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Cyprus has been settled since at least 7000BC, most likely by peoples from southern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. There is archaeological evidence of cultural links with Mersin and Anatolian regions in Turkey. 

In the early Bronze Age copper mining and working spawned the first towns, commerce and trade links with the surrounding Mediterranean countries. By the middle Bronze Age, copper had become a major export and there is evidence of wide ranging cultural exchange and trading, also the first signs of defensive structures such as the fortress at Krini. From the late Bronze Age the island saw many changes and was settled by Mycenaean traders, followed by the Phoenicians who brought with them the cult of Astarte, who is thought to possibly have been the forerunner of Aphrodite.

From about 800BC the island was controlled by various powers, including the Assyrians, the Egyptians and the Persians. However, due to the natural wealth of the island in copper and wood, and its strategic position, Cyprus prospered. By the end of the 5th century Cyprus a power struggle began between the Persian rulers and Greek influences until Alexander the Great defeated the Persians in 333BC. Following the death of Alexander the island then fell under Ptolemaic rule and became an important trade centre as the salvaged Greek cargo ship preserved in Kyrenia castle attests. Cyprus had a period of peace and prosperity for almost 300 years. Unfortunately little remains from this Hellenistic period as the Romans usually built over the Hellenistic ruins. Cyprus became a Roman province in 58BC.

Roman Cyprus