MORE than 200 artefacts showcasing Cyprus’ 11,000 year history went on display in the early hours of yesterday at the famous Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in the US capital.
The exhibition “Cyprus: Crossroads of Civilisations”, was inaugurated by President Demetris Christofias.
It marks 50 years of diplomatic relations, friendship and co-operation between Cyprus and the USA, Christofias said during the opening ceremony.
“The decision to celebrate this important milestone in the history of the Republic of Cyprus with an exhibition of such scope and importance in the United States, testifies the close bonds of friendship between our two countries and people”, Christofias said.
It also highlights the long history of fruitful co-operation between the two countries in the field of archaeology, the president said.
The items on display are “merely a fraction of the artefacts discovered on the island by Cypriot and foreign excavators, including many American archaeologists”, said Christofias.
The display is enriched with masterpieces of ecclesiastical art, maps and coins presented to the American public for the first time.
It includes, gold jewelry and sphinx sculptures from the Cypro-Archaic period (750 to 480 B.C.), vases, bowls and sculptures, including an Aphrodite marble, from the Hellenistic period (325 to 50 B.C.) and Roman (50 B.C. to A.D. 330) periods, bronze and copper items, including lamps and jugs, from the Byzantine period (330 to 1191) and religious icons, paintings and vases from the medieval period (13th to 16th centuries)
Throughout the centuries, Christofias said, Cyprus became a bridge for permanent dialogue between the countries and peoples of the region and beyond.
Today, as the European Union’s lighthouse in the eastern Mediterranean, the island continues to be a beacon for closer cooperation, understanding and dialogue in its immediate neighbourhood and further afield, he said.
Referring to the division of the island President Christofias stressed that Cyprus’ commitment to contributing to peace and stability in the region takes place against the backdrop of Cyprus’ own painful division since the Turkish invasion of 1974.
“It’s a pity for a people like the people of Cyprus to be under occupation,” he said. The president said in the ongoing negotiations between himself and the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community he is “fighting for the rights of all Cypriots, both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latins”. “Cypriots deserve a better fate”, he said.
Christofias said having one of the richest cultural heritages meant that Cyprus also actively pursued the return of its “plundered culture.”
In 2002 the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding aiming to protect pre-classical and classical archaeological material of Cyprus, The agreement was later amended to include Byzantine items, and ancient coins from the classical and pre-classical period.
“The Republic of Cyprus considers this Memorandum of Understanding as an invaluable tool and mechanism, which significantly contributes to the protection and preservation of Cyprus’ religious and cultural heritage”, especially since it “is unable to prevent the continuing looting and illegal export of artefacts” from the north.
Author: George Psyllides | Source: Cyprus Mail [September 30, 2010]