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Ancient History of Cyprus
Cyprus (Greek: Κύπρος, Kýpros; Turkish: Kıbrıs), officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία, Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti) is an island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean south of Turkey, west of the Levant, north of Egypt, and east-southeast of Greece. Cyprus is the third-largest island and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, attracting over 2.4 million tourists per year.

the area under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus in the south of the island;
the Turkish occupied area in the north, called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus;
the United Nations-controlled Green Line, separating the two; and
two Sovereign Base Areas (Akrotiri and Dhekelia), over which the United Kingdom retained jurisdiction after Cypriot independence.

Etymology
The name Cyprus has a somewhat uncertain etymology. One suggestion is that it comes from the Greek word for the Mediterranean cypress tree (Cupressus sempervirens), κυπάρισσος (kypárissos), or even from the Greek name of the henna plant (Lawsonia alba), κύπρος (kýpros). Another school suggests that it stems from the Eteocypriot word for copper. Georges Dossin, for example, suggests that it has roots in the Sumerian word for copper (zubar) or for bronze (kubar), due to the large deposits of copper ore found on the island. Through overseas trade the island has given its name to the Classical Latin word for the metal through the phrase aes Cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later shortened to Cuprum. Cyprus is also called "the island of Aphrodite", since the Greek goddess Aphrodite, of beauty and love, was born in Cyprus. The most common theory is that it came from their word for copper, Kypros, because the island had rich deposits of copper.

Prehistoric and ancient Cyprus
A number of discoveries during the past twenty years have greatly enhanced our knowledge of the early prehistory of Cyprus. The earliest confirmed site of human activity is Aetokremnos, situated on the Akrotiri Peninsula on the south coast, indicating that hunter-gatherers were active on the island from around 10,000 BC. Recent evidence also suggests that there may have been short-lived occupation sites contemporary with Aetokremnos on the west coast of the island, in the area of the Akamas, and on the east coast at Nissi Beach.

At present the archaeological record presents us with a chronological gap in the use or occupation of the island between the earliest hunter-gatherers and the appearance in the record of more settled village communities at around 8200 BC. These people probably practiced a limited form of agriculture and animal husbandry, supplemented by hunting. Important remains from this early-Neolithic period can be found at Mylouthkia, Shillourokambos, Kastros, Tenta and, later toward the end of this period, the famous village of Khirokitia.

During the Painted-Pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods that followed, small scale settlements and activity areas were in use all over the island, and the people of Cyprus produced decorated pottery and figurines of stone quite distinct from the cultures of the surrounding mainland. This has traditionally led some archaeologists to consider the island somewhat isolated and insular during this time, although this idea has recently been challenged.

Ruins of ancient Salamis, near Famagusta. (15 minutes to Bogaz Hotel)

The Bronze Age also brought rich finds, during which the people learned to work the island's rich copper mines. The Mycenæan culture seems to have reached Cyprus at around 1600 BC, and several Greek and Phoenician settlements that belong to the Iron Age can be found on the island. Cyprus came into contact with Egypt about 1500 BC and became an important trade partner.

Around 1200 BC the Sea Peoples may have arrived in Cyprus, although the nature of their influence is disputed. The Phoenicians arrived at the island in the early first millennium BC. In those times Cyprus supplied the Greeks with timber for their fleets.

In the sixth century BC, Amasis of Egypt conquered Cyprus, which soon fell under the rule of the Persians when Cambyses conquered Egypt. In the Persian Empire, Cyprus formed part of the fifth satrapy, and in addition to tribute the island had to supply the Persians with ships and crews. In this fate the Greeks of Cyprus had as companions the Greeks of Ionia (on the west coast of Anatolia), with whom they forged close ties. When the Ionian Greeks revolted against Persia in 499 BC, they were joined by the Cypriots, except for the city of Amathus. The Cypriots were led by Onesilos, who dethroned his brother, the king of Salamis, for not wanting to fight for independence. The Persians reacted quickly, sending a considerable force against Onesilos and eventually putting down the Cypriot rebellion despite Ionian help.

After this defeat, the Greeks mounted various expeditions in attempt to take Cyprus from Persian rule, but all their efforts bore only temporary results. The island eventually regained Greek leadership under Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC) and, after his death, under his successors: in 318 BC it came under permanent control of the Hellenistic Ptolemies of Egypt; finally, it was annexed by Rome in 58-57 BC. Cyprus was visited by the Christian Apostles Paul of Tarsus and Barnabas, accompanied by St Mark, who came to the island at the outset of their first missionary journey in 45 AD. After their arrival at Salamis they proceeded to Paphos where they converted the Roman Governor Sergius Paulus to Christianity.

Cyprus in ancient myth
Cyprus is the mythical birthplace of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, of beauty and love, also known as Kypris or the Cyprian. According to Hesiod's Theogony, the goddess emerged fully grown from the sea where the severed genitals of the god Uranus were cast by his son Kronos, causing the sea to foam (Greek: Aphros). Her birth was famously depicted by the artist Botticelli in The Birth of Venus. The legendary site of Aphrodite's birth is at Petra Tou Romiou ("Aphrodite's Rock"), a large sea stack close to the coastal cliffs near Paphos. Throughout ancient history Cyprus was a flourishing centre for the cultic worship of Aphrodite.

Other mythological characters associated with Cyprus are the king Cinyras, Teucer (the founder of Salamis), the Cypriot sculptor Pygmalion, and (in some versions) Adonis.