Urartians
| Kingdom of Urartu | ||||||||||
| Biainili | ||||||||||
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 Urartu, 9th–6th centuries BC.
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| Capital |
Arzashkun Tushpa (after 832 BC) |
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| Languages |
Urartian Hurrian Proto-Armenian |
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| Religion | Polytheism | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| King | ||||||||||
| • | 858-844 | Aramu | ||||||||
| • | 844-828 | Sarduri I | ||||||||
| • | 828-810 | Ishpuini | ||||||||
| • | 810-785 | Menua | ||||||||
| • | 785-753 | Argishti I | ||||||||
| • | 753-735 | Sarduri II | ||||||||
| Historical era | Iron Age, Prehistoric | |||||||||
| • | Established | 860 BC | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 590 BC | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Iran Iraq Turkey
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Urartu (Armenian: Ուրարտու), also known as Kingdom of Van (Urartian: Biai, Biainili;Armenian: Վանի թագավորություն, Vani t′agavorut′yun;Assyrian: māt Urarṭu;Babylonian: Urashtu), was an Iron Age kingdom centred on Lake Van in the Armenian Highlands. It corresponds to the biblical Kingdom of Ararat.
Strictly speaking, Urartu is the Assyrian term for a geographical region, while "kingdom of Urartu" or "Biainili lands" are terms used in modern historiography for the Urartian-speaking Iron Age state that arose in that region. The language appears in cuneiform inscriptions. It is argued on linguistic evidence that proto-Armenian came in contact with Urartian at an early date (3rd-2nd millennium BC), before the formation of the Urartian kingdom.
That a distinction should be made between the geographical and the political entity was already pointed out by König (1955).
The landscape corresponds to the mountainous plateau between Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, and the Caucasus Mountains, later known as the Armenian Highlands. The kingdom rose to power in the mid-ninth century BC, but went in gradual decline and was eventually conquered by the Medes in the early sixth century BC. The heirs of Urartu are the Armenians and their successive kingdoms.
The name Urartu comes from Assyrian sources: Shalmaneser I (1263–1234 BC) recorded a campaign in which he subdued the entire territory of "Uruatri." The Shalmaneser text uses the name Urartu to refer to a geographical region, not a kingdom, and names eight "lands" contained within Urartu (which at the time of the campaign were still disunited). "Urartu" is cognate with the Biblical "Ararat", Akkadian "Urashtu" and Armenian "Ayrarat". The Urartian toponym Biainili (or Biaineli) was adopted in the Old Armenian as Van, Վան. Hence the names "Kingdom of Van" or "Vannic Kingdom".
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Wikipedia