| On this mountain in North Cyprus, overlooking
the village of Vouni below, stands a palace. As you look at
the fragmentary walls, let your guide be a figure from 483
B.C., when Persia and Greece fought to dominate the island.
Cyprus is divided into several small kingdoms. Your guide
is Himilcar, elder statesman and advisor to Doxandros, King
of Marion. Marion is a city not far away, and the Persians
built this palace for Doxandros, who has sworn loyalty to
them.
Come to the old entryway on the southwest side of the building.
Can you hear Himilcar mumbling to himself as he approaches
the palace?
“Fifteen years, it’s been fifteen years since
the Greeks of Ionia began the Great Revolt. Did they learn
nothing from defeat?
“Oh, greetings, stranger. I did not see you there.
Come here, under the porch. Our hot Cypriot sun will bake
your brains otherwise. What is the Great Revolt, you ask?
By the gods, who are you and in what cave have you been living?
The Greek cities of Ionia in Asia Minor rebelled against our
Persian King of Kings. The Cypriot kings who favored Greece,
in cities like Soli, may its fields be plowed with salt, those
cities also rose in revolt.
“But the revolt was doomed from the start. Vast are
the domains of the King of Kings. His empire stretches from
Egypt to India and his army is beyond counting. He crushed
the Ionians, who sent precious little aid to Soli, let me
tell you. And soon he will crush those pesky Athenians too.
“But come in, come in. My King Doxandros is at his
home in the city of Marion. I am left in charge here. I am
Himilcar, chief adviser to Doxandros. I don’t suppose
you’ve ever been in a Persian palace. Of course this
is on a small scale. But it really is Persian, Persian designed
and Persian built.
“How did that happen, you ask? I told you about the
Great Revolt. Cyprus was part of the Persian Empire then,
as, of course, it is now. My city, Marion, and King Doxandros
remained loyal to the Persians. As a reward, the King of Kings
sent one of his own architects to build this palace, and all
the craftsmen and all the gold he needed, as well.”
A pair of guards in bronze armor, their round shields slung
across their back and their long swords sheathed, stands in
front of the doorway. Another pair of guards is just inside.
In a corner of the room sits a scribe. He sits cross-legged
on a cushion, his writing board across his knees. At his side
are sheets of papyrus paper, sharpened reeds he will use as
pens, and a clay jug of ink.
“See the scribe, there in the corner? He still writes
with our old script. We learned the letters of it from the
Minoans, but use it for our own Cypriote language. The scribe
keeps a record of visitors and their wants.
“Come down the stairs here on the right. These are
living quarters for the scribes, the chief cook, the lady
of the seals, and for me. My own room is largest. That connecting
room is where my wife lived, while she lived. She was lady
of the seals, in charge of the royal household.
“Across the hallway from our living quarters are the
palace storerooms. Here the king keeps stores of food, of
cloth, of precious herbs and dyestuffs. See how the large
vases, the amphorae, are sunk into the ground. Back toward
the front of the palace are the guard rooms. You can hear
the guards laughing over a dice game. No, they don’t
live there. They are on duty, passing time until they are
needed.
“Come through here into the reception rooms. The ordinary
people wait in this first room. On the right is the king’s
official recorder. On the left is the queen’s. People
come here to have land transfers recorded, to pay taxes, to
bring a case before the court. All those matters and more
besides pertain to the king. The queen deals mainly with religious
matters and marriage disputes.
“Come, come, don’t be shy. The people you see
in this third room are the wealthy and the noble. You can
tell by the lavish embroidery on their robes. The rich have
threads of gold and silver; the noble can wear Tyrian purple,
most precious of dyes.
“My own office is on the right side of this last waiting
room. Just take a peek and see the jumble of scrolls on my
desk. Every day I fall farther behind. Now we go straight
ahead into the throne room.
“Come up these seven steps. Seven, you must know, is
a mystical number. And the steps are broad to announce that
the king will receive all his people. Of course he sees mainly
the important ones. See the brightly painted columns and the
thrones. There the king and queen sit to receive petitioners
and well-wishers. The rich and the noble stroll about here,
seeking favor, always plotting for favor.
“The queen’s apartments are on the left, with
the children’s room and another room for the maidservants.
The king and his son have rooms on the right, along with their
body servants. Magnificent as these rooms are, with their
painted walls and the pots of lilies and roses to perfume
the air, I will show you the real wonder of the palace.
“See here behind the King’s chamber? Two bathrooms
with toilets and beyond them, a hot bath. The water comes
from our own cisterns and is heated and piped in. You’ll
find nothing like it between Crete and Persia.
“We can go through here to the large courtyard. The
rooms all around are storerooms and garrison rooms for the
troops. The armor and weapons are stored here, along with
food supplies. See the well? It goes into a cavern we have
cut into the very rock of the mountain. It serves as one of
many cisterns that hold winter rain for us to use all year
long.
“Excuse me, please. I must speak to that fellow over
there. Please, see what you like in this courtyard and the
rooms around it.”
The courtyard is filled with activity. Muscular men in kilts
are polishing armor in the shade. In one corner a smith is
putting a new cutting edge on a pile of swords. The cook and
her assistants are plucking chickens across the way, singing
softly as they work. But here is Hamilcar returning.
“Who was he? The man I spoke with? No harm in telling
you, I suppose. He is one of my spies.
“Of course I have spies. How else would I know what
is going on in Soli? Soli and Marion have been neighbors and
rivals for a thousand years. When Marion allowed the Phoenicians
to trade and even settle in the town, then Soli brought in
the Greeks.
“Why is Marion pro-Persian? Well, there are two reasons.
One, the obvious, is that Marion does a lot of trade with
Asia. But the real reason is that Soli is pro-Greek.
“Now King Xerxes is preparing the Persian army to march
on Greece. He will need ships from Cyprus to transport troops,
armor, food. He needs to know which cities will support him,
and which might try to stab him in the back. Soli rose against
Persia once, and might do so again. So, I have spies in Soli.
“I must return to my work. But you feel free to wander
about. May Anat bless you in your comings and goings.”
So farewell to the old ghost, from a time long ago when Asia
and Europe held Cyprus in a tug-of-war and bitterness divided
city from city. He cannot know that in twenty years the Greeks
at Soli will take the palace and re-orient it with a new entrance;
build a temple of Athene where Himilcar worshipped Anat; and
use her sacred standing stone as a windlass for well.
Copyright 2006 SeaTerra
For a non copyrighted version of this article which can be
reprinted please go to The
North Cyprus Palace at Vouni
Back to North
Cyprus Information
|
The North Cyprus Palace at Vouni
Go Back
