We present here the results of three underwater excavation campaigns conducted between 1984 and 1986 on the harbour of Amathus, Cyprus, an exceptional monument of military architecture from the Early Hellenistic era. After a description of the twenty sondages undertaken along the moles, there follows a nomenclature of the blocks employed in the construction, their modules, the typology of bosses for hoisting and placing by a vertical boom crane, which gradually advanced along the mole as it was being built. We describe the nearby quarries in which negatives of the blocks used in the moles were found. The coins have pointed to the attribution of the construction to Demetrius Poliorcetes after his naval victory at Salamis in 306 BC, and the abandonment during the reconquest of the island by Ptolemy I in 294.<br />In the second part, we study the Late Roman wells that were excavated on the north side of the harbour basin, which testify to large changes in sea level.<br /><br />

Nous livrons ici le résultat des trois campagnes de la fouille sous-marine du port d’Amathonte de Chypre en 1984-1986, exceptionnel monument d’architecture militaire de la haute époque hellénistique. Après une description de la vingtaine de sondages entrepris le long des môles, on trouvera une nomenclature des blocs mis en œuvre dans la construction, leurs modules, la typologie des systèmes de préhension pour leur levage ainsi que pour leur mise en place par une grue à flèche verticale qui progressait au fur et à mesure de la construction du môle. On décrira les carrières voisines dans lesquelles ont été retrouvés les négatifs des blocs employés dans les môles. Les monnaies contribuent à attribuer la construction à Démétrios Poliorcète après sa victoire navale à Salamine en 306 avant J.-C. et l’abandon lors de la reprise de l’île par Ptolémée Ier en 294.<br />Dans une seconde partie, nous étudions les puits romains tardifs fouillés sur le côté nord du bassin, témoins des forts changements du niveau marin.<br />

• Preface and acknowledgements
• Introduction
• A brief history of the excavations
• The three campaigns
• 1984
• 1985
• 1986
• Excavation methods
• Part I. The Hellenistic harbour
• Chapter 1. The architecture of the Hellenistic harbour
• The West Mole
• The east side, to the north, Sondage 8
• The exterior of the corner of the West and South Moles, Sondages 5 and 6
• The South Mole
• Sondages 4 and 7
• The north side, Sondage A
• The South Mole, south side, the covered channel
• The East Mole and the entrance to the harbour
• Sondages 1, 3, 13, south of the bottleneck entrance
• Sondages 2, 12, 14, East Mole, north side of the harbour entrance channel
• The East Mole, further to the north, Sondages 15, 16, 17 and 18
• Construction methods. Typology, modules and installation of the harbour blocks; machinery
• Typology of the harbour blocks
• The number of blocks used in the construction of the harbour
• The modules of the block
• Placing the blocks: description if the machinery
• Chapter 2. The stone quarries of Amathus harbour
• The quarry of Amathus [169]
• The quarry of Vikles
• Chapter 3. History of the Hellenistic harbour
• The testimonia
• Fixing the chronology. Historical sources and archaeological evidence
• Amathus harbour, a military installation
• Part II. Post-harbour history
• Chapter 4. The archaeological remains
• The beachrock
• The beachrock lines
• The north side of the harbour and the inner basin
• The question of the shipsheds
• Sea level. A later rise
• The wells
• Well No. 1
• Well No. 2
• The sakieh (waterwheel)
• The other wells
• An abundance of wells
• Noria or sakieh: defining the terms
• The wells and the history of the port
• The coins found in Amathus harbour
• Conclusion. Amathus harbour, a remarkable and enigmatic monument
• A remarkable state of preservation
• Looking backwards and forwards. An overview
• Bibliography
• Bibliography of the excavations of Amathus harbour
• General bibliography
• Chronological table