of these species on Cyprus. The first is that they arrived by a land bridge."
But then they assert, "This [land bridge] took place during the Pliocene [Era (≈5.333 – ≈2.58 Ma)] about five to six million years ago when the Mediterranean sea was sealed at both ends due to tectonic movements and its water evaporated creating a land bridge." Maybe. But this is based on a model, which, while plausible, doesn't seem to agree with other models and, in any case, models are starting points for investigation. In all branches of science, models fall short of fact, and even the most conventional are routinely discovered to be erroneous.
NoPlio"However," they continue, "there are no fossils dating from the Pliocene" [Era ≈5.333 – ≈2.58 Ma]. Based on this (and ignoring that their excavations leave 99.99% of the underground still unknown), they conclude, ex falso quodlibet, that there were never any earlier fauna on Cimmerian Terranes islands. There is simply no basis to conclude that land access to what are now the Aegean islands was only possible during a landbridge of the Pliocene Era (≈5.333 – ≈2.58 Ma).
[The more recent paper by Poulakakis, et al. relies for the "origins" of Aegean islands on Schule (1993), who guesses that Crete "probably owes its origins…", and Sondaar (1996), a geologist (not a geophysicist or specialist in geotectonics, paleogenomics, paleoclimatology, paleo-biology, etc.), who goes back only 16 Ma at most—ignoring the origins and likely periodic seasonal intermigrations during several hundred Ma among the Cimmerian Terranes islands of Pelopónnese, Crete, Cyprus and Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha (Anatolia) going back to Pangea. Being periodically submerged during the transoceanic voyage, these islands may have been washed, periodically, to bedrock of any archaeological remains.]
Hadjisterkotis' paper, which BTW remains above other papers treating these questions by at least noticing and calling attention to some of these issues, also fails to deep-dive to geotectonic bedrock to account for the period during which the present-day Aegean islands (as well as Pelopónnese, western Turkey, today's eastern Mediterranean coastlands including A•dãm•ãhꞋ, Arabia and the entire continent of Africa) were part of the Gondwana mainland of Pangea; fully and firmly zipped along its western side to the eastern side of today's South America—on the far side of the planet, across the Neotethys Sea (now the Atlantic Ocean), from the opposite coast of the Eur-Asian continent!
This remained the case from the creation of the planet through the emergence of earliest life (≈3.42 Ga) and the spread of earliest fauna and flora phyla throughout the planet.
Comparatively recently in geotectonic terms—less then half a Ga (≈450 Ma), the Cimmerian Terranes train of "ocean-like" islands (including today's Pelopónnese, Crete, Cyprus and western Turkey) rifted off from northeastern Gondwana (i.e. southeastern Pangea); thereby separating from what is now South America and sending what has become Africa, Arabia and much of the eastern Mediterranean coastlands on their transoceanic voyage across the planet to today's Middle East. The Cimmerian Terranes not only included future Western Turkey, Pelopónnese and the Aegean Islands, it towed a train of plates consisting, inter alia, of today's entire eastern coastlands of the Mediterranean, Arabia—and the entire African continent!
So, for the next ≈3.34 gigaannia—from the "Great Pangean Rift" until the "Big Crunch" ≈41.2 Ma —access to African fauna and flora was nearby to "ocean-like" islands Pelopónnese, Crete, Cyprus and Western Turkey—all within the Cimmerian Terranes. All this time, by contrast, the Eur-Asian continent remained completely out of reach for practically the entire ≈3.3788 gigaannia (3,378,800,000 year) transoceanic voyage!
As science (particularly genetics), has progressed, the lines between unending permutations of various species of "sub-human" DNA are increasingly recognized as a blend of an endless variety of pre-human matings—i.e. human evolution. 93% of the DNA in your blood and mine and in that of every other human on the planet, is a mixture from many different species of archaic humans, apes and monkeys—as well as lower animals! Yeah, if you couldn't figure it out from having to breath, hydrate, eat, go to the bathroom, sleep, etc., we are animals; just smarter in most (not all) respects—or so we claim. I often have doubts.
Whether because geneticists and other scientists themselves recoil from the idea of being merely another animal a notch above monkeys, or bowing to public sentiment for the same reason, rather than admit that every human is a descendant of monkeys, apes and lower animals, they sought to distance humans from "monkeys, apes and lower animals" through semantics. Accordingly, genetic and scientific jargon stretched the term "hominid" from its original definition ("human") to a wider definition referring no longer strictly to humans, but henceforth also to include apes and monkeys. This enabled humans to elevate our status to a more narrow Genus "Homo", more narrowly defined as—only—all members of the human clade.
Originally too, probably based on religious (not scientific) grounds, the "Out-of-Africa" theory has been assumed, posing that every human that ever lived, does live or ever shall live on the planet derives from a single "miraculous" mating of 2 and only 2 pre-humans (now "hominids", for deliberate blurring)—despite genetics showing that the female predated the male by 60 kiloannia! I'm beginning to wonder how long, and how much data it's going to take for scientists to be willing to face the question of absolute separation between humans and animals essential for the only Out-of-Africa theory. I submit that it's more likely that the earliest humans evolved from both paths: from similar but not identical primate stock, independently and in parallel both in Africa and Laurasia (Euro-Asia). In such case, they could only have first encountered each other via migration across the entirety of Pangea… or at "The Crunch". The notion that all humans originate with a single mating of 2 individuals in Africa simply won't fly! Nor, consequently, does it correctly explain the origins of the earliest humans in Europe; nor in Asia.
The chasm of billions of years separation between Pelopónnese, Crete, Turkey, Cyprus and Africa, as a bloc, from Europe (and Asia), particularly during the evolution period of Family Hominidæ (hominids, originally meaning humans), should at least suggest the possibility of the existence of indigenous Eur-Asians that evolved independently and in parallel from similar varieties of Eur-Asian primates.
One consequence of this would be an extreme territorial-based distrust and enmity of each to the other upon their initial discovery of each other at the "Big Crunch", when the African continent first encountered the Eur-Asian continent. This would have been their first realization that the other even existed; like humans today discovering aliens from a distant planet suddenly in their face! Certainly, this would have engendered an innate distrust and enmity, dissuading them in great measure, and for a long time, from intermingling and interbreeding.
Why, otherwise, must the line separating genetic remains in archaeological excavations of earliest African humans from earliest Eur-Asian humans follow the "Zipper Line" of the subduction of Cimmerian Terranes (under Eur-Asia) of the "Big Crunch"? (It is now widely attributed to highly dubious, coincidental "migratory routes" that must all originate from Africa.) Perhaps this genetic-based, geological division between the two isn't as difficult to explain as feared. It just means humans aren't that different from other species. What most distinguishes us is our barely being able to communicate at a higher level, enabling us to advance more quickly and comprehend that there is a Creator. The latter is typically called "the human soul"; and it's typically still very primitive. In general, humans still behave mostly like territorial bands of warring chimpanzees.
In any case, as the Cimmerian Terranes surfed along the earth mantle's convection waves, on its northeasterly course across the Palæotethys Sea to today's southern Europe (including Greece!), life continued evolving for another half gigaannia (≈550 megaannia); until at least as recently as 46Ma and the K/T —the Extinction Event of the Paleogenic Era (66.0—23.03 Ma) that ended the dinosaurs. This event triggered the inauguration of the higher mammals that, by , produced the primates that generated humans (Hominins, ).
During the last half-gigaannia of this period, the Cimmerian Terranes (including western Turkey-Antolya, Crete, Cyprus & Pelopónnese) along with A•dãm•ãhꞋ, Arabia and the entire continent of Africa were either part of mainland Pangea or, perhaps episodically, interconnected by landbridge! During these times, Pangean fauna evolved into mammals, including elephants, hippopotami and a plethora of other Pleistocene [Era 2.58 Ma – 11.7 Ka] mammals were plentiful in Gondwanan—and its later landbridge-attached Cimmerian Terranes—including continental Africa; all of whose origins came from the far side of the planet from Eur-Asia (Laurasia)!
During the period from 2.58 Ma – 11.7 Ka (BCE 9700)], "Many islands [on the planet] contained both dwarfed and gigantic forms of mainland species. These are particularly well documented from many Mediterranean islands, where the strange menagerie of Pleistocene [Era 2.58 Ma – 11.7 Ka] creatures included “giant” (squirrel-like) dormice, swans, vultures, owls, tortoises, and lizards. Dwarfed forms were also common, including dwarf deer, pigs, elephants, and hippopotamuses. These animals lived on several of the Mediterranean islands, including the Balearics, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Malta, Sardinia, and Sicily (Schüle 1993; Sondaar 1977, 1986)."
 0350x255.png "Aegean Sea glacial sea-level lowstand (Wegmann & Gallen in howitt-marshall 2016)") |
 1100x800.png "Click to enlarge"){kind=small} Aegean Sea glacial sea-level lowstand (Wegmann & Gallen in Howitt-Marshall, et al., 2016) |
During low sea levels following the End Of Last Ice Age (≈11.55 Ka), the Mediterranean islands were migrated and remigrated repeatedly, giving rise, sometimes on the same island, to several species (or subspecies) of different body sizes. As the Ice Age came to an end, sea levels rose, stranding elephants on the island… Holocene follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat; rapic proliferation of human species. These near-synonyms refer to the times of nomadic hunter-gatherers who generally lived in small, seasonal camps rather than permanent villages. They made sophisticated stone tools using microliths—small, finely-produced blades that were hafted in wooden implements.
During low sea levels, the Mediterranean islands were colonised [infused by migrations]] again and again, giving rise, sometimes on the same island, to several species (or subspecies) of different body sizes. As the Ice Age came to an end, sea levels rose, stranding elephants on the island... There are many uncertainties about the time of colonisation [migrations], the phylogenetic relationships and the taxonomic status of dwarf elephants on the Mediterranean islands. Extinction of the insular dwarf elephants has not been correlated with the arrival of humans to the islands.
 0350x385.png "Crete-Turkey-Greece 260Ma (Stampfli)") |
 1200x1320.png "Click to enlarge"){kind=small} Crete-Turkey-Greece 260 Ma (graphic: Prof. Gérard Stampfli, Professeur Honoraire, Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Switzerland) |
Pivotally, it may astonish the reader where these islands formed, which defines both the physical and cultural lines of evolution from mammals to humans thus fixing the geographic autochthony of their descendant human inhabitants!
Mathematical modeling of the evolution of earth's subcontinental plate tectonic geodynamics reveals that, until ≈41.2 Ma, what is now the Mediterranean Sea and Middle East was nothing but the vast Palæotethys Sea (with no islands)!
This geographical input is critical because, already at this point, the 14C-dating of early human bones unearthed on Crete and Cyprus has demonstrated that the evolution of mammals—comprising all of the ancestral gene pool for Genus Homo (humans)—is, by this time, already discernibly forming.
This last major change to the face of the earth began ≈270 Ma when the Cimmerian Terranes rifted off from the Pangean supercontinent, forming a chain of large islands—including Kᵊrē•të, QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ, Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha (Anatolia), Arabia, A•dãm•ãhꞋ and Tzūr. And, tethered by a landbridge, they towed the entire African continent behind them. This gestating train of fetal islands, along with the African continent, began surfing the earth mantle's convection waves on a northeasterly course across the Palæotethys Sea, bound for the Eur-Asian continent. The saltwater channel forming behind them as glaciers flashed down valleys in northern latitudes, in their increasing wake expanse slowly widened into the Neotethys Sea—today's Atlantic Ocean.
Finally, how are all of the inhabitants, their cultures (e.g., pottery), architecture, religion, etc. of the Cimmerian Terranes islands train interrelated? Keep in mind that the largest island in the central Cimmerian Terranes islands chain became Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha (western Turkey), richest in the natural resources needed to build a wealthy economy with a rich culture (e.g.,pottery).
Identifying the autochthonous humans, and their civilization, behind the archaeological finds on the islands of Crete and Cyprus defines the culture (e.g. pottery, religion, architecture, etc.) of Crete, Cyprus, Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha (West Turkey), et al.
The question then reduces, not to which "foreigners" are assumed to have first "visited" or "colonized" these islands, and, ex falso quodlibet, "must have" brought their foreign technology and culture, but, rather, to questions of when, where and how, the Pangean (African) Genus Homo (human) ancestors emerged on Kᵊrē•të, QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ and Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha.
The same convection waves in the earth's mantle that rifted the Cimmerian Terranes islands from Pangea (and South America) ≈270 Ma propelled the ≈230 megaannial transoceanic surfing safari of these subcontinental plates northeastward across the ancient Neotethys Sea (now the Atlantic Ocean) halfway around the planet. Their megaannial voyage began colliding and subducting under the Eur-Asian plate ≈41.2 Ma—producing the current locations of Crete, Cyprus, western Turkey, Pelopónnese, Arabia, A•dãm•ãhꞋ—and Africa.
How advanced, exactly, was the development of human evolution at the moment that the Great Crunch of ≈41.2 Ma approached Eur-Asia close enough that it enabled the first Cimmerian Terranes islands (African) Genus Homo (human) to mate with the first Eur-Asian Genus Homo (human)? Which was male and which was female? (Geneticists tell us that the female subspecies Homo sapiens, nicknamed Khaū•ãhꞋ, evolved 140 kiloannia before the male Homo sapiens ÕdãmꞋ, indicating a missing DNA capable of reproducing male Homo sapiens offspring. Either the only Homo sapiens (i.e. females) could not produce male offspring at all, or her male offspring weren't Homo sapiens.)
The geographic approach of the Cimmerian Terranes islands to the Eur-Asian continent inexorably reduced their maritime divide, fixing which Pangeal (ergo, African) species of our Genus Homo (human) ancestors could possibly have first mated with our first Eur-Asian Genus Homo (human) ancestors. This first intercontinental mating encounter may have enabled spinning the first strands of "Goldilocks DNA", birthing the first generation of male offspring subspecies Homo sapiens.
The first generation of both-gender offspring from two Genus Homo parents (the female being the sole subspecies Homo sapiens parent) genetically capable of reproducing male Homo sapiens offspring as well as female Homo sapiens offspring, defines the first generation of true—both sapiens parent—Genus Homo, subspecies sapiens!
While it was the Pangean (African) ancestral mammalian line that evolved the A•dãmꞋic (ÕdãmꞋ) line from the Cimmerian Terranes islands (which included A•dãm•ãhꞋ), Goldilocks matings occurred eventually in several locations around the planet in Eur-Asian lines of descent, either independently or resulting from Pangeal immigration, producing parallel subspecies of Homo sapiens.
The genetic origin(s) of the first generation(s) of the subspecies (Homo sapiens), while greatly reduced, nevertheless remain unclear. Did the "Goldilocks DNA" require some gender permutation of particular Pangean (African) descendants (peculiar to male or female or present in both?) with some gender permutation of particular Eur-Asian descendants (peculiar to male or female or present in both?)?
Or was the "Goldilocks DNA" present in both the Cimmerian Terranes islands (peculiar to male or female or present in both?) and Eur-Asia (peculiar to male or female or present in both?)? In this case, an undetermined number of similar (not identical) subspecies Homo sapiens emerged in parallel, independently of their respective continental lineage. The emergence of the first generation of both genders of Homo sapiens offspring, from exclusively Homo sapiens parents, would then have depended only upon a super-rare mating of any "Goldilocks DNA" Genus Homo man with a subspecies sapiens woman to evolve recombinant male as well as female, sapiens-producing progeny.
These answers greatly restrict and reduce the gene pool that researchers must analyze to find the strands of "Goldilocks DNA" that evolved various species of Genus Homo (humans) into the various subspecies of self-replicating Homo sapiens—which sprouted somewhat coevally in various locations around the planet.
Until ≈270 Ma, what today is Crete and Cyprus (along with western Turkey, Pelopónnese, Arabia, A•dãm•ãhꞋ, the eastern Mediterranean Basin and the entire African continent) were the northeastern area of today's South America, part of the supercontinent Pangea—on the far side of the planet from the Eur-Asian continent, which includes Greece!
Most pertinently, Kᵊrē•të, QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ, Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha (Anatolia) and Pelopónnese, all located in Gondwana, were separated by the Palæotethys Sea from Eur-Asia and Greece (!); on opposite sides of Pangea—and the planet!
Duncan Howitt-Marshall & Curtis Runnels [HM/R] noted (2016) that: "[A]rtifacts [dating from 3.3 Ma to 50 Ka] on [Ægean] islands [that were] separated from the mainland [during the period from 774 Ka to 11.7 Ka] may be proxy evidence for maritime activity in the eastern Mediterranean."
While HM/R connected four hypotheses with this topic, I connect a 5th:
The first is the presence of archaic hominins on the islands in the Palaeolithic, and
the second is that some of the islands were separated from the mainland when hominins reached them.
A third hypothesis is that archaic hominin technological and cognitive capabilities were sufficient for the fabrication of watercraft.
Finally, the required wayfinding skills for open seacrossings were within the purview of early humans.
Considering possible fluctuations in sea levels, were the Ægean islands, while separated, not isolated from the mainland, at least periodically, relative to the artifacts from 3.3 Ma to 774 Ka? Were archaic Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshan-cousin Homo pre-sapiens periodically frequenting these Ægean islands as the original, autochthonous, human island natives; as opposed to eons-later Eur-Asians (specifically Greeks) who colonized the island? It appears to me from pottery and other scientific information coming in ever more frequently that the autochthonous humans of these islands (e.g., Pelopónnese, Crete and Cyprus) were cousins of the neighboring big-island of their Cimmerian Terranes group—namely, Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha (now central and southern western Turkey).
HM/R continues: "Our review of the archaeological, experimental, ethno-historical, and theoretical evidence leads us to conclude that there is no a priori reason to reject the first two hypotheses in the absence of more targeted archaeological surveys on the islands, and thus the latter two hypotheses [#3 & 4 here; I would add #5 as well] should be tested by future research." (ibid).
These factors are pivotal to identifying the peoples and their cultures who are presently unidentified, and misidentified only as "Sea Peoples" or fictional (explorer-named) Minoans, Natufians and such. Heretofore "mysterious" and "fabled" peoples of the Ta•na״khꞋ are becoming nearer to being identified and documented scientifically, archaeologically and historically!
HM/R list several researchers who regard recent discoveries of this period as "suggest[ing] to some scholars that maritime activity in the Mediterranean began in the [period between 774–129 Ka]".
While the geographical locations of the Ægean islands during this period had long since stabilized at their present positions, nevertheless, shifting sea levels rendered relative shorelines versus open sea channels between islands continued to fluctuate by as much as 130m (see Aegean Sea glacial sea-level lowstand map); perhaps more. Thus, these remnant "cousin islands" of the Cimmerian Terranes "are difficult to calculate, ranging from as little as 5 to as much 30 or 40 km, and near-shore islands may have been extensions of mainland home ranges" (ibid). This is during pre-human, hominins' (apes') times (HM/R-140)! While HM/R points out that "For some scholars, this ‶triggered a slight ‵stretching′ of behaviour″ for archaic humans beyond their believed capability to either swim or "watercraft" (i.e. hang on to a log, raft, dugout, prehistoric watercraft) the narrows between some of these islands. Yet, some of those scholars find no problem "stretching" even more limited behavior—swimming only—to lesser mammals (now-extinct pygmy elephants & hippos).
Complex ship-building technology by pre-sapiens humans, using no tools beyond a hand-held, baseball-sized flaked-sharp stone (a handle-less ax-head) stretches credulity beyond the breaking-point. But, even beyond the Ægean islands across the Mediterranean, there were logs to hang onto, soon rafts, dugouts, early canoes and simple boats.
As for navigating, HM/R notes that many of the islands are in sight of each other, from mountaintop to mountaintop perhaps 30 km. In good weather, paddling voyages required only dead-reckoning based on the sun, a knowledge of local currents and winds (clouds). If swimming, then familiarity with local sea predators. Moreover, numerous "dead reckoning" seafaring skills date back to prehistoric [apes] times; and still remain relevant to local natives in many island settings. At Gibralter, Neanderthals were eating bluefin tuna as well as monk seals and dolphins (HM/R-141)!
As islands were explored, further islands were found, exploration of each island's resources would have immediately followed. Over night stays with campfires on both shores would have enabled dead-reckoning crossings by night; leading to star navigation when clouds blocked their line-of-sight. Teaching mariner skills, as well as building better boats to carry more people and cargo, would have been achieved in earliest times, before language afforded complex word descriptions that could be taught. RM/H "concur with Bednarik (2003) that archaic [apes] manifested in the Eurasian dispersals collectively a significant degree of effective communication and, importantly, some level of narrative thought…" (143).
Apprenticing and experience-memory sufficed. This would have created demand and competition—an industry, for better tools and a continuing supply of raw materials; along with distribution of work and some barter and primitive currency exchange system.
HM/R "conclude[s] that there is prima facie evidence that [between 3.3 Ma and 11.65 Ka, apes ("hominins")] reached some of the [Ægean] islands." (HM/R-142) Further (150), "the beginnings of this behaviour must be sought [774 Ka – 12.8 Ka]"!
Notably, Pelopónnese was in Gondwana, on the far side of the planet from Laurasian (Eur-Asian) Greece, which originated, and remains, on the Eur-Asian continent! (This directly impinges discussions concerning 14C dated archaeological evidence in both Greece and Pelopónnese relative to cultural origins of pottery, etc.)
Their evolutionary ancestors—including ancestors of Genus Homo—simply walked unimpeded into the lands of Crete and Cyprus until ≈270 Ma when these African areas islands rifted from Pangea to become the Cimmerian Terranes—remaining umbilically-attached to the trailing African continent and its evolving mammals.
Even after the rift, the Cimmerian Terranes islands remained tethered by a landbridge to Africa for most of their ≈5,500 km (3,500 mi) transoceanic odyssey across the Paleotethys Sea! Even as the islands separated from each other, the seafaring distances were far smaller from each other (thereby accessible to bi-directional landbridge access to Africa) in contrast to the distance from the Eur-Asian continent. Proximity to Eur-Asia didn't occur until ≈41.2 Ma.
For the next ≈230 Ma Cimmerian Terranes islands began "zippering" together (the Cimmerian Terranes islands beginning to subduct under Eur-Asia) roughly east-west across the Gulf of Corinth from Pindus, Central and northern Greece ≈41.2 Ma.
During most of these islands' ≈230 megaannia transoceanic odyssey, the distance from the Eur-Asian "mainland" was nearly halfway around the planet. This new information negates postulation that the particular species of extinct elephants and hippos evidenced by the ancient bones found on Crete and Cyprus (likely limited to an absolute maximum ≈30 km swim) could have survived a swim from the Eur-Asian mainland, much less in sufficient numbers to breed herds.
There is left no basis for entertaining the assumption that the bones of the extinct mammals on Crete and Cyprus—as well as Genus Hominini ancestors of humans—weren't autochthonous evolving descendants, including the first Homo sapiens island inhabitants.
Since "Goldilocks" Homo sapiens DNA is genetically dated (≈2.8 Ma) post-Crunch (after ≈41.2 Ma), while open-sea travel precluded cross-migration until cBCE 2,000, there is no window after the "Big Crunch" for the cross-breeding of Homo species that is known to have existed during this post-"Big Crunch" window! A priori, only inter-breeding among the ancestors of Homo sapiens before the "Big Crunch" (≈41.2 Ma) can account for all of the evidence!
The African continent accompanied the Cimmerian Terranes islands (which included Arabia, A•dãm•ãhꞋ, Pelopónnese and southern Turkey) on their ≈230 Ma ≈5,500 km (3,500 mi) transoceanic voyage across the face of the planet. Thus, the flora & fauna of Africa, cousin to South America in Gondwana (including all of the mammalian species essential to evolving Genus Homo ≈2.8 Ma), always remained attached by land or proximate to A•dãm•ãhꞋ Crete, Cyprus, western Turkey—and Pelopónnese!
Ergo, early humans in all of these Cimmerian Terranes Keys islands, until their prior absence is proven, were autochthonous from Gondwana (where they were cousin to South America)!
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 Geotectonic Fault Out-of-Africa Migratory Routes Model vs Conventional Single & Multiple Waves African & Eurasian Migratory Routes Models. Future excavations & scientific analyses will determine which is more correct. |
Conventional Out-of-Africa migratory models are based on good scientific analyses of scattered helter-skelter finds of ancient cultures. Thus, our scientific analyses of excavations creates a spotty and ambiguous map that is often overly trusted as "the" picture.
The hit-or-miss of "what's been found" may differ significantly from what actually was. This is particularly true proximate to the African-EuroAsian "Zipper" (the Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshan Fault subducting beneath the Eur-Asian continent).
As new discoveries of ancient remains and ensuing excavations lead scientists further back in time, 2 migratory paths of pre-sapien Homo species increasingly seems to conform to the general line of separation between the Cimmerian Terranes (Africa, et al.) continent in contrast to the Eur-Asian continent (see Geotectonic Fault map contrasting the two Migratory hypotheses). This would suggest that the path of African Homo erectus progeny may be separate, independent and parallel to EurAsian Homo progeny (e.g., Homo neanderthalensis, et al.) from their respective first generation.
This is a simpler explanation of the contrasting African versus Eur-Asian hominins. A singular "Out-of-Africa" hypothesis must include a "return and 2nd Asian ocean-crossing migratory route" in order to explain the variance between African and Eur-Asian Homo species. Likely, continuing finds and analyses will require further "patches" to keep this increasingly fragile theory viable.
The geotectonic model also suggests that the diversity of modern genetic make-up in each of us is due not to all of that genetic material being in one original pair—the maternal and paternal parents being separated by 140 kiloannia (see "Genetic Hiccup" below), but rather due to the subsequent continual mixing of Homo species. This implies that modern humans, rather than being a "pure" Homo sapiens species, is actually "Homo surviving-blends"!
This would also put a dagger in the heart of racism, since every modern human has within themselves some degree of genetic make-up of any and every race they may hate!
The continental separation between the Cimmerian Terranes remnants (Pelopónnese, Kᵊrē•të, Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha, QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ, Arabia, A•dãm•ãhꞋ and the African continent), on the one hand, versus the Euro-Asian continent is too close to the conventional "Out of Africa" Wave models to be ignored. Suggestions that their similarities to the reality of the historical geotectonic separation between the African and Euro-Asian continents can be attributed to mere coincidence stretches credulity beyond the breaking point.
To distinguish which model is most correct will require careful geographical delineation between the finds to test which of the three models most accurately reflects our past—identifying the autochthonous natives (versus later colonizers) of Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha, Kᵊrē•të, QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ and Pelopónnese.
Fossil discoveries for this period on Crete & Cyprus are sparse. Consequently, much of this period remains a mystery. What is evident is that every species of early humans (hominins) were interbreeding with other species of early humans, generating ever-new hybrid species. While there is an overwhelming need within most scientists (and all lesser intellects) to cling to a single, Goldilocks, pairing that created Homo sapiens with a "soul", as a being that is no longer an "animal", rules over reason. But the fact is that the more we learn about chimps, dolphins, whales, horses and dogs, the more we are surprised that some of their mental abilities (particularly chimps) exceed our own! While geneticists (scientists) are still addicted to theorize toward a Goldilocks pair (females 160 kiloannia earlier than males), genetics doesn't prove their case. The logical (scientific) case for the essential genes for multiple varieties of Homo sapiens to be within multiple species combinations of hominins remains viable despite all attempts to prove otherwise. We remain no more that a wide variety of the best adapted hominins; a step up in intellect from them and other animals. Yes, we think we are unlike lower animals in that we recognize that there is, for our universe, a Singularity-Creator—יְהוָׂה (English: Existant); and that implies a purpose, which then implies we seek to relate to that Creator and purpose. That sentience, awareness of our Creator and purpose is what we call a soul. Some genetic combinations among every subspecie still, and always will, more awareness, more soul, than others. While they occasionally allow us no alternative than to defend ourselves, our Creator requires that we show as much tolerance and kindness to them as we do to ourselves and other animals. The rest is primitive, physicomorphic, sub-human darkness. There is no animal, humanity, beast, priest or clergy between you, reader, and Existant. Nor is there anyone who can do it for you. You are responsible to do your best with the abilities the Creator endowed you.
Homo sapiens 0.5According to geneticists, the first mtDNA (female) Genus Homo sapiens, Khaū•ãhꞋ, evolved ≈200 Ka (i.e. ≈41.0 megaannia after the "Big Crunch"). But, geneticists continue, there was no first Y-DNA (male) Homo sapiens, ÕdãmꞋ, for the first 140 kiloannia to procreate with mtDNA Homo sapiens daughters of Khaū•ãhꞋ—until 60 Ka later (≈40.94 megaannia after the "Big Crunch")!
Thus, for that 140 kiloannia period, the progeny of these mtDNA Homo sapiens species daughters consisted only of mtDNA daughter Homo sapiens, while male offspring were only ½ Homo sapiens—by a Y-DNA Genus Homo (human, but non-sapiens species) father)!
): Homo sapiens 1.0The first fully, both parent, Homo sapiens, i.e. Homo sapiens sapiens 1.0, ÕdãmꞋ mated with a female descendant of Homo sapiens Khaū•ãhꞋ, 140 kiloannia after the first Homo sapiens Khaū•ãhꞋ! Thus, it was 140 kiloannia after Khaū•ãhꞋ before the first male Y-DNA (paternal) Goldilocks matings that produced Homo sapiens sapiens of both genders: the first complete generation of Homo sapiens sapiens ("modern" humans, us).
This 140 kiloannia discrepancy also suggests that there were likely innumerable additional "first matings" of Homo sapiens ÕdãmꞋ with a first Homo sapiens Khaū•ãhꞋ independent of, and not known to, the account in A•dãm•ãhꞋ, during and after that 140 kiloannia! Thus, it may be seen as likely, in addition to the Genus Homo sapiens 0.5 offspring of Genus Homo non-sapiens males with Homo sapiens females, that innumerable species of Genus Homo sapiens 1.0 offspring—from both Homo sapiens parents—likely emerged in various locations, independently and in parallel, during the same era.
According to geneticists, however, for the next .014 megaannia (140 kiloannia ) no Genus Homo non-sapiens species with the right DNA capable of producing, with Khaū•ãhꞋ, a male Genus Homo sapiens (modern human male) emerged to mate with a descendant of Khaū•ãhꞋ and produce that first Homo sapiens male—ÕdãmꞋ, until ≈60 Ka!
From the "Big Crunch" then, these discoveries and genetic analyses suggest that it was ≈269.2 megaannia until Khaū•ãhꞋ; then only about a mere 140 kiloannia until the right Genus Homo DNA male mated with a descendant of Khaū•ãhꞋ to give birth to ÕdãmꞋ, the first male Homo sapiens capable of reproducing a male Homo sapiens offspring. So it was 140 kiloannia after Khaū•ãhꞋ, ≈60Ka, that a descendant of the original Khaū•ãhꞋ could meet one or more yet-unidentified male Genus Homo -sapiens species ÕdãmꞋ(s) with the right Goldilocks DNA capable of producing fully Homo sapiens sons as well as daughters!
This would seem one good reason justifying the suggestion of some scholars to differentiate between Homo sapiens "0.5" born of a female Homo sapiens and a male of a different species or ½ Homo sapiens during this period vs fully Homo sapiens of either gender born of 2 Homo sapiens parents—mother and father, i.e. Homo sapiens sapiens or "1.0". This would provide a proper distinction between Homo sapiens and Homo sapiens sapiens (modern humans—us), respectively.
In summary, this suggests that the first, indigenous, hominin ancestors of humans (Genus Homo) on all of the remnants of Cimmerian Terranes (Pelopónnese, Crete, Cyprus, A•dãm•ãhꞋ, West Turkey, Arabia and Africa) were native African-cousin Cretans, native African-cousin Cypriots and native Africans—none of whom included northern (Eur-Asian) Greece.
All of these "cousin Africans" (including Egyptians) were relatives of the native Africans who first came "out of Africa"!
We can, thereafter, only speak of BCE 10th century-era humans not among these Cimmerian Terranes Keys' autochthonous islanders, as "recent visitors" or invasive colonizers.
This also dictates that, back in Pangea, various African species of Homininae ancestors of Genus Homo (humans) had unfettered landlocked opportunity to migrate according to food and water needs and innumerable climate changes to commingle with the ancestors of the various Eur-Asian species of Homininae of Genus Homo (humans) back in Pangea, prior to this slow-mo "Big Crunch" collision of the African and Eur-Asian continental plates that began ≈41.2 Ma. There seems no compelling logic to preclude a variety of Goldilocks DNA combinations that eventually led to a consequent variety of "cousin" hominins—which is what we find and so far have not explained.
The earliest extant evidence of Homo species on QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ date from cBCE 18–10 kiloannia. Various researchers describe them as unidentified nomadic hunter-gatherers.
In 2013, Simmons admits that "some research indicates the far earlier human occupation of several islands than previously believed".
In all cases, even the rare arts-degreed archaeologists who have bothered to try to explain the presence of extinct pre-historic pygmy species of elephants' and hippos' bones on a Mediterranean island have focused on reasons explaining their extinctions rather than attempt to deal with how they got there. Both questions are the wheelhouse of scientists (including hard-science degreed archaeologists and geneticists) anyway.
Other than a religious insistence on a single miraculous "Adam & Eve" genetic leap (practically negated by the 140 kiloannia gap), hard evidence proves that, by 63 Ma—more than 20 megaannia prior to the "Big Crunch" of ≈41.2 Ma—our immediate human ancestors (Suborder Haplorrhini primate apes and monkeys) carrying the necessary DNA to generate the evolution of humans had fully evolved from their common origins in Pangea. Our immediate human ancestors from Gondwana, Pangea almost certainly either populated these islands from the time of Gondwana or made repeated migratory visits to Cyprus, Crete or, particularly, Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha either periodically according to seasonal and climatic conditions or continuously since the time of Pangea. Even during the transoceanic drift period of the Cimmerian Terranes there appears to have been either landbridge access or periodic visual and primitive raft or boat access to our ancestors of the African line—not, during this period, any human line that may have evolved in parallel on the Eur-Asian continent; e.g., immediate ancestors of Homo neanderthalensis, floresiensis, altaiensis (denisova), et al.
Even if excavations were all down to bedrock, every excavation could have missed such evidence of earlier human (or human ancestor) habitation by inches—or miles. Underground for nearly all of these islands (and the earth generally) remains an unexcavated unknown. Importantly, "absence of evidence" does not constitute evidence of absence.
Meanwhile, evidence increasingly mounts proving ever earlier human presence, apparently back to the earliest hominins, on Crete and Cyprus—and that's without the geological evidence of mathematical models indicating that both islands—as well as other larger islands of the Cimmerian Terranes; e.g., Pelopónnese and Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha—were attached by landbridge to the African Continent for most of their history!
The weight of evidence, contrary to the consensus of arts-degrees, increasingly points to the possibility of earliest humans having evolved directly from autochthonous higher primates on Crete, Cyprus and the other large islands of the Cimmerian Terranes. Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha especially, may have been home to "African cousin" contemporaries of the earliest African hominins.
At all times prior to the LBAC ("Greek Dark Age" from the eruption of Thæra cBCE to cBCE 750), the shared culture of Crete and Cyprus, even corroborated in their pottery, was absolutely Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshan—not Greek (as long later claimed by Greeks)!
Age In The Mediterranean Rim CountriesOn QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ, the earliest discovered evidence of human settlements, which brings the curtain down on the (Old) Stone Age and opens the Neolithic Age, currently dates to cBCE 10,000. These humans were "seasonal hunters of [since extinct] pygmy elephants and pygmy hippopotami. A significant early [Kit•imꞋ/Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshan ] settlement site on the island, [abandoned cBCE 6000, later Hellenized (after the LBAC ) as Χοιροκοιτία], dates to as early as [BCE 7,000] … This phase is divided into two sub-phases: the [Pre-Ceramic Copper-Stone Age]and the Ceramic [Copper-Stone Age], based on the production and use of ceramic vessels. In the latter phase, which started around [BCE 5,500], residents of the island began using Combed Ware pottery, which had arrived with an influx of new settlers."
–3301: Χαλκολίθος Age in In The Mediterranean Rim Countries 0350x240.png "Cyprus copper mine") |
 4320x2964.png "Click to enlarge"){kind=small} LBA sources of tin cargo from the Ulu Burun shipwreck. |
קפרי was named by Kit•imꞋ Mediterranean Maritime Traders after the copper ore that enabled Khalcolithic civilizations to smelt copper swords, other weapons, tools, etc.
Since bronze was smelted by adding 10% tin to 90% copper, both copper and QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ remained crucial for the production of weapons and tools beyond the Khalcolithic Age throughout the subsequent Bronze Age.
Cyprus’ copper deposits created one of the most important trade hubs in the Bronze Age.
"The modern word "copper" is derived from the island's name, a nod to the island's rich copper resources, which also contributed to its broad significance in the ancient Mediterranean world…
"The number of settlements on Cyprus increased during the Khalcolithic period and although we can identify cultural changes, it is clear that this was a continuation of cultural development from the Neolithic period. Khalcolithic Cypriots continued using stone, but also began using copper for objects like chisels, hooks, and jewelry."
: MBA (Middle Bronze Age) |
 Cyprus copper mine |
"By [BCE 1550], bronze was the “high technology” of [the Mediterranean Basin]… During this period, small- and large-scale communities sought access to its main components: copper and tin. Copper was relatively abundant throughout Eurasia, with porphyry copper ores occurring throughout the Pontic-Caucasus-Zagros mountains, sedimentary copper deposits in eastern Egypt and [A•dãm•ãhꞋ], and volcanogenic deposits in [QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ]. Given this wide distribution, copper deposits lay within reach for all major states of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Tin, however, is more than 30 times less abundant than copper in the Earth’s crust (1), and conditions under which tin deposits form are geologically limited. Furthermore, unlike copper, most deposits of tin lay far from major urban centers of the ancient world. Throughout the [BCE second millennium], the acquisition of tin was thus a strategic military and economic endeavor, comparable to crude oil today. As a result, scholars have long speculated about the ore sources and exchange trajectories that funneled tin across [the Mediterranean Basin] toward major markets of consumption during the Late Bronze Age (LBA; [cBCE 1550–1200]) (2)…
"Two-thirds of the tin ingots came from [Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha], not far from the shipwreck site, despite archaeological evidence that one of the sources of tin, Kestel tin mine, had ceased production hundreds of years earlier. But there were other tin deposits in the Taurus Mountains with evidence of later working…
"“These were nomads, herders, and communities with different adaptations. They were able to shape the market. These origin sites do not have urban populations and were not dictated by imperial politics,” Frachetti said. “The idea that tin was making its way to the Mediterranean, then smelted into bars, is amazing. Goods were flowing worldwide thousands of years before the modern era.”"
From Pelopónnese east through Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha and east, and continuing around the eastern Mediterranean Basin Rim coastlands through Tzūr, Yi•sᵊr•ã•eilꞋ and Mi•tzᵊr•ayꞋim, maritime trade—coupled with the essential naval protection, marine technology and projected power—was booming. Trade in copper and tin, essential for weapons and tools, flourished.
Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha had, by this time, long been a major source of essential minerals including God-Stone, QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ (copper) and tin. The discovery of (≈90% copper + ≈10% tin =) bronze, The Bronze Age, elevated QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ Island (Copper Island, i.e. Cyprus) into a major sources and hub.
Middle Bronze Age: [≈BCE 2,000-1,600] “This was a short transitional period between the Early and Late Bronze Age. Increasing trade relations with Egypt, Syria, and [Yi•sᵊr•ã•eilꞋ] resulted in the growing importance of the harbor towns on the southern coast. Cypriot pottery began to be traded as well, although the main export continued to be copper (6). The construction of a number of fortresses on the island suggests a period of unrest, although its cause is not known…
[LBAC
“At this time, a new period of peace in the eastern Mediterranean allowed for an unprecedented growth in trade. [QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ]'s location in the Mediterranean and its abundant copper resources attracted [Pelopónnese] merchants who established themselves on the eastern and southern coasts of the island in order to conduct trade with the Near East. This increase in trade led to the development of the [QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ-Tzūran] script (7). Increased trade also stimulated the development of new pottery styles stemming from earlier [Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshan] Bronze Age traditions. These include White Slip and Base Ring Wares, both of which were very popular as exports. Base Ring Ware was especially popular in [Mi•tzᵊr•ayꞋim], where numerous jars called bilbils, which resemble inverted poppy heads and are thought to have been used to store and transport opium, were exported (8). [Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshan] pottery, both imported and locally made (9), also appears in great numbers on [QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ], fulfilling the demand of the [QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ] market for the exuberant styles of [Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshan] pottery, especially the Pictorial Style, a famous example of which is the [Pelopónnese] Warrior Vase (10).
“Around [BCE 1200], as [Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshan] civilization on [Pelopónnese] was collapsing, several major cities on [QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ] were destroyed… Following this destruction, a wave of [Pelopónnese] immigrants settled on [QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ], bringing with them the culture of [Pelopónnese] and advanced metallurgical techniques. There is also evidence for immigrants from Kᵊrē•të and [points East]. Many new cities appear at this time… Around 1,050 B.C.E. the Late Bronze Age was brought to a close by a disaster, possibly major earthquakes, which destroyed many of the island's cities (14).
“Following destruction on the island [inaugurating the LBAC,
“Pottery at this time included white-painted wares, bichrome wares, and black slip wares. A bichrome cup in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge is representative of this period. Red slip wares appear later in the [LBAC
(≈BCE —750)The culture of Crete and Cyprus islands, as well as Pelopónnese, particularly as displayed in their pottery styles so frequently at the root of archaeologists' dating dependency, derived principally from their largest Cimmerian Terranes cousin islander and having the greatest natural resources—Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋsha.
Thus, the fictitious and misleading "Minoans" exonym and the unidentified "Sea Peoples" were: first, the Kᴴa•tᵊ•tūꞋshans (Biblical כִּתִּים), along with their cousin Tzūrans—exonym: Phoenicians).
From Pre-LBAC times, the כִּתִּים Colony on QëꞋphᵊr•iꞋ was joined, and later at some point eclipsed, by the nearby Pelopónnese Pūlossian Colony from Pūlos.
Not until LBAC ended, succeeded by the Classical Greek era, was the כִּתִּים Port colony Hellenized to Κίτιον.
(Biblical) Connection With Kit•imꞋ Lost Since 135 CEThe connection between the Proto-Sinaitic and Paleo-Semitic terms to MH: was severed by relatively quick extinction of Spoken Hebrew as a "living language" due to the Roman destruction (70 CE) and exile (135 CE).
When MH: was revived in the late 19th Century CE (1880s), a new Hebrew word was derived from the Greek for "Cyprus", unrelated to the Kit•imꞋ: קַפְרִיסִין.
Pay it forward (Quote & Cite):
| Yirmeyahu Ben-David. Qephri (Cyprus) (2024.11.17). Netzarim Jews Worldwide (Ra'anana, Israel). https://www.netzarim.co.il/Shared/Glossary/Qephri.htm (Retrieved: Month Da, 20##). |
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