The Tombs of the Kings is the name given to a complex of tombs located by the coast on the northern side of Paphos. They seem to have been the tombs of the ruling élite during the Hellenistic period and the earlier part of the Roman, even if they were not kings.

The tombs are cut into the native rock, and at times imitated the houses of the living. In this respect they echo the tombs of Hellenistic Alexandria and other contemporary complexes such as that recently excavated at Marina el-Alamein, 76 km west of Alexandria. Although the tombs have been known and casually explored for centuries, they were first subjected to systematic excavation in the later 1970s and the 1980s under the direction of Dr Sophocles Hadjisavvas, now Director of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus. Dr Hadjisavvas has turned over to research students of the University of Sydney the preparations of the finds for publication.

Part of the importance of the tombs lies in the Paphian habit of including Rhodian amphorae among the offerings in a burial. Though the manufacturing stamps placed on the handles of these amphorae, it is possible to give them a date and, through them, the other material from the same burial. Thus, it is hoped to develop a more secure chronology for archaeological material in the Eastern Mediterranean of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. Stamp on a handle from a Rhodian amphora   Hellenistic lagynos (wine flask). The lip is missing. There are many lamps from all periods. Both these show evidence of use.

One of the finest and most important pieces of glass is this Hellenistic bowl of a kind which is much better known in pottery.   Rhodian amphora from the Tombs of the Kings   There is a great deal of glass from the Roman period, used to contain perfumes and unguents.

For a more detailed account of the Tombs of the Kings Project visit: www.archaeology.usyd.edu.au/tombofthekings