Aerial view of the excavations (in 1930).
The name U. is certainly indigenous, but in the inscriptions of the ancient kings, contemporaries of the Neo-Assyrian period, the region is called Bia and the nation is named Biaina; the Assyrians called the country and the nation U.; in the Old Testament the country is called ‘Ārārat (Gen. 8:4); only a few decades ago among scholars the name Vannici was in vogue, derived from the Lake of Van, on whose shores monuments of this people have been found. The Urartaeans were the pre-Indo-European inhabitants of the country; they spoke Urartaean or Biainean, which is known through numerous inscriptions in cuneiform characters derived from the Neo-Assyrian, some of which are bilingual, written also in the Assyrian language. It is unknown from where the Urartaeans immigrated into their country or to what race they belonged. However, it is certain that the civilization of the country was greatly influenced by that of Assyria. It is not always possible to trace 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 entire region to the north of Assyria and include U. as well.
It is not known who founded 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. Yet already Shalmaneser I (1272–1243 B.C.) claims in an inscription to have conquered the entire 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 Ishpuinis, who calls himself “great king, mighty king, king of the universe.” He succeeded in extending the borders of his kingdom notably toward the east; yet the troops of Shamshi-Adad V (823–810 B.C.) penetrated even into the heart of the country. His son was Menuas, who was probably the ablest of the kings of the country; he subdued the Mannaeans, fought against the Hittites of the West dwelling in northern Mesopotamia and Syria, penetrated into the land of Alsu, and invaded the region to the north of the Araxes. He was succeeded by his son Argishtis 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 some expeditions against U. Under Sarduris II the country reached its greatest power. This king wished to destroy Assyria and therefore allied himself with a vast league of Syrians and Mesopotamians to attack Assyria also 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, defeated, and forced to abandon most of his capital, resisting in the citadel against the assault of Assyrian arms; the country was devastated. His son Rusas I succeeded in raising the country again from the disaster it had suffered; he allied himself with Mita of Muskû (Midas of Phrygia), without however achieving great success. His allies the Minni were defeated by Sargon II (721–705 B.C.), who in 714 attacked U. itself and penetrated deeply into it, then turned toward Musasir, ruled at that time by Uzana, who fled before the Assyrian arms; Sargon took immense booty, which included the treasure of the king of U.; King Rusas committed suicide. He was succeeded by his son Argishtis I (ca. 714–680 B.C.), under whose reign the invasions of certain hordes of nomads, the Ashkuzai (Scythians), the Gimirrai, and the Phrygians, distressed the country, which had not yet recovered from the defeat inflicted by Sargon. At this time the country began to decline. Rusas II, however, claims to have subdued the Musku, the Hittites of northern Syria, and other hordes; harassed by immigrant nomads, he sought support from Ashurbanipal (668–626 B.C.) and therefore sent an embassy to him. Sarduris III also sent his ambassadors to the king of Assyria. When the Assyrian Empire was destroyed after the fall of Nineveh, Rusas III of U. evacuated the capital that had been conquered by the allies fighting against Assyria, and U. lost its independence.
The religion of the Urartaeans was polytheistic, with the national god Haldi at the head of the pantheon; he belonged to a divine triad together with Teisheba, god of storms, and Shivini, god of the sun. The country was rich in temples and other sacred buildings that the kings, more intent on obtaining divine favor, had built in the principal cities and above all in the capital, the city of Haldi. The temples of Musasir resembled, if an image seen in a relief of King Sargon II is accurate, the sacred buildings of the Greeks; the sanctuaries of the capital Tuspa had a different architectural character.