Urartu

URARTU. - A region of ancient Armenia that lay to the north of Assyria, with Lake Van (Wân) almost at its center.

The name U. is certainly indigenous, but in the inscriptions of the ancient kings, contemporary with the Neo-Assyrian era, the region is called Bia and the nation bears the name Biaina; the Assyrians called the country and the nation U.; in the Old Testament the country is called Arārat (Gen. 8:4); still a few decades ago the name Vannici, derived from Lake Van, on whose shores monuments of this people have been found, was in vogue among scholars. The Urartians were the pre-Indo-European inhabitants of the country; they spoke Urartian or Biainian, which is known through numerous inscriptions in cuneiform characters derived from the Neo-Assyrian ones, some of which are bilingual, that is, also composed in the Assyrian language; it is unknown whence the Urartians immigrated into their country and to what race they belonged. In any case it is certain that the civilization of the country was much influenced by that of Assyria. It is not always possible to follow the itinerary of the invasions of U. by the kings of Assyria, because the vast majority of the geographical names used by the Assyrian kings are of uncertain meaning, such as, for example, the term Nairu, which should designate the whole region to the north of Assyria and also include U.

It does not appear who was the founder of the kingdom, although Sarduris I, son of Lutipris, is called in an inscription king of the universe, king of the kings of Nairu, and is probably to be regarded as such. However, already Shalmaneser I (1272-1243 B.C.) affirms in one of his inscriptions that he conquered the whole country of U. in only three days. Sarduris I was defeated by a general of Shalmaneser III (858-824 B.C.). The successor of Sarduris I was Ispuinis, who calls himself great king, mighty king, king of the universe. He succeeded in extending the borders of his kingdom, especially toward the East; however, the troops of Shamshi-Adad V (823-810 B.C.) penetrated into the heart of the country. His son was Menuas, who was probably the ablest of the kings of the country; he subjugated the Manneans, fought against the Hittites of the West living in northern Mesopotamia and Syria, penetrated into the country of Alsu and invaded the region to the north of the Aras. His successor was his son Argistis I, a great captain who extended the borders of the kingdom, from Lake Urmia to the Amanus in the west; since the Assyrians were seriously threatened, Shalmaneser IV (781-772 B.C.) undertook several expeditions against U. Under Sarduris II the country reached its greatest power. This king wanted to destroy Assyria and therefore allied himself with a vast league of Syrians and Mesopotamians so that Assyria would also be attacked from the West. He was, however, defeated by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 B.C.); in 736 he was again attacked by the Assyrians and, defeated, had to abandon most of his capital and resisted in the citadel against the onslaught of the Assyrian arms; the country was undone. His son Rusas I succeeded in raising the country again from the disaster it had suffered, allied himself with Mita of Musku (Midas of Phrygia), without however achieving great success. His allies the Minneans were defeated by Sargon II (721-705 B.C.), who in 714 attacked U. itself and penetrated deeply into it, then turned toward Musasir, then governed by Urzana, who took flight before the Assyrian arms; Sargon took possession of immense booty, which also included the treasure of the king of U.; King Rusas committed suicide. His successor was his son Argistis I (ca. 714-680 B.C.), under whose reign the invasions of certain tribes of nomads, the Alkuzai (Scythians), the Gimirrai and the Phrygians, harassed the country, which had not yet recovered from the defeat inflicted on it by Sargon. In this period the country begins to become Indo-Europeanized. Rusas II nevertheless affirms that he subjugated the Musku, the Hittites of northern Syria and other tribes; harassed by the immigrant nomads, he seeks to lean on Ashurbanipal (668-626 B.C.) and therefore sends him an embassy. Sarduris III also sent his ambassadors to the king of Assyria. When the Assyrian Empire was undone after the fall of Nineveh, Rusas III of U. evacuated the capital conquered by the allies fighting against Assyria, and U. lost its independence.

The religion of the Urartians was polytheistic, with the national god Haldi at the head of the pantheon; he belonged to a divine triad together with Teiseba, god of the storm, and Ardini, a solar divinity. Since the Kingdom of U. was a theocracy, the kings of the country undertook their military campaigns in the name of Haldi, for this god and in his honor; likewise all temples, palaces and buildings were built for him. The members of the triad are called "perfect gods"; the same divine triad was worshiped by the inhabitants of the country of Musasir, akin in civilization to that of the Urartians. The pantheon was composed of many divinities, of at least some fifty divine figures, if an inscription of King Ispuinis and Menuas gives an almost complete list of the divine figures of the country. The inscription begins with the perfect gods Haldi, Teiseba and Ardini, to whom a number of animals greater than that given to the other divinities is sacrificed; there follows the god Hutuini, after whom come the three gods Turani, Ua, Nalaini and other divine figures, among which also the god of the moon, whose Urartian name is unknown since it is written with the Assyrian ideogram for Sin; there follows the god Quera, and then the names of other divinities; one then reads the name of Haldi with various epithets or titles, these being without doubt particular or local Haldi; mention is made of the Teiseba of the physicians, of local divinities of various cities and regions; sacrifice was also made to the flock of some gods and to the wild animals of other divinities; the sacrifices consisted mainly of oxen and lambs. Sacrifices and gifts the kings of the country made especially on the occasion of victories won with divine help and of great festivals. King Ispuinis offered to the national god weapons, bronze vessels, bronze rams, a standard and a very great number of oxen and lambs which he had placed before the stele dedicated to his god, a stele that was seen before the temple, this too dedicated to Haldi. The supreme triad already mentioned was invoked by the kings of the country also in the curses that they hurled at the end of their inscriptions against those who might destroy or change the inscription made to be carved. King Menuas invites the triad to drive from the sun into darkness not only whoever destroyed the tablet but also his family, his servants and his goods. The country was rich in temples and other sacred buildings that the kings, much more intent on obtaining divine favor, had built in the principal cities and first of all in the capital, in the city of Haidi. The temples of Musasir resembled, if an image of them seen in a relief of the Assyrian king Sargon II is accurate, the sacred buildings of the Greeks; the sanctuaries of the capital Tuspas of the country had a different architectural character.

Giuseppe Furlani