[introduction.]

The state of Urartu covered a wide upland area between Asia Minor, Iran and northern Mesopotamia, surrounded by high mountains. The country was rich in forests, stone and metal deposits.

The Formation and Development
of the State of Urartu

p The early inhabitants of this area were related to the protoHittites. In ancient Assyrian inscriptions references are made to two states, Urartu (on the territory of present-day Armenia) and 32 Nairi (on the shores of Lake Van) which later, in approximately the ninth century B.C., were to be united under King Sardur I.

The power of Urartu rose at the beginning of the eighth century B.C. In the conflict with Assyria at this time the Urartians scored a number of outstanding successes. During the reign of Argistis I (781-760 B.C.) Assyrian troops suffered a crushing defeat and Urartu was able to annex parts of Transcaucasia. Sardur II (760-730) continued this policy of annexation started by his predecessor. During his reign more territory in Transcaucasia was won (in the area around Lake Sevan), and even Northern Syria was conquered. However this success was short-lived for in the middle of the eighth century B.C. the Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser III led two expeditions against Urartu and laid the land waste. The final blow to Urartian power was the invasion of Sargon II in 714 B.C. when the rich capital of Musasir was captured and plundered. The now seriously weakened state of Urartu continued to exist until the sixth century B.C. when it was finally conquered by the Medes and Scythians.

The Social Structure and Culture of Urartu

p Like other ancient kingdoms of the East, Urartu was a slaveholding society. The large number of prisoners taken during the military campaigns of Argistis and Sardur II were put to work as slaves. Slave labour was used in the Urartian copper and iron mines, for construction and irrigation work and also in stockbreeding. The ruling class was made up of the slave-owning aristocracy, the military leaders and the priests, with a king at the helm of state.

p The basic occupation of the people of Urartu was stockbreeding but agriculture was also well developed, notably the cultivation of wheat, millet and barley, and there were many orchards and vineyards. Agriculture was greatly promoted by the existence of a well-developed artificial irrigation system. Archaeological excavations have testified to the high level of Urartian craftsmanship in various technical and metallurgical skills. Large workshops were to be found attached to the palaces and temples.

Urartian culture was fairly closely linked with that of Babylon and Assyria. For example, the cuneiform script was adopted from the Assyrians (and later simplified to a certain extent). The most original achievement was in architecture: the temple at Musasir with its pedimented columns is almost a prototype of the Greek temples. Excavation work also brought to light a large number of bronze artifacts such as statues of winged bulls, the 33 34 lavish thrones of the Urartian kings and shields decorated with work of a rare intricacy. Fragments of murals have been found in the ruins of various palaces and temples.