kingdom · Greece and the Aegean
Kingdom of Kition
Origins
Kition, at modern Larnaca, was a Late Bronze Age copper-working town. In the 9th century BCE Phoenicians from Tyre settled there and built a great temple of Astarte on the ruins of an earlier sanctuary. Kition probably began as a Tyrian dependency, and in 707 BCE Sargon II of Assyria set up a stele there recording Cypriot submission.
Rule and society
From the early 5th century BCE an independent Phoenician dynasty ruled Kition, beginning with Baalmelek I, and it was loyal to the Achaemenid Empire. Kition conquered Idalion c. 450 BCE, its kings then styling themselves rulers of both, and Pumiyaton later bought Tamassos. Its harbour served Persian fleets, and its kings issued coins showing Heracles-Melqart.
Decline and legacy
Ptolemy I executed Pumiyaton and annexed the kingdom in 312 BCE. Kition continued as a Ptolemaic and Roman city; its most famous son, Zeno, founded Stoic philosophy at Athens.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (4)
- Kingdom of Kition paid tribute to Assyrian Empire707 BCE – 650 BCE
- Kingdom of Kition was a vassal of Achaemenid Empire545 BCE – 332 BCE
- Kingdom of Idalion was conquered by Kingdom of Kition450 BCE
- Kingdom of Kition was conquered by Ptolemaic Empire312 BCE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Kition. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-kition
- MLA
- “Kingdom of Kition.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-kition. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Kition.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-kition.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Kition’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-kition (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻