[ TIMELINE ] What in your opinion..?

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 16:52

Timeline Cyprus: the first human settlement in Cyprus can be dated back to circa 9000-8500 years BC. What - in your opinion - was the most influential date (or year) and happening in the Cyprus history until now?

Just ONE date/happening!

And why..?

brother



Joined: 29/01/2010
Posts: 446

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 19:37

IMHO it was 1878. This was when Cyprus was ceded to the British Empire after the Russo-Turkish War.



Why do I consider this the most influential date?

Because according to history, from that date until 1960 when Cyprus was declared the Republic of Cyprus, the British administration adopted the Ottoman millet system. This had a disastrous effect - as we now know very well. The two distinct education systems helped to perpetuate the ethnic differences over generations. History shows that the Greek education system stressed Hellenism which encouraged any desire for Enosis. The defensive reaction of the Turkish speaking Cypriots resulted in what most people are now aware of.

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 21:04

Hans. Just to clarify this - do you mean the whole of Cyprus?

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 21:09

In my opinion it's 1974 - for obvious reasons.

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 21:14

RE msg 3, No1Doyen: Yes, I mean the whole of Cyprus. Remarkable that "all" posters only look back within the last 130 years or so!

P.S. Yes, I know, I have to add my "main event" also...

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 21:46

Hans, there is a more recent event that was very important as well.



In 2004, the remains of an 8-month-old cat were discovered buried with its human owner at a Neolithic archeological site in Cyprus. The grave is estimated to be 9,500 years old, predating Egyptian civilization and pushing back the earliest known feline-human association significantly.



Perhaps that's why there are lots of Cats in Cyprus?

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 22:26

During the Middle Ages the Lusignan kings imported (!) even more cats, because it was no joke that Cyprus was known in Europe as the "Snake Island".

Btw: did you know that long ago (ca 10.000 years) Cyprus had elephants (Elephas cypriotes) and hippos (Phanourios minor) - both a small kind animal? They became extinct when the first humans on Cyprus started to hunt and eat them.

What's new in this world..?

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 22:29

Hans, they were known as Dwarf Elephants and Pygmy Hippos (no joke)

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 22:34

I know, Bill. But both words, dwarf and Pygmy, are very Political Incorrect...

vonny


Joined: 25/06/2009
Posts: 476

Message Posted:
17/02/2011 23:11

message 7 was very interesting,i had no idea there were elephants & hippos.

ive also been told that the whole of cyprus was under water a few times,is that true ?

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
18/02/2011 00:07

These animals are thought to have arrived on the island as a result of being swept out to sea while swimming off the coast of the nearby mainland.

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
18/02/2011 00:08

The extinction of the pygmy hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of Homo sapiens on Cyprus. There is evidence of this because of the piles of burned bones in the camps occupied by these early humans in caves on the southernmost point on the Island

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
18/02/2011 00:11

The first undisputed settlement occurred in the 9th (or perhaps 10th) millennium BC. The first settlers were already agriculturalists, but did not yet produce pottery. They introduced the dog, sheep, goats and maybe cattle and pigs as well as numerous wild animals like foxes and Persian fallow deer.