Arzashkun or Arṣashkun was the capital of the early kingdom of Urartu in the 9th century BC, before Sarduri I moved it to Tushpa in 832 BC. Arzashkun had double walls and towers, but was captured by

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...

in the 850s BC.

Name

Arzashkun seems to be the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n form of an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

name ending in -ka formed from a proper name Arzash. The root of Arzashkun may ultimately be

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

''*harg-'' or *
h₂erǵ-
', meaning "bright, white", by way of Proto-Armenian intermediaries "Arcesk'o" and then "Arčešo" (genitive: "Arčišoy"). Arzashkun was hidden, and protected from attack, by a dense forest almost impassable to a regular army.

Location

The precise location of the city is uncertain. It has been located variously by different scholars as along the shore of

Lake Van Lake Van (; ; ) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey in the provinces of Van Province, Van and Bitlis Province, Bitlis, in the Armenian highlands. It is a Salt lake, saline Soda lake, soda lake, receiv ...

, near

Lake Urmia Lake Urmia is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is located between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran, and west of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea. At its greatest extent, it was the largest lake in th ...

, near Malazgirt, or at Bostankaya between Malazgirt and Patnos. The name of Adduri Mountain, which was used in the Urartian period, is today Cemalverdi Mountains. According to Robert Hewsen and Armen Petrosyan, Arzashkun was at the northeastern shore of Lake Van, probably near the site of old Arjesh, now inundated by the waters of Lake Van. Arzashkun recalls the names Arsene and Arsissa, applied by the ancients to part of Lake Van. This is likely modern Erciş. It may also be connected to Lake Erçek, located to the immediate east of Lake Van. Alternately, Arzashkun might represent the Ardzik of the Armenian historical records, located west of Malazgirt.

Fall of Arzashkun

At the headwaters of the river

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

, there appears in the ninth century, B.C., an organized state of

Urartu Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van, Lake Urmia, and Lake Sevan. The territory of the ancient kingdom of Urartu extended over the modern frontiers of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia.Kleiss, Wo ...

. Shalmaneser regarded it as so menacing to

's interest that he undertook an expedition in 857, claimed to have destroyed the capital Arzashkun, penetrated as far as

, and left his inscription on Mount Irritia.Aram and Israel - Page 105 by Emil Gottlieb Heinrich Kraeling Shalmaneser on his ''Black Obelisk'' records this campaign: :(35-44) In the third year of my reign, Ahuni, son of Adini, was frightened before my mighty weapons and retreated from Til-barzip, his royal city. I crossed the Euphrates. I seized for myself the city of Ana-Assur-utir-asbat, which lies on the other side of the Euphrates, on the Sagur river, which the Hittite people called Pitru. When I returned, I entered the passes of the land of Alzi; the lands of Alzi, Suhni, Daiaeni, Tumme, Arzashkunu, the royal city of Arame, the

(king), Gilzânu, and Hubushkia (I conquered

References

{{Authority control Urartian cities Former populated places in Turkey

Name

Location

Fall of Arzashkun

See also

References