Edward Daniel Clarke: Travellers’ accounts concerning Cyprus in: Excerpta Cypria Materials for a History of Cyprus translated and transcribed by Claude Delaval Cobham

Travelogues concerning Cyprus include valuable information about many aspects of life in the island, among other about the appearance of its inhabitants. Clothing is the first item one observes when coming into contact with the people in a foreign country, and is pivotal in creating a first impression of the local population. Travellers refer also to the raw materials and the textiles used for making clothes.   The Rev. Edward Daniel Clarke, who visited Cyprus between June 6 and June 16, 1801, in the wide range of information about several aspects of life in the island, included some notes about the Turks of Cyprus: With reference to the goldsmiths of Nicosia, he noticed that their main occupation consisted in making coarse silver rings for the women, and “in setting signets for Turks of all denominations. There is hardly a Mahometan who does not bear upon one of his fingers this kind of ornament. The Turkish signet is generally a carnelian stone, inscribed with a few words from the Qoran, a proverb in Arabic, or a couplet in Persian.” (Cobham 1908, 388-389).