94 HISTORY OF ART IN PHOENICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. ancient dialect of Greek, which is strong evidence that the popu- lation of Cyprus in very ancient times included a considerable Hellenic element. 1 The close connection between the Cypriots and the Greeks was recognised by the Orientals themselves. This we see even by the (Flo. 71. Cypriot inscription engraved on a rock at Nea-Paphos. From De Vogue. origin assigned, in the ethnographic system of Genesis, to those Kittim whom Josephus and all his commentators unite in identi- fying with the inhabitants of Cyprus, deriving their name from the 1 See two articles contributed by M. BRAL to the Journal dcs Savants (August and September, 1877) under this title : Sitr le Dechiffrement des Inscriptions Cypriotes.
