KITTĪM (Kittijīm, in Ier. 2, 10). - Gentilic name of the inhabitants of Cyprus ([v.], cf. Is. 23, 1. 12; Ex. 27, 6 and probably Ier. 2, 10), so called after the important city of Kition or Kitton (Lat. Citium), one of the best-known colonies founded by the Phoenicians. By extension, the name was adapted to designate the islands and coasts of the eastern Mediterranean and, in general, the peoples of the West, whose ships had to call at Kition. Alexander the Macedonian is said to come from K. (I Mach. 1, 1), and Perseus is presented as king of the K. (ibid. 8, 5).
In the manuscripts of 'Ajn Fešpah, the apocryphon called War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness designates the Seleucids and the Ptolemies as K. Under the influence of the Targum (Gen. 10, 14; I Par. 1, 7), the Vulgate translates K. as « Italy » in Balaam’s oracle (Num. 24, 24), and as « Romans » (Septuagint 'Ρομώος) in Dan. 11, 30.