Robert Hamilton Lang and the Archaeology of Cyprus

Bibliographic Data

ID19424902
AuthorsThomas Kiely (Tudor Place, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume50
Pages483-523
Publication date2020-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCahiers du Centre d Etudes Chypriotes (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0761-8271 • E-ISSN: 2647-7300
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4000/cchyp.536
OpenAlexW4285581270
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited8

This paper reviews the archaeological activities of Robert Hamilton Lang – a Scottish businessman, banker and farmer based in Cyprus between 1862 and 1872 – in the light of unpublished or little-known archival documents preserved in the British Museum. During this lively, and indeed frenetic, period of archaeology, Lang assembled a large collection of antiquities, many from more or less controlled excavations: funerary or votive objects from Idalion and Pyla, inscriptions in a range of languages and scripts (including the famous bilingual in Phoenician and Cypriot syllabic) and three large hoards of coins. These objects enriched the collections of great European museums (London, Paris, Belin, Vienna, among others), but also private collections, during a formative period in the archaeology of the island. On the other hand, his contribution to the decipherment of the Cypriot Syllabic script, his report on his excavations at the Sanctuary of Apollo-Reshef in Idalion, and several accounts of his numismatic finds, are justifiably famous. At the same time, numerous important details about his activities remain little known or indeed are misrepresented in the secondary sources. Drawing on letters and reports in the British Museum, but also on his unpublished memoirs, this overview explores his development as a collector and antiquarian – particularly in the context of the material he sold or gave to the British Museum – against the backdrop of contemporary antiquarian developments. It also casts light on the discovery of finds such as the bilingual inscription from Idalion, the “Rosetta Stone” of Cyprus, and other important epigraphic texts from the island during a nascent period in Cypriot epigraphy and archaeology

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Decipherment · Egyptology · Excavation · Memoir · Phoenician · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Classics · History · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology

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