Temple
The Musasir temple, built in 825 BC, was an important temple in Musasir, the holy city of Urartu. The Temple at Musasir appears in an Assyrian bas-relief which adorned the palace of Sargon II, King Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin, Khorsabad, to commemorate his victory over "the seven kings of Urartu" in 714 BC. (1802 - 1870) During the early 1850s, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British Assyrian Excavation Fund entered the field under William Kennett Loftus and many antiquities and accurate drawings of wall sculptures were apportioned between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British Museum and the Louvre. However, a convoy of antiquities was attacked by Arab robbers while being shipped down the Tigris River, and today lies buried somewhere in the bed of that river. That particular bas-relief was copied at its original location in the palace onto a drawing by Eugene Flandin(2) as Botta's chief artist. During these Assyrian campaigns, Bianili (Urartu) was ruled by Sarduri II, Sarduri and later by his son Rusa I, Rusa (Armenian language, Armenian: Հրաչյա ''Hrachya'', according to Moses of Chorene, Movses Khorenatsi) with the capital at Tushpa (Classical Armenian: Տոսպ ''Tosp'') on the eastern shore of Lake Van. During Rusa I's reign (735-714 BC), Musasir was governed by a king named Urzana.Potential locations
*Altintepe: Since 1959, the Historical Society and the Department of Antiquities have conducted excavations in the Yerznka area, west of Karin. Here at Altintepe was revealed an Urartu, Urartian temple and other monuments. Only the foundations of the temple are in view. Obviously this is not the temple of Musasir as it is located far away from the concerned area. *Rabat Tepe: Recently a site excavated in Iran, which is called Rabat Tepe and located at the southwestern side of Lake Urmia, was identified as Musasir. *At a site called Gund-i Topzawa north of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.References
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