that was going to be so closely connected with Cyprus for several centuries afterwards. The Philia phase of the Bronze Age (or Philia phases) saw a rapid transformation of technology and economy. Rectilinear buildings made of mud-brick, the plough, the warp-weighted loom and clay pot stands are among the characteristic introductions. Cattle were reintroduced, together with the donkey. The succeeding Early Bronze Age is divided into three general phases (Early Cypriot I - III) - a continuous process of development and population increase. Marki Alonia is the best excavated settlement of this period. Marki Alonia and Sotira Kaminoudhia are excavated settlements. Many cemeteries are known, the most important of which is Bellapais Vounous on the North coast. Middle Bronze Age The Middle Bronze Age, which follows the Early Bronze Age (1900–1600 BC), is a relatively short period and its earlier part is marked by peaceful development. The Middle Bronze Age is known from several excavated settlements: Marki Alonia, Alambra Mouttes and Pyrgos Mavroraki. These give evidence of economy and architecture of the period. From Alambra and Marki in central Cyprus we know that the houses were rectangular with many rooms, with lanes allowing people to move freely in the community. At the end of the Middle Bronze Age, fortresses were built in various places, a clear indication of unrest, although the cause is uncertain. The most important cemeteries are at Bellapais, Lapithos, Kalavasos and Deneia. An extensive collection of Bronze Age pottery can be seen online from the cemeteries at Deneia. The up to now oldest copper workshops have been excavated at Pyrgos-Mavroraki, 90 km southwest of Nicosia. Cyprus was known as Alashiya, the name is preserved in Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian and Ugaritic documents. The first recorded name of a Cypriot king is Kushmeshusha, as appears on letters sent to Ugarit in the 13th century BC. Late Bronze Age The beginning of the Late Bronze Age does not differ from the closing years of the previous period. Unrest, tension and anxiety mark all these years, probably because of some sort of engagement with the Hyksos, who ruled Egypt at this time but were expelled from there in the mid-1500s BC. Soon afterwards peaceful conditions prevailed in the Eastern Mediterranean that witnessed a flowering of trade relations and the growing of urban centres. Chief among them was Enkomi, near modern Famagusta, though several other harbour towns also sprang up along the