It would be astonishing if the Persian kings, knowing the accomplishments of this civilization, which was older than the Median one, were not somewhat influenced by it.
Assyrian Records on Urar
In the Assyrian annals we first encounter the name of Urarṭu (in the forms Uraṭri/Uruaṭri), which was one of the principal objectives of the Assyrian expeditions toward the northern mountains from the Middle Assyrian period on, that is to say starting from the thirteenth century BCE (Salvini 1995: 18 ff). The populations that settled north of the Taurus range were repeatedly invaded by the Assyrian armies of Shalmaneser I (1273–1244), Tukulti‐Ninurta I (1243–1207), Tiglath‐pileser I (1114–1076), and Aššur‐bel‐kala (1073–1056). The name Urarṭu is attested in the Assyrian annals from the ninth century onward. But also Nairi (RlA s.v.) is important for the history of Urarṭu, because the first Urartian kings of the ninth century BCE, Sarduri I (RlA s.v.) and his son Išpuini (in the Assyrian version of his bilingual stela of Kelišin: CTU A 3‐11) claimed to be “king of the country of Nairi,” thus linking up with a prestigious political tradition of the independent mountain populations. The cuneiform inscriptions of Išpuini and the following kings designate them even as “King of the country of Biainili,” a local name which later corresponds to Urarṭu in the Assyrian version of the bilingual stelae by Rusa I (CTU A 10‐3, Movana, and 5, Topzawa).
One of the natural gates through the eastern Taurus lies on the modern road connecting Diyarbakır with Bingöl. In the eleventh century BCE Tiglath‐pileser I, and after him Shalmaneser III in the ninth century, left written records on the border of the Urartian territory: the famous reliefs and inscriptions on the “Tigristunnel” (RlA s.v.). The annals of Shalmaneser III record the conquest of Sugunia, the city of “Aramu, the Urartian,” in 858 BCE and his “royal city” of Arzaškun in 856 BCE. In 832 BCE the Assyrian field marshal crossed the river Arsania (Murad Su) and defeated “Seduru, the Urartian” (RlA s.v. Salmanassar III). This new name is the link with the indigenous Urartian documentation, namely with Sarduri I (RlA s.v.).
Tušpa, Center of the Urartian Power: Sarduri I
The oldest building in Van Kalesi is the “Sardursburg,” defined thus by Lehmann‐Haupt during his “Armenische Expedition” in 1898–1899 (Lehmann‐Haupt 1926: 18 ff). This structure of huge well‐squared limestone blocks laid in five regular courses was probably a quay or wharf. Six cuneiform inscriptions are carved into these blocks in the Assyrian language and Neo‐Assyrian ductus. They are all duplicates of the text of Sarduri I (c. 840–830 BCE), who must be considered as the founder of the Urartian capital 瞈ušpa (Salvini 1995: pp. 34–38):
Inscription of Sarduri, son of Lutipri, great king, powerful king, king of the universe, king of Nairi, king without equal, great shepherd, who does not fear the fight (…). Sarduri says: I have brought here these foundation stones from the city of Alniunu, I have built this wall
(Wilhelm 1986: p. 101).
With this written document, which was discovered by the pioneer Schulz together with other 41 Urartian inscriptions (Schulz 1840), begins not only the history of the Urartian kingdom but also the written documentation for the entire mountainous region stretching across eastern Turkey, Armenia, and Iranian Azerbaijan.
We have no other written records signed by Sarduri I documenting his deeds, but the very fact that he fought against the powerful Assyrian king Shalmaneser III demonstrates a certain political importance and military power.
Sarduri's Successor
Sarduri's son Išpuini (end of the ninth century BCE) introduced the use of the indigenous Urartian language, the language of the dynasty. He left us some building inscriptions celebrating the construction of a system of fortresses around Van (CTU A 2). Very soon he involved his son and heir apparent Minua in his military expeditions directed to far‐lying countries such as the region north of the river Araxes, the basin of Lake Urmia, and the province of Nakhičevan.
The two kings campaigned against the tribes of Luša, Katarza, and Uiteru
King Išpuini, “Lord of the city of 瞈ušpa,” achieved the final unification into one state of all the peoples settled over a wide territory of the Armenian highland, and also the annexation of the territory east of the Zagros mountains, the modern territory of Iranian Azerbaijan. We have no idea of the ethnic composition of the new state. All we can say for the Urartians, who were the driving force and center of the kingdom, is that according to the language of the royal inscriptions, they were neither Semites nor Indo‐Europeans. They were related only to the Hurrians who are attested from the end of the third to the beginning of the first millennium BCE in many regions of the Near East (Salvini 2000). However, the element binding the peoples unified in the Urartian kingdom was not only the use of the Urartian language in progressive substitution of the Assyrian one.
The Religion as “Instrumentum Regni”
Išpuini was the first Urartian king who knew how to exploit the religious element, which would become the basis of the state. There are two major written documents testifying to this policy. The first is the Kelišin stela (CTU A 3‐11), erected on the 3000 m high pass of the Zagros range, which deals with a political pilgrimage by Išpuini and his son Minua around 810 BCE to the temple of the god
The most meaningful evidence of Išpuini's policy is the open air sanctuary of Meher Kapısı near Van, with its rock inscription (CTU A 3‐1) fixing the whole Urartian pantheon headed by the supreme triad: the god
During