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105-586: Antzitene or Anzitene ( Old Armenian : Անձիտ Anjit , Greek : Ἀνζιτηνή ) was a region of the medieval Armenia c. 300–1000, known in Armenian as Hanzith and in Syriac as Hanzit . Today it lies in Turkey . From 384, it formed one of the satrapies of Roman Armenia , before becoming part of the new province of Armenia IV in 536. In the 10th century the rulers were Habel (c. 970) and Sahak (c. 995). Located at

210-635: 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

315-512: A base camp. It stood on the south bank of the Arsanias, at a convenient place for launching boats and rafts, and it controlled a ford. One candidate for its location is the mound called Aşvan Kale above the modern village of Aşvan: it is on the river bank, 4 km upstream from a major ford, and the name is identical. However, excavation of the northern half of the mound revealed no evidence of occupation between c. 400-1000 - nor any indication that

420-588: A battle "in the district of Salām" at one point, implying that Sayf al-Dawla's victory over the pursuing Byzantines took place near here. Sayf al-Dawla never targeted the highlands of northern and western Anzitene, "doubtless deterred by the danger of Byzantine guerrilla action in favorable terrain", so less is known about this area during the 10th century. Only 3 castles are mentioned in 10th-century sources: Aşvan , al-Tell, and al-Minşār. The castle at Aşvan apparently put up no resistance to Sayf al-Dawla's forces in 956 - they occupied it without trouble and turned it into

525-627: A buffer zone protecting Roman Melitene and also controlled the Romans' main north-south military route in the region (the Ergani Pass) until Justinian extended Roman rule further east up the Arsanias valley. Then, after the Arab conquest, Anzitene became part a staging point for expeditions against Asia Minor and to control southwestern Armenia. Anzitene was reconquered by the Byzantines in the 930s and they fortified

630-488: A chancellor, for a few generations. They were one of the more important nakharar families (compared to Ingilene which was relatively less important). With the treaty of 363, the kingdom of Armenia changed sides to the Persians, while Anzitene and Sophene remained under Roman allegiance. The prince of Anzitene in 363 when the Persians took over Armenia was named Sałamut. The Armenian sources portray Anzitene and Sophene siding with

735-577: 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

840-560: A local tradition recorded in the 19th century, it was the site of the ancient Garden of Eden . Anzitene also included areas on the east bank of the Euphrates, around Muşar and Tomisa (Kömür Han), in what is geographically part of the Malatya plain instead. Anzitene controlled the southern of the two main east-west routes through the Armenia. The first one went from Melitene in the west, crossed

945-536: A movement of population northwards into Sophene. What likely happened is that during the Arab invasions, many people left the "open, exposed settlements" on the Anzitene plain for better-protected places in Sophene. As a "fissured limestone country" protected on the south by the Arsanias river, Sophene was better positioned to shield residents from raids and invasions. A local population shift also took place within Anzitene, as

1050-412: A provincial capital across the river from Aşvan. There is a small castle on a small hill overlooking the village of Keluşağı 12 km west of Tell Arsanas; it should probably be distinguished from al-Tell. It commands a second, more minor route west from Harput which is north of the main one. Based on local accounts of Roman coins being washed out from the spring rains, Huntington assigned this site to

1155-414: 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

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1260-510: A smaller city contained within the walls. It remained a city until at least the end of the 12th century - the Syrian Orthodox bishopric is known until 1199 - and was probably inside the old city walls, although not effectively protected by them. After the local garrison was finally withdrawn, perhaps in 1234 when Harput was conquered by the Seljuks, Arsamosata's population "dispersed to villages on

1365-420: Is accepted by Howard-Johnston "for want of convincing alternatives - but with considerable hesitation".) The exact location is uncertain, but the coordinates Ibn Hawqal gave for Tell Arsanas would place it about 18 km west of Harput and about 24 km from the Euphrates ford at the village of Hammam. Tell Arsanas would have overlooked the main route southwest from Harput towards the ford at Tomisa. If al-Tell

1470-439: 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

1575-419: Is highly speculative.) However, the fact that Qardannaea had also adopted the name Diane in addition to her native name indicates that the region was under considerable Greco-Roman cultural influence at the time. In 298, the principality of Anzitene became a Roman subject. As a vassal of the kingdom of Armenia , the princes of Anzitene held the hereditary office of hazarapet , perhaps roughly corresponding to

1680-432: Is on the northern edge of an upland basin. Anthony McNicoll tentatively dated Taşkun Kale castle and the medieval phase of its nearby church to 14th century and concluded that the settlement around it must have been fairly large given the presence of scattered potsherds and traces of stone walls. The name "Taşkun" is vaguely reminiscent of the ancient Roman border fort of Dascusa - as does the nearby city of al-Ashkūniyyah ,

1785-641: The Armenian Catholic Church and is often learned by Biblical , Intertestamental , and Patristic scholars dedicated to textual studies. Classical Armenian is also important for the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language . There are seven monophthongs : There are also traditionally six diphthongs: In the following table is the Classical Armenian consonantal system. The stops and affricate consonants have, in addition to

1890-520: 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

1995-733: 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

2100-519: 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

2205-462: The Enzi of Neo-Assyrian texts. A document dated to 252 about the sale of a slave named Qardannaea Diane identifies her as being born in the district of Ortene , which based on later Syriac sources appears to be located in Anzitene. The people of Ortene apparently spoke neither Armenian nor Aramaic but rather their own language. (The name "Ortene" has been connected by Markwart to ancient Urartu but this

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2310-574: The Hamdanid ruler of Aleppo , Sayf al-Dawla , led that exact type of attack into Anzitene. This is one of his most famous campaigns, and the "remarkably detailed" Arabic prose account of it provides a major source about medieval Anzitene and its settlement patterns. This account is found in some manuscripts preceding al-Mutanabbi 's two poems about the campaign and probably is based on, or directly copied from, an official Hamdanid bulletin sent out by Sayf al-Dawla and/or his military staff who may have recorded

2415-742: The Urartian language , a member of the Hurro-Urartian language family . Since its re-discovery in 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

2520-554: The AR and UB cuneiform signs, respectively, and ignored their readings ara8 and ara2․ On 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

2625-417: The Arab marches facing Byzantium between 928 and 932 it was unmentioned and must have remained purely local in importance. It seems to have first gained significance when the Byzantines conquered Anzitene in the 930s. During the early middle ages, Harput shrank in size. From its larger Roman-era site, with ten- stadia -long circuit walls, it "contracted and perhaps retreated to the powerful position occupied by

2730-553: 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

2835-470: 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

2940-565: 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

3045-451: 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 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

3150-558: 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

3255-409: The Byzantines reconquered the region, they made little changes except for upgrading the fortifications at Harput, which now became the main stronghold in Anzitene. They simply reused the existing Arab system, adapting it to serve as a base for the guerilla strategies they typically favored. The resulting system was very defensive in nature, with the castles all at "strong vantage points on the far side of

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3360-463: 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

3465-581: The Euphrates at Tomisa, and then followed the Arsanias valley up to its headwaters in the lava country north of Lake Van . It also commanded the Ergani Pass - one of two main routes over the Armenian Taurus, linking the Armenian plateau with the rich upper Tigris valley. It also controlled several lesser-important routes. One went northwest towards northern Anatolia, crossing the Arsanias at the Aşvan ford and then

3570-530: The Euphrates near Ağın . Another went north to the upper Euphrates valley, crossing the Arsanias at the Pertek ford and then crossing the high, bare Mouzouron range. Given its strategic position, Anzitene was often contested between major empires during late antiquity and the early middle ages. It was just beyond the Roman Empire's frontier on the Euphrates until 297, when it was annexed by Diocletian . It then formed

3675-439: The Great in the middle of the 6th century BC. Archaeologically, it 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

3780-679: 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

3885-459: 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

3990-472: The Roman period. It may have also remained in use during the early middle ages. The ancient settlement of Mazara, whose site is now occupied by the modern city of Elazığ , was a road station on the road linking Melitene to the upper Euphrates basin. After the classical period, it no longer appears in historical records, indicating that it declined to insignificance or was abandoned altogether. A large settlement at

4095-508: The Romans as treason against the Armenian king, but in reality Anzitene had already been under Roman influence for over 50 years. After Arab Melitene surrendered to the Byzantines in 934, Anzitene became briefly divided. Its western highlands abutting Melitene were absorbed into Byzantine territory, forming part of the frontier theme of Mesopotamia , which straddled the Mouzouron range. Eastern Anzitene wasn't taken until 937, and then Arsamosata

4200-487: 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

4305-507: 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

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4410-470: The account makes no mention of him dealing with any Byzantine stronghold, so Kalkas does not appear to have been used as a military base during this period. 38°21′19″N 38°20′1″E  /  38.35528°N 38.33361°E  / 38.35528; 38.33361 Old Armenian language Classical Armenian continues to be the liturgical language of the Armenian Apostolic Church and

4515-462: The beginning of XIII century) and mat U-RA Ţ -RI mentioned by Adad-nirari II (at 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

4620-403: The campaign. The population of Anzitene appears to have declined between the 6th and 10th centuries. Tadım, the late Roman capital of Anzitene, had shrank and retreated to a more defensible location. Harput also appears to have done the same. The only exception to this trend was Hūrī, which seems to have grown from a village into a town. Part of the reason for this decline may have been because of

4725-470: The capital under Justinian, after the southern flanks of the Armenian Taurus were detached and made into the new province of Upper Mesopotamia. Dadima remained the ecclesiastical capital of Armenia IV at least through 692, when its bishop Elias signed the canons of the Quinisext Council . During the period of Arab domination roughly lasting from 640-938, Tadım declined to a small town, leaving Arsamosata

4830-486: The city of Harput which now rose to prominence and became the main city in the region. Not long after, the Hamdanid ruler Sayf al-Dawla made a famous raid into Anzitene in 956. This was one of his most famous campaigns, and the "remarkably detailed" Arabic prose account of it provides a major source about medieval Anzitene and its settlement patterns. Classical Anzitene was a prosperous region; its main towns were Dadima ( Tadım ) and Arsamosata, while many villages dotted

4935-589: 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

5040-409: 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

5145-518: 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 ,

5250-482: 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

5355-445: 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 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

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5460-568: 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

5565-517: 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,

5670-434: 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

5775-473: 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

5880-561: 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

5985-542: The lone major city in the plains region. The reason may have been proximity to danger, with the Arab-Byzantine frontier now lying west of Tadım. Some of its population likely relocated to the Arsamosata area. Sometime after 956, Tadım sank into total obscurity, although its name survives to the present day. As of 1900, remains at Tadım include two traces of circuit walls: one enclosing a tepe 60 feet high, possibly representing

6090-441: The medieval castle". In the 10th century, the fortress was expanded to its present size. From this point on, Harput became the main center in Anzitene and the surrounding region in general. Its population grew as the threat of warfare, Turkic raids, and brigandage drove many people to seek safety near its formidable castle. The main castle apart from Harput in 10th-century Anzitene was Dadima (or Dadimon), at present-day Tadım . It

6195-410: The medieval site, and the other 1 mile west on the plain, possibly representing the ancient site. Some 8 km south of Tadım is Hoh , which as of the 19th century was one of the principal villages on the plain. As of 1900, foundations of an apparently "Roman" or "Byzantine" building were identified atop a tepe 80 feet high and 200 feet in diameter; the tepe was apparently unfortified. Hoh is probably

6300-627: The more common voiced and unvoiced series, also a separate aspirated series , transcribed with the notation used for Ancient Greek rough breathing after the letter: p῾ , t῾ , c῾ , č῾ , k῾ . Each phoneme has two symbols in the table. The left indicates the pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); the right one is the corresponding symbol in the Armenian alphabet . քառ (kʻaṙ) նոյն (noyn) < *no-ēn (adverbial suffix) *h₁nó-eyni- ("over there" +"that") The pluralization suffix -k', which since Old Armenian

6405-499: 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

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6510-560: The mouth of the Zerteriç valley appears to have been built at some point during classical antiquity. It does not seem to have featured in Sayf al-Dawla's campaigns and may have dwindled to a village or been abandoned altogether by the 10th century. The town of Kalkas mentioned by Ibn Hawqal, which corresponds to the ancient Cholcis, was at the NE end of Hazar Gölü. When Sayf al-Dawla invaded through here in 956,

6615-576: 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

6720-454: The nominative and the accusative. All the strong cases lost their suffix in the singular; by contrast, almost every weak case in the singular keep a suffix. The cases are: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, locative and instrumental. The o-type model shows an extremely simplified paradigm with many instances of syncretism and the constant use of the pluralization suffix -k' in the plural; not only do strong cases tend to converge in

6825-494: 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

6930-496: The other hand, Sinclair identifies the site of Aşağı Huh with the fort called "Chachon" that Basil I attacked in 873. In any case, it was probably fortified earlier in its history, since the Armenian Geography attributed to Moses of Choron in the 6th or 7th century lists a castle called Horē as one of two places in Anzitene canton. Arsamosata in the northeast was a major city with a mixed Armenian and Assyrian population. It

7035-432: The people who remained in the district left the open and exposed settlements on the plains for more elevated sites that offered protection. However, there is no evidence that an internal migration took place from the plains to the highlands of western Anzitene. In contrast to Sophene, whose valleys were small but had rich soil for agriculture, the western Anzitene highlands are poorly suited to support large towns. Meanwhile,

7140-417: The place called Hūrī in the al-Mutanabbi account. (This was first proposed by Canard and accepted by Howard-Johnston "for want of convincing alternatives - but with considerable hesitation".) Although it is listed as a balad or city in the text, it was probably obscure in both classical and medieval times and was probably just a particularly large village, probably unfortified according to Howard-Johnston. On

7245-477: The plain and nearby hills". Other than Arsamosata, the castle of Salām was probably the only major site in the northeastern part of Anzitene at Sayf al-Dawla's time. A possible identification is the large stronghold of Shitar Kale near İçme , which overlooks the plain from a height of 1000 feet and commands the Arsanias valley. Along with the village of al-Muqaddamiyyah, Salām lay on Sayf al-Dawla's route from Harput to Arsamosata in 938. The poet Abu Firas refers to

7350-492: The plain, as if their main function was to shield a highland refuge zone in the west and to control the strategic routes, the main river fords, and the western approach to Arsamosata." They were not designed to protect the plain. They also didn't fortify the Hazar Gölü valley or the mountains separating it from the main Anzitene plain. The Byzantines seem to have treated Anzitene as "a deep outer defensive zone" protecting Melitene on

7455-441: The prehistoric period". The site is just upstream from a ford on the Euphrates - itself upstream from the main one at Tomisa - which was used by Sayf al-Dawla in 953 to make a rapid retreat when his forces were almost trapped on the opposite bank. There was presumably a minor route running through the Anzitene highlands that he used then. 4 km south-southeast of modern-day Aşvan is the late medieval castle of Taşkun Kale , which

7560-518: The present, the pluralization suffix -k' can be noticed again instead of the final part of the original PIE ending. The first person suffix -em comes from the PIE suffix in athematic verbs *-mi . Nouns in Old Armenian can belong to three models of declinations: o-type, i-type and i-a-type. Nouns can show more than one model of conjugation and retain all cases from PIE except for the vocative, which merged with

7665-482: The principality to an Artukid named Balak, who then in turn was conquered by a different Artukid, Shams ad-Dawla of Mayyafariqin . The next year, Harput was seized by a third Artukid, Dawud of Hisn Kayfa . In 1176, a younger son of this branch seized Harput and it became an independent principality again until its final conquest by the Seljuk Kayqubad I in 1234. The principality of Harput had not originally included

7770-578: The region in 873 refers to fortified settlements at include Chachon (Aşağı Huh) and Mourinix (the fort at Daldık, near the village of Murenik), among others. Both sites are on the descent from the Ergani pass, indicating that it was still seen as a strategic military objective, even if less than other periods. In general, the Arabs used Anzitene for a different strategic purpose than supplying Malatya - they used it to maintain communications with regions further east. When

7875-579: The region of Rawandiz in Iraqi Kurdistan . The kingdom emerged in 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

7980-507: 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

8085-471: 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

8190-488: The same sound changes of the numeral "two": PIE *dweh₂rós / *dwoy- > erkar / erku. Urartu The Urartu 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

8295-444: 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

8400-525: 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

8505-533: The singular, but most of the weak cases converge into -oy, perhaps from the PIE dative *-oey. There is no suffix for the dual number. Adjectives in Old Armenian have at least two models of declension: i-a-type and i-type. An adjective, provided that it is not indeclinable, can show both models. Most of the declension show a great deal of syncretism and the plural shows again the pluralization suffix -k'. The instrumental plural has two possible forms. երկարօք (erkar ōkʻ ) < *dweh₂r óysu The adjective "long" shows

8610-569: The site was ever fortified during its occupation. Instead, according to James Howard-Johnston, the castle, along with the ancient and medieval town, was probably somewhere on the plain just to the west, immediately by the ford. Here, it would have been better positioned to guard the southern approach to ford on the road from Harput than the more defensible but distant mound above the present-day village. Alluvial action and human quarrying may have removed all visible traces of an early medieval castle. (However, according to Stephen Mitchell's hypothesis, there

8715-542: The southwestern corner of Armenia, it was bordered by the Arsanias river on the north, the Euphrates on the west, and the slopes of the Armenian Taurus on the south and southeast. The geographic core of Anzitene was the plains region stretching from modern-day Elazığ to the ancient city of Arsamosata . Now called Altınova , or "golden plain", this is a fertile and well-watered region surrounded by mountains. According to

8820-464: 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

8925-878: 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 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

9030-593: The surrounding countryside. However, during the middle ages, Anzitene's population appears to have decreased - its location on the frontier during the Arab-Byzantine wars left it vulnerable to attack, and many people migrated north to the relatively more secure district of Sophene. Today, the construction of the Keban Dam has flooded low-lying parts of old Anzitene along the Arsanias valley, hindering archaeological research of sites there. The name Anzitene corresponds to

9135-688: 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 ,

9240-429: The threat of the Byzantines to the west prompted the Arabs to invest in fortifying the northern and western highlands of Anzitene, such as at al-Minşār, al-Tell, and Aşvan. They didn't bother to make any bases on the open plains, except for the major city of Arsamosata at the eastern end of the plain. The Arabs don't seem to have used the Ergani pass much during this period. However, an account of Basil I 's campaign in

9345-513: The west and the canton of Sophene, "the economic and social heart of the province of Mesopotamia", to the north. Later, Anzitene formed the core of the Artukid principality of Harput, which also extended further east. This principality was initially established shortly after 1090 by a separate Turkish emir named Çubuk, under the authority of the Seljuk statesman Ibn Jahir . In 1113, Çubuk's son Mehmet lost

9450-424: The western part of Anzitene around Minshar, but when Balak married the mother of Tuğrul Arslan, the neighboring Seljuk prince of Malatya, he received Minshar as his dowry and thus reunited Anzitene politically. Although it was the region's main settlement for much of the middle ages, Harput (aka Ziata) was an obscure, purely local stronghold throughout the classical and early medieval periods. Its only claim to fame

9555-501: 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

9660-408: 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

9765-453: Was an important military objective of Sayf al-Dawla's campaigns of 938 and 956. This castle was the medieval descendant of an important ancient settlement. George of Cyprus , writing in the late 6th century, appears to implicitly label Dadima a city since he does not list it as either a fortress ( kastron ) or a town ( polichne ). He also implies that it had recently been elevated to the provincial capital of Armenia IV, succeeding Martyropolis ,

9870-621: 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

9975-404: Was besieged from 937 to 939. The Byzantines probably expanded the fortifications at Harput around this time. From this point on, Harput became the main center in Anzitene. Over the next 10 years, the Byzantines continued to expand further east so that by 950, the frontier was well to the east of Anzitene. However, Anzitene vulnerable to attack from across the Armenian Taurus to the south. In 956,

10080-644: 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

10185-439: 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

10290-441: Was indeed here, then Sayf al-Dawla's actions here would have been intended to hold the route and perhaps provide a distraction from his main actions at Tadım and Harput. The castle of al-Minşār was almost certainly at the large rock by the village of Kale on the mountain called Muşer or Mişar Dağ near the east bank of the Euphrates. This site "had been fashioned into a castle by hewing out platforms and steps and constructing walls in

10395-472: Was located at the present-day site of Haraba . The Syriac Orthodox bishop of Anzitene resided at Arsamosata. Tadım's decline under Arab rule left Arsamosata as the lone major city in the plains region. Arsamosata likely received an influx of new residents from both Tadım and the Malatya plain. Around the 11th and 12th centuries, however, Arsamosata went into decline, contracting from "a sprawling ancient city" into

10500-480: Was never a castle of "Hisn Aşvan" - rather, there was just a mound called "castle" in the 10th century just the same as it is today.) Al-Tell castle was probably in the hills west of Tadım, probably no more than 10 km or so away. Sayf al-Dawla sent a detachment to siege al-Tell in 938 while he was besieging Dadima. Canard proposed that al-Tell is the same place as the Tell Arsanas mentioned by Ibn Hawqal ; this

10605-440: 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

10710-472: 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

10815-607: 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

10920-479: Was that in 359 it was the most important among several minor forts captured by a Persian expedition into Roman territory. It played no major role in the Roman-Sasanian wars of late antiquity, nor in the Arab conquest. It was "not incorporated into the elaborate system of frontier defense laid out by the caliph Harun al-Rashid at the end of the 8th century". Even as late as Qudama ibn Ja'far 's systematic account of

11025-420: Was used form the nominative plural, could be linked to the final -s in PIE *tréyes > Old Armenian երեք (erekʻ) and չորք (čʻorkʻ), which then can point to a pre-Armenian *kʷtwr̥s (< *kʷetwóres). Otherwise, it derives from the number "two", երկու (erku) and was originally used as a mark for the dual number. There are no dual prefixes or dual plurals in Old Armenian. In the second and third person singular of

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