Sugunia was the first capital of

Arame , sea oak is a species of kelp, of the brown algae, best known for its use in Japanese cuisine. Description ''Eisenia bicyclis'' is indigenous to temperate Pacific Ocean waters centered near Japan, although it is deliberately cultured elsewher ...

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 ...

. The city was mentioned in an inscription by 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 king

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 ...

, who destroyed it in 858 BC. The Monolith Inscription of Shalmaneser III: Although its exact location is unknown, Shalamaneser III's placement of Sugunia near "the sea of Nairi" has led some scholars to place it near

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 ...

or 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 ...

. After Sugunia was sacked and burnt by

, Arame moved his capital to

Arzashkun 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 in the 850s BC. Name Arz ...

, which was subsequently attacked by the Assyrians in 856 BC.

References

Urartian cities Former populated places in Turkey Archaeological sites in Eastern Anatolia {{Armenia-hist-stub