Idalion in the context of "Electrum"

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⭐ Core Definition: Idalion

Idalion or Idalium (Greek: Ιδάλιον, Idalion, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤃𐤉𐤋, ʾDYL, Akkadian: e-di-ʾi-il, Edīl) was an ancient city in Cyprus, in modern Dali, Nicosia District. The city was founded on the copper trade in the 3rd millennium BC. Its name does not appear on the Sargon Stele of 707 BC, but does appear on the later Prism of Esarhaddon [nl] (copies of the text dated to 673–672 BC) and in similar spellings in Ashurbanipal's annal (648/647 BC).

Recent excavations have uncovered major buildings on the site which are open to visitors. A new museum is at the entrance of the site.

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👉 Idalion in the context of Electrum

Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially and is also known as "green gold".

Electrum was used as early as the third millennium BC in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, sometimes as an exterior coating to the pyramidia atop ancient Egyptian pyramids and obelisks. It was also used in the making of ancient drinking vessels. The first known metal coins made were of electrum, dating back to the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 6th century BC.

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Idalion in the context of Cypriot syllabary

The Cypriot or Cypriote syllabary (also Classical Cypriot Syllabary) is a syllabic script used in Iron Age Cyprus, from about the 11th to the 4th centuries BCE, when it was replaced by the Greek alphabet. It has been suggested that the script remained in use as late as the 1st century BCE. A pioneer of that change was King Evagoras of Salamis. It is thought to be descended from the Cypro-Minoan syllabary, itself a variant or derivative of Linear A. Most texts using the script are in the Arcadocypriot dialect of Greek, but also one bilingual, the Amathus bilingual, a Greek and Eteocypriot, was found in Amathus.

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Idalion in the context of Idalion Tablet

The Idalion Tablet is a 5th-century BC bronze tablet from Idalion (Greek: Ιδάλιον), Cyprus. The script of the tablet is in the Cypriot syllabary and the inscription itself is in the Arcadocypriot dialect of Greek.

The tablet was kept in the ancient official depository of the temple of Athena on the western acropolis of Idalion, where it was discovered in 1850 by a farmer from the village of Dali. It was purchased by Honoré Théodoric d'Albert de Luynes, who donated it to the Bibliothèque nationale de France in 1862. Today it is kept in the BnF Museum in Paris. The script was not deciphered until after the 1870 discovery of the Idalion bilingual.

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Idalion in the context of Idalion Temple inscriptions

The Idalion Temple inscriptions are six Phoenician inscriptions found by Robert Hamilton Lang in his excavations at the Temple of Idalion (modern Dali, Cyprus) in 1869, whose work there had been inspired by the discovery of the Idalion Tablet in 1850. The most famous of these inscriptions is known as the Idalion bilingual. The Phoenician inscriptions are known as KAI 38-40 and CIS I 89-94.

They are currently at the British Museum. The discovery was first announced by Paul Schröder in 1872.

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