Latest / The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History / Urartu: The Mountain Kingdom Before Armenia
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, we've covered a lot of Armenian history—from Tigranes the Great to the genocide, from the medieval kingdoms to the diaspora. But today I want to go way, way back. Before Armenia was Armenia, before the first mention of the name 'Armenia' in any ancient text, the Armenian highlands were home to a powerful kingdom called Urartu. Luna: Urartu? I think I've heard the name—it's sometimes associated with Mount Ararat, right? Lucas: Exactly. In fact, the name 'Ararat' is almost certainly a survival of 'Urartu'. The Bible mentions 'the mountains of Ararat' where Noah's ark landed, and that's the same region. Urartu flourished roughly from the 9th to the 6th centuries BCE, centered around Lake Van in what is now eastern Turkey. They called their kingdom Biainili, but the Assyrians referred to it as Urartu. Luna: So they were contemporaries of the Assyrian Empire. Lucas: Yes, and often enemies. The Urartians built a formidable state with a sophisticated irrigation system, massive fortresses, and a pantheon of gods led by the chief deity Ḫaldi. Their capital was Tushpa, on the eastern shore of Lake Van. The ruins of its fortress still stand today, carved into a sheer cliff. Lucas: One of the most impressive things about Urartu is their hydraulic engineering. They built canals and reservoirs that supplied water to their cities and fields. One canal, built by King Menua around 800 BCE, is still in use today—it waters the area around Van, which is remarkable for a system that's nearly three thousand years old. Luna: That's incredible. How did they manage to keep it functional for so long? Lucas: Well, the Urartians carved their canals into rock and lined them with stone, which made them durable. They also built underground cisterns and aqueducts that collected rainwater and snowmelt. The same technology was later adopted by the Achaemenid Persians and then the Armenians. So Urartu's legacy in water management is huge. Lucas: The Urartians also left behind thousands of cuneiform inscriptions, mostly in the Urartian language, which is related to Hurrian. They recorded their kings' achievements, building projects, and military campaigns. One famous inscription, the Kelashin Stele, was set up by King Ishpuini and his son Menua to mark the conquest of a city. It was written in both Urartian and Assyrian, like a bilingual Rosetta Stone. Luna: So we can actually read their history from their own words. What happened to Urartu? Lucas: The kingdom began to decline in the 7th century BCE. The Assyrians, under kings like Sargon II, launched devastating campaigns. Sargon boasted of destroying the Urartian temple of Ḫaldi at Musasir and carrying off its treasures. But the final blow came from the east: nomadic Scythians and Medes swept through the region around 590 BCE, sacking Tushpa and other cities. Lucas: After Urartu fell, the region became part of the Median Empire, then the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The people of the highlands gradually shifted from speaking Urartian to an early form of Armenian, but the memory of Urartu lived on. The very name 'Ararat' and perhaps even the Armenian royal dynasty of the Orontids may trace their origins to Urartian nobility. Luna: So in a way, Urartu is the deep foundation of Armenian identity, even if it's not always recognized. Lucas: Exactly. Modern Armenian archaeology has been uncovering more and more of this heritage. The fortress of Erebuni, founded by King Argishti I in 782 BCE, is now a national symbol—the city of Yerevan celebrated its 2800th anniversary based on that founding date. So when Armenians say Yerevan is older than Rome, they're drawing on Urartian history. Lucas: But there's still mystery. The Urartian language died out, and their religion vanished. We don't fully understand how the transition from Urartu to Armenia happened. Was it a gradual migration of Armenian speakers from the west? A cultural shift? A conquest? The evidence is fragmentary, but it's a fascinating puzzle. Luna: And the name 'Urartu' itself—is that where we get 'Ararat'? Lucas: Most scholars think so. The Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Genesis, says Noah's ark came to rest on 'the mountains of Ararat'. That phrase is almost certainly a reference to Urartu. The Assyrian king Sargon II wrote about 'the land of Urartu', and the name evolved through various languages until it became Ararat in the Bible. So there's a direct link between the ancient kingdom and the mountain that towers over the Armenian landscape today. Luna: It's amazing to think that a civilization from three thousand years ago still echoes in the name of a mountain, and in the canals that still water crops. Lucas: That's the beauty of history in this region. Urartu was a sophisticated, powerful kingdom that built fortresses, wrote inscriptions, and worshipped Ḫaldi. Then it collapsed, but its people didn't disappear. They became part of the fabric that eventually produced Armenia. And every time an Armenian looks at Mount Ararat, they're looking at a memory of Urartu.