The oxhide ingot, the form in which Cypriot copper was traded from 1600-1050 BC, is one of the best known and easily recognizable objects from ancient Cyprus. Such ingots were found as far West as the coast of France and as far east as Iraq and as far North as south Germany and as far South as the Nile delta in Egypt. Normally they can weigh up to 30 kilos and they often bear symbols of the Cyprominoan script.
In Cyprus excavation have also revealed miniature ingots which are usually interpreted as votive artefacts and they too bear symbols of the Cyprominoan script. One of the miniature ingots which have been found in Enkomi, the most important city of the Late Bronze Age on the island, is the inspiration behind the miniature ingot of the University of Cyprus. Like the one from Enkomi the ingot of the University bears two symbols which correspond to the syllables PA and KY which stand for Panepistimio Kyprou (the University of Cyprus)
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