Yervandashat or Eruandashat ( hy, Երվանդաշատ), was an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

n city and one of the 13 historic capitals of Armenia, serving as a capital city between 210 and 176 BC during the

Orontid The Orontid dynasty, also known as the Eruandids or Eruandunis, ruled the Satrapy of Armenia until 330 BC and the Kingdom of Armenia from 321 BC to 200 BC. The Orontids ruled first as client kings or satraps of the Achaemenid Empire and after th ...

rule over Armenia and the beginning of their successors; the Artaxiad dynasty.

Etymology

"Eruandashat", which translates as "Joy of Ervand (i.e. Orontes)", is the Armenian form of the toponym and derives from

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...

''*Arwandašād'' (compare

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ( ...

''*Aruvanta-šiyāti-'').

History

Yervandashat was built around 210 BC by the last Orontid king Orontes IV of Armenia. It was at a height on the right bank of

Aras River , az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...

, in the Arsharunik canton of

Ayrarat Ayrarat () was the central province of the ancient kingdom Armenia, located in the plain of the upper Aras River. Most of the historical capitals of Armenia were located in this province, including Armavir, Yervandashat, Artashat, Vagharshapat, ...

province of Armenia Major. Its site is 1 km east of the modern Armenian village of

Yervandashat Yervandashat or Eruandashat ( hy, Երվանդաշատ), was an Armenian city and one of the 13 historic capitals of Armenia, serving as a capital city between 210 and 176 BC during the Orontid rule over Armenia and the beginning of their succes ...

, in the current Turkish Province of Iğdır. According to Movses Khorenatsi, Orontes founded Yervandashat to replace Armavir as his

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

after Armavir had been left dry by a shift of the Arax River. Ancient Yervandashat was destroyed by the army of the

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

n King

Shapur II Shapur II ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ; New Persian: , ''Šāpur'', 309 – 379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth Sasanian King of Kings ( Shahanshah) of Iran. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reign ...

in the 360s AD.Yervandashat
/ref> The archaeological site has not been the subject of major excavation, but some preliminary examination of the fortifications has been done and some remains of palaces have been uncovered.

References

Former capitals of Armenia Archaeological sites in Eastern Anatolia History of Iğdır Province {{Turkey-archaeology-stub