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80-526: The name of Mannaea and its earliest recorded ruler Udaki were first mentioned in an inscription from the 30th year of the rule of Shalmaneser III (828 BC). The Assyrians usually called Manna the "land of the Mannites", Manash, while the Urartians called it the land of Manna. Describing the march of Salmanasar III in the 16th year (843 BC), it was reported that the king reached the land of Munna, occupying

160-562: A Hurrian group with a slight Kassite admixture. It is unlikely that there was any ethnolinguistic unity in Mannea. Like other peoples of the Iranian plateau , the Manneans were subjected to an ever increasing Iranian (i.e. Indo-European ) penetration. Boehmer's analysis of several anthroponyms and toponyms needs modification and augmentation. Melikishvili (1949, p. 60) tried to confine

240-658: A German professor, to the Van area in 1827 on behalf of the French Oriental Society. Schulz discovered and copied numerous cuneiform inscriptions, partly in Assyrian and partly in a hitherto unknown language. Schulz also discovered the Kelishin stele , bearing an Assyrian-Urartian bilingual inscription, located on the Kelishin pass on the current Iraqi-Iranian border. A summary account of his initial discoveries

320-517: A center for the Urartians. In 853 BC, a coalition was formed by eleven states, mainly by Hadadezer , King of Aram-Damascus ; Irhuleni , king of Hamath ; Ahab , king of Northern Israel ; Gindibu , king of the Arabs ; and some other rulers who fought the Assyrian king at the Battle of Qarqar . The result of the battle was not decisive, and Shalmaneser III had to fight his enemies several times again in

400-589: A king as well, possibly ruling from 635 to 620 BC, but little is known about him. It is possible that Rusa III established a new dynasty and that his father, Erimena, had not been king. Late during the 7th century BC (during or after Sarduri III's reign), Urartu was invaded by Scythians and their allies—the Medes . In 612 BC, the Median king Cyaxares the Great together with Nabopolassar of Babylon and

480-414: A result, it became dependent on Assyria, as evidenced by Rusa II's son Sarduri III (645–635 BC) referring to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal as his "father". According to Urartian epigraphy, Sarduri III was followed by two kings—Rusa III (also known as Rusa Erimenahi) (620–609 BC) and his son, Rusa IV (609–590 or 585 BC). There is speculation that Rusa III's father, Erimena, may have been

560-417: A settled people, practicing irrigation and breeding cattle and horses. The capital was a fortified city called Izirtu ( Zirta ). By the 820s BC, Manneaea had expanded to become a large state. By this time they had a prominent aristocracy as a ruling class, which somewhat limited the power of the king. Beginning around 800 BC, the region became contested ground between Urartu , which built several forts on

640-418: Is a black limestone , bas-relief sculpture from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northern Iraq . It is the most complete Assyrian obelisk yet discovered, and is historically significant because it displays the earliest ancient depiction of an Israelite . On the top and the bottom of the reliefs there is a long cuneiform inscription recording the annals of Shalmaneser III. It lists the military campaigns which

720-439: Is especially notable for fine lost-wax bronze objects: weapons, figurines, vessels including grand cauldrons that were used for sacrifices, fittings for furniture, and helmets. There are also remains of ivory and bone carvings, frescos , cylinder seals and of course pottery. In general their style is a somewhat less sophisticated blend of influences from neighbouring cultures. Archaeology has produced relatively few examples of

800-452: Is noted for its large fortresses and sophisticated metalwork. Various names were given to the geographic region and the polity that emerged in the region. The name form of Armenia URARTU appears in 2 Assyrian inscriptions from the 9th century BC. Urartologists identify with this name form the land names mat U-RU-A Ţ -RI mentioned by Shalmaneser I (at the beginning of XIII century) and mat U-RA Ţ -RI mentioned by Adad-nirari II (at

880-544: Is probably the same Minni from the Assyrian inscriptions, corresponding to Mannea. The name "Armenia" has been theorized by some scholars as possibly deriving from "ḪAR Minni," meaning, the “mountains of Minni.” According to examinations of the place and personal names found in Assyrian and Urartian texts, the Mannaeans, or at least their rulers, spoke a non-Semitic and non-Indo-European language related to Urartian, with no modern language connections. However, after assessing

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960-533: The Armenian Highlands . The modern name of the written language used by the kingdom's political elite is Urartian ; the language is attested in numerous cuneiform inscriptions throughout Armenia and eastern Turkey . It is unknown what other languages were spoken by the peoples of Urartu under the Kingdom of Van, but there is evidence of linguistic contact between the proto-Armenian language and

1040-826: The Armenians . Urartu comprised an area of approximately 200,000 square miles (520,000 km ), extending from the Euphrates in the West to Lake Urmia in the East and from the Caucasus Mountains south towards the Zagros Mountains in northern Iraq. More specifically, Urartu was an area directly surrounded by the mountain chains of the eastern Pontus at the north, the Lesser Caucasus at to

1120-529: The Assyrians . Archaeological sites within its boundaries include Altintepe , Toprakkale , Patnos and Haykaberd . Urartu fortresses included Erebuni Fortress (present-day Yerevan), Van Fortress , Argishtihinili , Anzaf, Haykaberd, and Başkale , as well as Teishebaini (Karmir Blur, Red Mound) and others. Kayalıdere Castle is one of the important centers that enabled the Urartian kingdom to control

1200-789: The Black Obelisk now in the British Museum ), together with the Phoenician cities, prudently sent tribute to him in perhaps 841 BC. Babylonia had already been conquered, including the areas occupied by migrant Chaldaean , Sutean and Aramean tribes, and the Babylonian king had been put to death. In 836 BC, Shalmaneser sent an expedition against the Tibareni ( Tabal ) which was followed by one against Cappadocia , and in 832 BC came another campaign against Urartu . In

1280-591: The Middle and Neo-Assyrian Empires , which lay to the south in Upper Mesopotamia ("the Jazirah") and northern Syria , especially under Tukulti-Ninurta I (c. 1240 BC), Tiglath-Pileser I (c. 1100 BC), Ashur-bel-kala (c. 1070 BC), Adad-nirari II (c. 900 BC), Tukulti-Ninurta II (c. 890 BC), and Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC). Urartu reemerged in Assyrian language inscriptions in

1360-658: The Neo-Assyrian Empire , which had dominated the region for three hundred years, began to unravel, consumed by civil war after the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BC. The upheavals in Assyria allowed the Medes to free themselves from Assyrian vassalage and make themselves the major power in Iran. At the battle of Qablin in 616 BC, the Assyrian and Mannaean forces were defeated by Nabopolassar 's troops. This defeat laid open

1440-625: The Taurus Mountains ; the Neo-Hittites of Carchemish were compelled to pay tribute, and the kingdoms of Hamath and Aram Damascus were subdued. It is in the annals of Shalmaneser III from the 850s BC that the Arabs and Chaldeans first appear in recorded history . Shalmaneser began a campaign against Urartu and reported that in 858 BCE, he destroyed the city of Sugunia , and then in 853 BCE Araškun. Both cities are assumed to have been capitals of Urartu before Tushpa became

1520-636: The 19th century, Urartu, which is commonly believed to have been at least partially Armenian -speaking, has played a significant role in Armenian nationalism . Urartu extended from the Euphrates in the west 850 km to the region west of Ardabil in Iran, and 500 km from Lake Çıldır near Ardahan in Turkey to the region of Rawandiz in Iraqi Kurdistan . The kingdom emerged in

1600-566: The Aras and Lake Sevan, encompassing present-day Armenia and even the southern part of present-day Georgia almost to the shores of the Black Sea; west to the sources of the Euphrates ; east to present-day Tabriz , Lake Urmia , and beyond; and south to the sources of the Tigris . Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria defeated Sarduri II of Urartu in the first year of his reign (745 BC). There

1680-475: The Argishti I and Menua period, some of which are still used for irrigation. There is a number of remains of sturdy stone architecture, as well as some mud brick , especially when it has been burnt, which helps survival. Stone remains are mainly fortresses and walls, with temples and mausolea, and many rock-cut tombs. The style, which developed regional variations, shows a distinct character, partly because of

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1760-570: The Assyrians found horsemen and horses, tamed as colts for riding, that were unequalled in the south, where they were harnessed to Assyrian war-chariots. In 714 BC, the Urartian kingdom suffered heavily from Cimmerian raids and the campaigns of Sargon II . The main temple at Musasir was sacked, and the Urartian king Rusa I was crushingly defeated by Sargon II at Lake Urmia. He subsequently committed suicide in shame. Rusa's son Argishti II (714–685 BC) restored Urartu's position against

1840-678: The Behistun Inscription (c. 522 BC) refer to Armenia and Armenians as synonyms of Urartu and Urartians . The toponym Urartu did not disappear, however, as the name of the province of Ayrarat in the center of the Kingdom of Armenia is believed to be its continuum. As the Armenian identity developed in the region, the memory of Urartu faded and disappeared. Parts of its history passed down as popular stories and were preserved in Armenia, as written by Movses Khorenatsi in

1920-469: The Cimmerians, however it was no longer a threat to Assyria and peace was made with the new king of Assyria Sennacherib in 705 BC. This, in turn, helped Urartu enter a long period of development and prosperity, which continued through the reign of Argishti's son Rusa II (685–645 BC). After Rusa II, however, Urartu grew weaker under constant attacks from Cimmerian and Scythian invaders. As

2000-676: The Iranian presence in Mannea to its periphery, pointing out that both Daiukku (cf. Schmitt, 1973) and Bagdatti were active in the periphery of Mannea, but this is imprecise, as the names of two early Mannean rulers, viz. Udaki and Azā, are explicable in Old Iranian terms. According to Robert H. Dyson, Jr. The Mannaeans, a little known people related linguistically to the Urartians and the Hurrians of northern Mesopotamia, were settled on

2080-684: The Kelishin stele, accompanied by a heavy military escort. The Gulf War then closed these sites to archaeological research. Oktay Belli resumed excavation of Urartian sites on Turkish territory: in 1989 Ayanis, a 7th-century BC fortress built by Rusas II of Urartu , was discovered 35 km north of Van. In spite of excavations, only a third to a half of the 300 known Urartian sites in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia have been examined by archaeologists (Wartke 1993). Without protection, many sites have been plundered by local residents searching for treasure and other saleable antiquities. On 12 November 2017, it

2160-464: The Lake Van region from their religious capital of Musasir . According to Zimansky, the Urartian ruling class were few in number and governed over an ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse population. Zimansky went so far as to suggest that the kings of Urartu might have come from various ethnic backgrounds themselves. Assyria fell into a period of temporary stagnation for decades during

2240-492: The Scythians conquered Assyria after it had been irreversibly weakened by civil war. The Medes then took over the Urartian capital of Van in 590 BC, effectively ending the sovereignty of Urartu. However, some historians believe that Urartu survived until the middle of the 6th century BC and was eventually destroyed by Cyrus the Great. Many Urartian ruins of the period show evidence of destruction by fire. The Kingdom of Van

2320-460: The Urartian pantheon include: Ḫaldi was not a native Urartian god but apparently an obscure Akkadian deity (which explains the location of the main temple of worship for Ḫaldi in Musasir , believed to be near modern Rawandiz, Iraq ). Ḫaldi was not initially worshiped by the Urartians as their chief god. His cult does not appear to have been introduced until the reign of Ishpuini . Theispas

2400-636: The annals in the year 714 BC, when they apparently helped the Assyrians to defeat Urartu. Urartu chose to submit to the Assyrians, and together the two defeated the Cimmerians and thus kept them out of the Fertile Crescent . The Cimmerians again rebelled against Sargon by 705 BC, and he was killed while driving them out. By 679 BC the Cimmierians migrated to the east and west of Mannaea. The Mannaeans are recorded as rebelling against Esarhaddon of Assyria in 676 BC, when they attempted to interrupt

2480-599: The city of the god of war, Teišeba . Excavations by the American scholars Kirsopp and Silva Lake in 1938-40 were cut short by World War II , and most of their finds and field records were lost when a German submarine torpedoed their ship, the SS ; Athenia . Their surviving documents were published by Manfred Korfmann in 1977. A new phase of excavations began after the war. Excavations were at first restricted to Soviet Armenia . The fortress of Karmir Blur, dating from

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2560-636: The coming years, which eventually resulted in the occupation of the Levant , Jordan , and the Syrian Desert by the Assyrian Empire. In 851 BC, following a rebellion in Babylon, Shalmaneser led a campaign against Marduk-bēl-ušate, younger brother of the king, Marduk-zakir-shumi I , who was an ally of Shalmaneser. In the second year of the campaign, Marduk-bēl-ušate was forced to retreat and

2640-409: The complete mitochondrial genomes of 4 ancient skeletons from Urartu were analyzed alongside other ancient populations found in modern-day Armenia and Artsakh spanning 7,800 years. The study shows that modern-day Armenians are the people who have the least genetic distance from those ancient skeletons. As well, some scholars asserted that the Urartians are the most easily identifiable ancestors of

2720-498: The cuneiform AŠ in the cuneiform dictionaries (AŠ 2 = AŠ). And the cuneiform AŠ has 3 ru readings. Assyrian inscriptions of Shalmaneser I (c. 1274 BC) first mention Uruatri as one of the states of Nairi , a loose confederation of small kingdoms and tribal states in the Armenian Highlands in the thirteenth to eleventh centuries BC which he conquered. Uruartri itself was in the region around Lake Van . The Nairi states were repeatedly subjected to further attacks and invasions by

2800-523: The diplomatic intervention of Wilhelm II , Sultan Abdul Hamid II agreed to pay Belck a sum of 80,000 gold marks in reparation. During World War I , the Lake Van region briefly fell under Russian control. In 1916, the Russian scholars Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr and Iosif Abgarovich Orbeli , excavating at the Van fortress, uncovered a four-faced stele carrying the annals of Sarduri II. In 1939 Boris Piotrovsky excavated Karmir Blur , discovering Teišebai ,

2880-523: The end of X century). The name forms URARTU and Ararat differ by one vowel (the vowel “a” is missing between the consonants r and t in the URARTU reading). And as the data in the table shows, it is the result of the misunderstanding that the cuneiform scholars who read the name of the country took the readings ar and ar2 of the AR and UB cuneiform signs, respectively, and ignored their readings ara8 and ara2․ On

2960-626: The famous Babylonian map representing the ancient world (in the 8th century BC) (see figure 1), in the inscription of the Assyrian king Nabopolassar (in 626 - 604 BC) and in the Behistun inscription of the Achaemenid Iranian king Darius I (in 522-486 BC), the name of Armenia is presented in the form UR-AŠ 2 -TU= URAŠTU. Some authors ( S. Yeremyan , B. Piotrovsky , I. Dyakonoff , U. Horovits and others) distinguish URAŠTU from URARTU, but consider them equivalent names. In order for

3040-487: The first half of the 9th century BC, which had aided Urartu's growth. Within a short time it became one of the largest and most powerful states in the Near East . Sarduri I (c. 832–820 BC), the son of Lutipri, established a new dynasty and successfully resisted Assyrian attacks from the south led by Shalmaneser III, consolidated the military power of the state, and moved the capital to Tushpa (modern Van, Turkey, on

3120-471: The following year, age required the king to hand over the command of his armies to the Tartan ( turtānu commander-in-chief) Dayyan-Assur , and six years later, Nineveh and other cities revolted against him under his rebel son Assur-danin-pal . Civil war continued for two years; but the rebellion was at last crushed by Shamshi-Adad V , another son of Shalmaneser. Shalmaneser died soon afterwards. Despite

3200-585: The form of garbled legends in his 5th century book History of Armenia , where he speaks of a first Armenian Kingdom in Van which fought wars against the Assyrians. Khorenatsi's stories of these wars with Assyria would help in the rediscovery of Urartu. According to Herodotus, the Alarodians ( Alarodioi ) were part of the 18th Satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire and formed a special contingent in

3280-533: The frontiers of Mannaea, which fell under the control of Media between 615 BC and 611 BC. Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III ( Šulmānu-ašarēdu , "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians , the nations of Mesopotamia , Syria , as well as Kizzuwadna and Urartu . His armies penetrated to Lake Van and

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3360-562: The future destroyers of neo-Babylon. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), identified Minni with Armenia : According to the Peshiṭta and Targum Onkelos, the "Minni" of the Bible (Jer. li. 27) is Armenia—or rather a part of that country, as Ararat is also mentioned (Isa. xxxvii. 38; II Kings xix. 37) as a part of Armenia. It can also relate to one of the regions of ancient Armenia, such as Manavasean ( Minyas ). Together with Ararat and Ashkenaz , this

3440-513: The genetics of individuals found at Hasanlu Tepe, recent scholarship has suggested the possibility of the presence of Indo-Europeans, who perhaps spoke a language related to Armenian . Their kingdom was situated east and south of the Lake Urmia . Excavations that began in 1956 succeeded in uncovering Ziwiyeh and its branches the fortified city of Hasanlu , once thought to be a potential Mannaean site. More recently, another branch of Ziwiyeh,

3520-528: The grand army of Xerxes I . Some scholars have tried to link the Alarodians to Urartians, suggesting that Alarodian was a variation of the name Urartian / Araratian . According to this theory, the Urartians of the 18th Satrapy were subsequently absorbed into the Armenian nation. Modern historians, however, have cast doubt on the Alarodian connection to the Urartians. In a study published in 2017,

3600-434: The greater use of stone compared to neighbouring cultures. The typical temple was square, with stone walls as thick as the open internal area but using mud brick for the higher part. These were placed at the highest point of a citadel and from surviving depictions were high, perhaps with gabled roofs; their emphasis on verticality has been claimed as an influence of later Christian Armenian architecture . The art of Urartu

3680-587: The help of the Urartians. Sargon took Izirtu, and stationed troops in Parsua (Parsua was distinct from Parsumash located further southeast in what is today known as Fars province in Iran.). The Assyrians thereafter used the area to breed, train and trade horses. According to one Assyrian inscription, the Cimmerians ( Gimirru ) originally went forth from their homeland of Gamir or Uishdish in "the midst of Mannai" around this time. The Cimmerians first appear in

3760-405: The horse trade between Assyria and its colony of Parsua. The Mannaean king Ahsheri, who ruled until the 650s BC, continued to enlarge the territory of Mannaea, although paying tribute to Assyria. However, Mannaea suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Assyrians around 660 BC, and subsequently an internal revolt broke out, continuing until Ahsheri's death. Also in the 7th century BC, Mannaea

3840-465: The interior of Zamua . However, the chronicle does not mention any march or taxation on the state of Mannaea. It is possible that the Assyrians either failed to conquer Mannaea, or advanced only to the border of Mannaea, and then changed course and marched on the neighboring country of Allarabia. In the Bible (Jeremiah 51:27), Mannaea is called "Minni", and is mentioned with Ararat and Ashkenaz as some of

3920-473: The jewellery in precious metals that the Assyrians boasted of carrying off in great quantities from Musasir in 714 BC. The Urartian pantheon seems to have comprised a diverse mix of Hurrian, Akkadian, Armenian, and Hittite deities. Starting with the reign of Ishpuini, the Urartian pantheon was headed by a triad made up of Ḫaldi (the supreme god), Theispas (Teisheba, god of thunder and storms, as well as sometimes war), and Shivini (a solar god). Their king

4000-586: The king and his commander-in-chief headed every year, until the thirty-first year of reign. Some features might suggest that the work had been commissioned by the commander-in-chief, Dayyan-Ashur . The second register from the top includes the earliest surviving picture of an Israelite: the Biblical Jehu , king of Israel . Jehu severed Israel's alliances with Phoenicia and Judah , and became subject to Assyria . It describes how Jehu brought or sent his tribute in or around 841 BC. The caption above

4080-516: The late 1840s Sir Austen Henry Layard examined and described the Urartian rock-cut tombs of Van Castle , including the Argishti chamber. From the 1870s, local residents began to plunder the Toprakkale ruins, selling its artefacts to European collections. In the 1880s this site underwent a poorly executed excavation organised by Hormuzd Rassam on behalf of the British Museum . Almost nothing

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4160-537: The mid-9th century BC and dominated the Armenian Highlands in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Urartu frequently warred with Assyria and became, for a time, the most powerful state in the Near East . Weakened by constant conflict, it was eventually conquered, either by the Iranian Medes in the early 6th century BC or by Cyrus the Great in the middle of the 6th century BC. Archaeologically, it

4240-507: The most powerful kingdoms of ancient Near East. Argishti I added more territories along the Aras and Lake Sevan , and frustrated Shalmaneser IV 's campaigns against him. Argishti also founded several new cities, most notably Erebuni Fortress in 782 BC. 6600 prisoners of war from Hatti and Supani were settled in the new city. At its height, the Urartu kingdom stretched north beyond

4320-591: The ninth century BC as a powerful northern rival to the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Nairi states and tribes became unified kingdom under King Arame of Urartu (c. 860–843 BC), whose capitals, first at Sugunia and then at Arzashkun , were captured by the Assyrians under the Neo-Assyrian emperor Shalmaneser III . Urartologist Paul Zimansky speculated that the Urartians, or at least their ruling family after Arame, may have emigrated northwest into

4400-498: The northeast, and the Taurus mountains at the south. It was centred around Lake Van, which is located in present-day eastern Anatolia . At its apogee , Urartu stretched from the borders of northern Mesopotamia to the southern Caucasus , including present-day Turkey , Nakhchivan , Armenia and southern Georgia (up to the river Kura). The Taurus mountains also served as a natural barrier against southern threats, particularly from

4480-572: The rebellion later in his reign, Shalmanesar had proven capable of expanding the frontiers of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, stabilising its hold over the Khabur and mountainous frontier region of the Zagros, contested with Urartu . His reign is significant to Biblical studies because two of his monuments name rulers from the Hebrew Bible . The Black Obelisk names Jehu son of Omri (although Jehu

4560-507: The reign of Rusa II, was excavated by a team headed by Boris Piotrovsky, and for the first time the excavators of a Urartian site published their findings systematically. Beginning in 1956 Charles A. Burney identified and sketch-surveyed many Urartian sites in the Lake Van area and, from 1959, a Turkish expedition under Tahsin Özgüç excavated Altintepe and Arif Erzen. In the late 1960s, Urartian sites in northwest Iran were excavated. In 1976, an Italian team led by Mirjo Salvini finally reached

4640-424: The sacrificial offerings. Urartians did not practice human sacrifice. A number of the gods mentioned in the Gate of Mehr may be of Armenian origins, including Ara (or Arwaa), and possibly the goddess Selardi (although there is confusion about this deity's gender and name, some believe it is to be read Melardi). It has been suggested that the Urartian pantheon could correspond to mountain peaks located within

4720-507: The scene, written in Assyrian cuneiform, can be translated: "The tribute of Jehu , son of Omri : I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king [and] spears." It was erected as a public monument in 825 BC at a time of civil war. It was discovered by archaeologist Sir Austen Henry Layard in 1846. [REDACTED] Media related to Shalmaneser III at Wikimedia Commons Urartu The Urartu

4800-444: The selection of cultures and methods of processing. From cuneiform sources, it is known that in Urartu grew wheat , barley , sesame , millet , and emmer , and cultivated gardens and vineyards. Many regions of the Urartu state required artificial irrigation, which has successfully been organized by the rulers of Urartu in the heyday of the state. In several regions remain ancient irrigation canals, constructed by Urartu, mainly during

4880-416: The shore of Lake Van ). His son, Ispuini (c. 820–800 BC) annexed the neighbouring state of Musasir, which became an important religious centre of the Urartian Kingdom, and introduced the cult of Ḫaldi . Ispuini was also the first Urartian king to write in the Urartian language (previous kings left records written in Akkadian ). He made his son Sarduri II viceroy. After conquering Musasir, Ispuini

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4960-412: The site of Qalaichi has been linked to the Mannaeans based on a stela with this toponym found at the site. After suffering several defeats at the hands of both Scythians and Assyrians, the remnants of the Mannaean populace were absorbed by the Matieni and the area became known as Matiene . It was then annexed by the Medes in about 609 BC. According to the Encyclopædia Iranica: Manneans were

5040-432: The southeastern shore of Lake Urmia and southward into the mountain area of Urmia. After examining the genetics of individuals associated with Hasanlu Tepe during the Bronze and Iron Ages, Iosif Lazaridis et al. (2022) concluded the inhabitants of Hasanlu may have spoken a language related to Armenian , or perhaps a non-Indo-European language. The Mannaean kingdom began to flourish around 850 BC. The Mannaeans were mainly

5120-413: The state had to pay taxes the central government: grain, horses, bulls, etc. In peacetime, Urartu probably led an active trade with Assyria, providing cattle, horses, iron and wine . According to archaeological data, farming on the territory of Urartu developed from the Neolithic , even in the 3rd millennium BC. In the Urartian age, agriculture was well developed and closely related to Assyrian methods on

5200-484: The surrounding regions from Lake Van to the west. Urartian inscriptions were found in Kepenek Castle , located on a hill near the center of Muş, and in the Alazlı . Inspired by the writings of the medieval Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi (who had described Urartian works in Van and attributed them to the legendary Ara the Beautiful and Queen Semiramis ), the French scholar Antoine-Jean Saint-Martin suggested that his government send Friedrich Eduard Schulz ,

5280-487: The terrifying splendor of Assur and Marduk overcame him and he went up into the mountains to save his life. I pursued him. I cut down with the sword Marduk-bêl-usâte and the rebel army officers who were with him. In 841 BC, Shalmaneser campaigned against Hadadezer's successor Hazael , forcing him to take refuge within the walls of his capital. While Shalmaneser was unable to capture Damascus, he devastated its territory, and Jehu of Israel (whose ambassadors are represented on

5360-436: The territory of Mannaea, and Assyria . In the mid-8th century BC, during the open conflict between the Assyrians and the Urartians, Mannaea seized the opportunity to enlarge its holdings. The Mannaean kingdom reached the height of its power during the reign of Iranzu (c. 725–720 BC). In 716 BC, king Sargon II of Assyria moved against Mannaea, where the ruler Mannaea, Aza, the son of Iranzu, had been deposed by Ullusunu with

5440-415: The writing form URAŠTU to be identical with URARTU=Ararat, it is necessary for the AŠ2 cuneiform sign to have the reading ru/ra. There is no direct evidence in existing cuneiform dictionaries that the AŠ 2 cuneiform sign has such readings. However, there are a number of side data that confirm the existence of these readings of the AŠ 2 cuneiform. The reading aš 2 of the cuneiform sign AŠ 2 was expressed by

5520-400: Was a version of the Hurrian god, Teshub . According to Diakonoff and Vyacheslav Ivanov , Shivini (likely pronounced Shiwini or Siwini ) was likely borrowed from the Hittites. On the Gate of Mehr (Mehri-Dur), overlooking modern Van, an inscription lists a total of 79 deities, and what type of sacrificial offerings should be made to each; goats, sheep, cattle, and other animals served as

5600-408: Was also the chief-priest or envoy of Ḫaldi. Some temples to Ḫaldi were part of the royal palace complex, while others were independent structures. With the expansion of Urartian territory, many of the gods worshipped by conquered peoples were incorporated into the Urartian pantheon as a means of confirming the annexation of territories and promoting political stability. Some main gods and goddesses of

5680-414: Was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van , Lake Urmia , and Lake Sevan . The territory of the ancient kingdom of Urartu extended over the modern frontiers of Turkey , Iran , Iraq , and the Republic of Armenia . Its kings left behind cuneiform inscriptions in the Urartian language , a member of the Hurro-Urartian language family . Since its re-discovery in

5760-621: Was announced that archaeologists in Turkey had discovered the ruins of a Urartian castle during underwater excavations around Lake Van. The castle dated to the 8th or 7th centuries BC. The economic structure of Urartu was similar to other states of the ancient world, especially Assyria. The state was heavily dependent on agriculture , which required centralized irrigation . These works were managed by kings, but implemented by free inhabitants and possibly slave labour provided by prisoners. Royal governors, influential people and, perhaps, free peoples had their own allotments. Individual territories within

5840-590: Was defeated by the advancing Scythians , who had already raided Urartu and been repelled by the Assyrians. This defeat contributed to the further break-up of the Mannaean kingdom. Ahsheri's successor, Ualli, as an ally of Assyria, took the side of the Assyrians against the Medes ( Madai ), who were at this point still based to the east along the southwest shore of the Caspian Sea and revolting against Assyrian domination. The Medes subjugated by Assyria. However,

5920-654: Was destroyed in 590 BC and by the late 6th century, the Satrapy of Armenia had replaced it. Little is known of what happened to the region between the fall of the Kingdom of Van and the appearance of the Satrapy of Armenia. According to historian Touraj Daryaee, during the Armenian rebellion against the Persian king Darius I in 521 BC, some of the personal and topographic names attested in connection with Armenia or Armenians were of Urartian origin, suggesting that Urartian elements persisted within Armenia after its fall. In

6000-439: Was in turn attacked by Shamshi-Adad V . His co-regent and subsequent successor, Menua (c. 800–785 BC) also enlarged the kingdom greatly and left inscriptions over a wide area. During Ispuini's and Menua's joint rule, they shifted from referring to their territory as Nairi, instead opting for Bianili . Urartu reached the highest point of its military might under Menua's son Argishti I (c. 785–760 BC), becoming one of

6080-435: Was killed. A record of these events was made on the Black Obelisk : In the eighth year of my reign, Marduk-bêl-usâte, the younger brother, revolted against Marduk-zâkir-šumi, king of Karduniaš , and they divided the land in its entirety. In order to avenge Marduk-zâkir-šumi, I marched out and captured Mê-Turnat. In the ninth year of my reign, I marched against Akkad a second time. I besieged Ganannate. As for Marduk-bêl-usâte,

6160-402: Was misidentified as a son of Omri). The Kurkh Monolith names king Ahab , in reference to the Battle of Qarqar . He had built a palace at Kalhu (Biblical Calah , modern Nimrud ), and left several editions of the royal annals recording his military campaigns, the last of which is engraved on the Black Obelisk from Calah. The Black Obelisk is a significant artifact from his reign. It

6240-440: Was prevented by Turkish-Armenian hostilities. Belck together with Lehmann-Haupt visited the area again in 1898/9, excavating Toprakkale. On this expedition, Belck reached the Kelishin stele, but he was attacked by Kurds and barely escaped with his life. Belck and Lehmann-Haupt reached the stele again in a second attempt, but were again prevented from copying the inscription by weather conditions. After another assault on Belck provoked

6320-476: Was properly documented. The first systematic collection of Urartian inscriptions, and thus the beginning of Urartology as a specialized field dates to the 1870s, with the campaign of Sir Archibald Henry Sayce . The German engineer Karl Sester, discoverer of Mount Nemrut , collected more inscriptions in 1890/1. Waldemar Belck visited the area in 1891, discovering the Rusa stele. A further expedition planned for 1893

6400-629: Was published in 1828. Schulz and four of his servants were murdered by Kurds in 1829 near Başkale . His notes were later recovered and published in Paris in 1840. In 1828, the British Assyriologist Henry Creswicke Rawlinson had attempted to copy the inscription on the Kelishin stele, but failed because of the ice on the stele's front side. The German scholar R. Rosch made a similar attempt a few years later, but he and his party were attacked and killed. In

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