My project concerns ancient Cypriot coinage, paying special attention to the Hellenistic period (c. 323-31 BCE). This period was characterized by territorial contestation and warfare between the would-be successors of Alexander the Great after his death. Cyprus was a key site of struggle between kings Ptolemy and Antigonus during the earliest part of the Hellenistic period before it fell to Ptolemaic control (294 BCE) – a period only weakly attested in ancient sources. Material culture offers a rich window into all aspects of the Hellenistic period, and my research analyzes iconographic interactions between traditional Cypriot and Ptolemaic coinage, from the earliest instances of Ptolemaic coinage on Cyprus to its evolution through the Hellenistic period.
I will demonstrate key aspects of the relationship between Cyprus and the Ptolemaic ruling presence, including Ptolemaic ruling strategies and utilization of Cypriot economy and culture. My initial work has focused on parallels in numismatic depictions of Aphrodite, a goddess closely associated with Cyprus who also appears on Ptolemaic coinage on Cyprus. Further research will focus on existing interactions between traditional Cypriot and Ptolemaic coinage, identifying additional objects for my case study, and, if possible, highlighting other iconographic parallels from Cypriot and Ptolemaic coinage. To conduct this research, I am attending archaeological field school at Pyla-Vigla, an early Hellenistic fortified settlement in Cyprus and researching coins from this site as well as others. I am also utilizing archaeological and classical databases and consulting ancient sources, all of which are vital for a study of classical archaeology.