Erebuni Fortress () is an Urartian fortified city, located in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. It is above sea level. It was one of several fortresses built along the northern Urartian border and was one of the most important political, economic and cultural centers of the vast kingdom. The name Yerevan itself is derived from Erebuni.

Etymology

On an inscription found at Karmir Blur, the Urartian verb ''erebu-ni'' is used in the sense of "to seize, pillage, steal, or kidnap" followed by a changing

direct object In linguistics, an object is any of several types of arguments. In subject-prominent, nominative-accusative languages such as English, a transitive verb typically distinguishes between its subject and any of its objects, which can include but ...

. Scholars have conjectured that the word, as an unchanging direct object, may also mean "to take" or "to capture" and thus believe that the Erebuni at the time of its founding meant "capture", "conquest", or "victory."

History

Erebuni was founded by Urartian King Argishti I (r. –753 BC) in 782 BC. It was built on top of a hill called Arin Berd overlooking the

Aras River The Aras is a transboundary river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan, between Iran and both Azerbaijan and Armenia, and, fin ...

Valley to serve as a military stronghold to protect the kingdom's northern borders. It has been described as being "designed as a great administrative and religious centre, a fully royal capital." According to Margarit Israelyan, Argishti began the construction of Erebuni after conquering the territories north of Yerevan and west of

Lake Sevan Lake Sevan () is the largest body of water in both Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is one of the largest freshwater Alpine lake, high-altitude (alpine) lakes in Eurasia. The lake is situated in Gegharkunik Province, at an altitude of abov ...

, roughly corresponding to where the town of Abovyan is currently located. Accordingly, the prisoners he captured in these campaigns, both men and women, were used to help build his town. In the autumn of 1950, an archaeological expedition led by Konstantine Hovhannisyan discovered an inscription at Arin Berd dedicated to the city's founding which was carved during Argishti's reign. Two other identical inscriptions have been found at the citadel of Erebuni. The inscription reads: Argishti left a similar inscription at the Urartian capital of Tushpa (current-day Van) as well, stating that he brought 6,600 prisoners of war from Khate and Tsupani to populate his new city. Hovhannisyan, Konstantine
''«էրեբունի»'' (Erebuni).
Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. vol. iv. Yerevan:

Armenian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri azgayin akademia'') is the Armenian national academy, functioning as the primary body that conducts research and coordinates acti ...

, 1979, pp. 90-91. Similar to other Urartian cities of the time, it was built on a triangular plan on top of a hill and ensconced by high

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

s. Behind them, the buildings were separated by central and inner walls. The walls were built from a variety of materials, including basalt, tuff, wood and adobe. Argishti constructed a grand palace here and excavations conducted in the area have revealed that other notable buildings included a colonnaded royal assembly hall, a temple dedicated to Khaldi, a citadel, where the garrison resided, living quarters, dormitories and storerooms. The inner walls were richly decorated with murals and other wall paintings, displaying religious and secular scenes. Successive Urartian kings made Erebuni their place of residence during their military campaigns against northern invaders and continued construction work to build up the fortress defences. Kings Sarduri II and Rusa I also utilized Erebuni as a staging site for new campaigns of conquest directed towards the north.Israelyan. ''Erebuni'', pp. 137-138. In the early sixth century the Urartian state, under constant foreign invasion, collapsed. The region soon fell under the control of the Achaemenian Empire. The strategic position that Erebuni occupied did not diminish, however, becoming an important center of the satrapy of Armenia. Despite numerous invasions by successive foreign powers, the city was never truly abandoned and was continually inhabited over the following centuries, eventually branching out to become the city of Yerevan. Erebuni's close affinity to Yerevan was celebrated in a splendid festival held in September 1968, commemorating Erebuni's 2,750th birthday.

Architecture

The site of Erebuni Fortress was atop the tall hill of Arin Berd as a strategic position overlooking the Ararat plain and the main roads leading to the citadel. It also overlooked a cramped Urartian town made up of residences below at the foot of the hill. The main entrance to the fortress was located at the more gently sloped southeastern site of the hill. It led to the central yard of the citadel. Ceremonies held by the personal guards of Argishti I and guards of the fortress garrison were held here. In the southwest portion of the yard was a temple of the god Khaldi. The temple had a large oblong plan with a staircase that led to the roof of a ziggurat type tower and a side room on the lower floor. Surrounding the hall was a double-rowed twelve-column open portico with benches along the walls. An

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

for sacrifices was located at the left wall. The walls were decorated with colorful frescoes depicting representations of human figures, gods, geometric and floral designs. One of the frescoes uncovered depicts the god Khaldi standing on a lion with a warder in his left hand and a horned crown upon his head. It is typical of other representations of Khaldi found at other sites. The floor of the temple contrasted greatly from the rest of the complex in that it had wood floors composed of small planks, compared to the clay-coated adobe floors that were faced with stone slabs found in the rest of the citadel's rooms. Erebuni Plan

Excavations

Early excavations began during the 19th century while more systematic excavations were carried out at Erebuni in 1952, under the joint sponsorship of the

' Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography and the

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

's Board for the Preservation and Restoration of Architectural Monuments. The team was led by Konstantine Hovhannisyan and Boris Piotrovsky, who served as an on-site adviser. Hovhannisyan, Konstantine. ''«Արին Բերդ»'' (Arin Berd). Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia. vol. ii. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1976, p. 60. In the course of the early stage of the excavations (1950–1968), Argishti's palace, the royal assembly hall, temples and over a hundred rooms were excavated. Dozens of Urartian and

Achaemenian The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian peoples, Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, i ...

artifacts, such as pottery, earthenware, belt buckles, bracelets, beads, drinking vessels, helmets, arrows and silver coins, were also uncovered. The fragments of murals that were uncovered were found to be decorated with important religious themes, including "processions of gods, sacred animals, and trees of life", as well as scenes of everyday life, displaying scenes of "hunting, cattle breeding, and agriculture."Chahin. ''The Kingdom of Armenia'', p. 118. Storage areas for grain, oil, and wine were also uncovered. On the doors of the storage areas inscriptions were placed at the entry doors telling the who built the storage area and the quantity of the items placed in them. One such inscription reads: The enormous ceramic jars that held the wine and oil had markings upon them. Smaller ceramic vessels were also found in excavations and are known to have been used in brewing beer made from barley. Other much larger vessels were used for storing foods and wine. Small circular markings on the sides of these containers near the top indicated the amount that could be stored inside. The larger of the vessels were usually buried half-way into the soil which naturally kept the contents cool. Numerous cuneiform inscriptions carved on basalt have been found around the complex. Some of them are currently displayed in the museum, while others can still be found displayed on the walls. In 1968 the Erebuni Museum of History was established. Its opening was timed to coincide with the 2750th anniversary of

. The museum houses items uncovered during the excavations at Arin Berd and Karmir Blur and gives a history of the site.

Gallery

Image:Maquette of the Erebuni fortress2.jpg, Model of the Erebuni Fortress Image:Erebuni SE Entrance.JPG Image:Erebuni Fortress, Yerevan, Armenia 05.JPG Image:Erebuni Walls Yerevan.JPG, Interior walls of the citadel and Yerevan below Image:Erebuni105.jpg, Susi Temple Image:2014 Erywań, Erebuni, Ruiny twierdzy (01).jpg Image:2014 Erywań, Erebuni, Ruiny twierdzy (04).jpg Erebuni Fortress, an Urartian fortified city founded by Urartian King Argishti I in 782 BC, Armenia (45153134682).jpg Erebuni outer portico.jpg Erevan - La forteresse d'Erébouni 03.JPG, Fragment of the courtyard of the temple of God Khaldi (reconstruction) Erevan - La forteresse d'Erébouni 04.JPG, Image of god Khaldi, temple wall painting (reconstruction) Erebuni103.jpg, Entrance to the «Susi» Temple Urartian Fresco02.jpg Urartian Fresco03.jpg Erebuni museum 1283cropped.jpg Erebuni museum 1284cropped.jpg Erebuni Frescoe Oxen.JPG

Notes

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Armenia Castles in Armenia Urartian cities Buildings and structures completed in the 8th century BC Tourist attractions in Yerevan Buildings and structures in Yerevan Military history of Yerevan