 The civilisation spread across the Mediterranean between 1500 BC and 300 BC.A stela found in Kition, Cyprus, which was erected by Assyrian king Sargon II in 709 BC, commemorated his victory over the island's seven kings, marking an important step in the emancipation of Cyprus from Tyrian rule by the Assyrian military.In the Greek Dark Ages, there was a widespread availability of edged weapons of iron, but a variety of explanations fits the available archaeological evidence.