The most ancient cypriot text written in Greek: the Opheltas’ Spit

Yves Duhoux Kadmos 51 (2012): 71-174.

From the introduction

In 1987 a long (87.2 cm) bronze implement has been found in a fairly rich tomb of Palaepaphos-Skales, in the very core of the later Paphian syllabary. The tomb is dated C.G. I, i.e. between 1050 and 950. The artefact has a quadrangular section and a tubular socket which a wooden shaft could be inserted. It gives at first sight the impression to be a weapon and more precisely a pike, but V. Karageorghis has demonstrated that such items were probably spits (οβελοί).