Engomi Ancient City Ruins

Enkomi is a 2nd millennium BC archaeological site on the eastern coast of Cyprus a short distance from the village of Enkomi [1]. The site is known for the hundreds of rich tombs that have been excavated and for exceptional metallurgic finds like the Ingot God and the Horned God [1]. Enkomi was settled in the Middle Bronze Age, near an inlet from the sea (now silted up) [1]. From about the 16th to 12th centuries BC, it was an important trading center for copper, which was smelted at the site, with strong cultural links to Ugarit on the facing coast of Syria [1]. The Horned God, measuring 0.55 metres in height, was found in a pit dug in the third phase of a very large tripartite ashlar building, built in the Late Cypriot III period (early 12th century BC) over earlier structures destroyed by an earthquake [1]. Enkomi's fortress Level 1A has been identified as part of the Late Cypriot urban defensive system and is represented in excavation plans as a rectangular stone-built enclosure [1].