Kition

Kition (Ancient Greek: Κίτιον, Kition; Latin: Citium; Egyptian: kꜣṯꜣj; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤕‎, KT, or 𐤊𐤕𐤉‎, KTY;) was an ancient Phoenician and Greek city-kingdom on the southern coast of Cyprus (in present-day Larnaca), one of the ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus.

The name of the city comes from the Phoenician 𐤊𐤕𐤉‎ (KTY, pronounced Kitiya). This name was borrowed into Ancient Greek as Kítion (Κίτιον) and thence into Latin as Citium.^{[better source needed]}

During the Late Bronze Age, the area was settled by Mycenaean Greeks who exploited the local copper deposits. This settlement was destroyed around 1200 BC but rebuilt soon after.

The new town was rebuilt on a larger scale; its mudbrick city wall was replaced by a cyclopean wall. Around 1000 BC, the religious part of the city was abandoned, although life seems to have continued in other areas as indicated by finds in tombs.

Literary evidence suggests an early Phoenician presence also at Kition which was under Tyrian rule at the beginning of the 10th century BC. Some Phoenician merchants who were believed to come from Tyre colonized the area and expanded the political influence of Kition. After c. 850 BC, the city's sanctuaries were rebuilt and reused by Phoenician settlers.

The kingdom was under Egyptian domination from 570 to 545 BC. Persia ruled Cyprus from 545 BC. Kings of the city are referred to by name from 500 BC—in Phoenician texts and as inscriptions on coins.

Marguerite Yon claims that literary texts and inscriptions suggest that by the Classical period Kition was one of the principal local powers, along with its neighbour Salamis. In 499 BC Cypriot kingdoms (including Kition) joined Ionia's revolt against Persia.

Persian rule of Cyprus ended in 332 BC.