Near Eastern and Aegean Texts from the Third to the First Millenia BC, vol 2.

• Author: Cline, Eric H.

Sources for the History of Cyprus, vol. 2. Edited by A. BERNARD KNAPP. Altamont, N.Y.: GREECE AND CYPRUS RESEARCH CENTER, INC., 1996. Pp. ix + 92.

This plain 8 1/2[inches] x 11[inches] paperbound book is an extremely useful compendium of 122 Near Eastern and Aegean texts from the third to the first millennia B.C. that mention, or may mention, Cyprus. Such a sourcebook, with the relevant portions of the texts translated into English, many for the first time, has long been needed.

The volume opens with a preface (p. ix) and an introduction (pp. 1-13) by the editor of the volume, A. Bernard Knapp. Knapp explains that among the place-names or ethnic adjectives possibly referring to Bronze Age or Iron Age Cyprus are Kapalure (Eblaite), Alashiya (Akkadian, Hittite, Ugaritic, and Hurrian), irs (Egyptian), ku-pi-ri-jo (Linear B), Elishah (Biblical Hebrew), and ladnana (Neo-Assyrian). Additional terms may include a-ra-si-jo (Linear B, but which may instead be a reference to a site on Crete) and isy (Egyptian, but which may instead be a reference to Assuwa in northwestern Anatolia). A number of these terms is the subject of debate among scholars, as Knapp points out, but inclusion in this sourcebook should promote discussion and perhaps add new insights. The most contentious of the debates is the equation of Alashiya with Cyprus. While the majority of scholars now accept this equivalence, the principal holdout is still Robert Merrillees, who published an entire monograph, Alashia Revisited (Paris: Gabalda et cie., 1987), cautioning against acceptance. Thus, Knapp devotes a substantial portion of the introduction to refuting Merrillees' statements.

Following a brief compilation of the editorial conventions and abbreviations used (pp. 14-15), the 122 Near Eastern and Aegean texts are presented (pp. 16-60) in a straightforward manner according to language and then by place: Eblaite, Akkadian (from Mari, Alalakh, Amarna, Ugarit, and...