Urartu
 | This article needs to be wikified. (April 2022) |
Kingdom of Urartu Ուրարտու Biainili | |
|---|---|
| 858 BC–585 BC | |
 Urartu during Rusa I, between BC 715 – 713 BC | |
| Capital |
|
| Common languages | Urartian Proto-Armenian |
| Religion | Armenian mythology Urartian polytheism |
| Government | Monarchy |
| King | |
• 858–844 | Arame (first) |
• 590–585 | Rusa IV (last) |
| History | |
• Established | 858 BC |
• Median conquest | 585 BC |
Urartu (Armenian: Ուրարտու Urartu; Urartian: Biainili) was an Iron Age kingdom. It was in the mountainous plateau between Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and the Caucasus mountains, later known as the Armenian Highland. It was centered around Lake Van (present-day eastern Turkey). The of kingdom name corresponds to the Biblical Ararat. The kingdom rose to in the mid-9th century BC, but went into gradual decline and was eventually conquered by the Medes in the early 6th century BC.[1]
Urartu extended from Lake Van southeastward to Mannai, and sometimes even included that land as one of its provinces.[2]
Urartians and Armenians[change | change source]
The Urartians are the most easily identifiable ancestors of the Armenians.[3][4] Urartu, who is believed to speak at least partially Proto-Armenian,[5][6][7][8] played an important role in Armenian nationalism.[9]
Sources[change | change source]
- Toffteen, Olaf Alfred (1863). Researches in Assyrian and Babylonian Geography. p. 35.
- Jacobson, Esther (1995). The Art of the Scythians: The Interpenetration of Cultures at the Edge of the Hellenic World. BRILL. p. 33. ISBN 9789004098565.
- Drews, Robert (2017). Militarism and the Indo-Europeanizing of Europe. Routledge. p. 228.
The vernacular of the Great Kingdom of Biainili was quite certainly Armenian.
- Martirosyan, Hrach (2013). The place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family: the relationship with Greek and Indo-Iranian*. Leiden University. pp. 85–86.
- Redgate, A. E (2000). The Armenians. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 276.
- Petrosyan, Armen (2010). The Armenian Elements in the Language and Onomastics of Urartu. Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies.
- Diakonoff, Igor M. (1992). First Evidence of the Proto-Armenian Language in Eastern Anatolia. Annual of Armenian Linguistics. 13: 51–54.
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Jacobson 1995, p. 33.
- ↑ Toffteen 1863, p. 35.
- ↑ Redgate, A. E. (2000). The Armenians. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0631220374. p. 5, "However, the most easily identifiable ancestors of the later Armenian nation are the Urartians."
- ↑ Frye, Richard N. (1984). The History of Ancient Iran. Munich: C.H. Beck. ISBN 978-3406093975. p. 73, "The real heirs of the Urartians, however, were neither the Scythians nor Medes but the Armenians."
- ↑ Drews 2017, p. 228.
- ↑ Martirosyan 2013, p. 85–86.
- ↑ Diakonoff 1992.
- ↑ Petrosyan 2010.
- ↑ Redgate 2000, p. 276.