ASA - March 2006: Urartu/Armenia

From: Alexanian, Moorad <alexanian@uncw.edu>
Date: Wed Mar 08 2006 - 15:58:48 EST

Its original name was Biainele; its capital the rock fortress Tuspa (modern Van). The country may be envisaged as a big rectangle, with Lake Van as its southwestern, Lake Urmia as its southeastern, Lake Sevan as its northeastern and Lake Çildir as its northwestern corner. Ancient Armenia was larger than modern Armenia.

The country was originally called Urastu or Urartu after the mountain Ararat, which is well known from the biblical story about Noah (Genesis 8.4). The Armenians regarded the Ararat, which they called Baris, as their holy mountain.

From the ninth century on, Urartu was ruled by a single dynasty, which expanded Armenia to the south in a period when Assyria was weak. The Euphrates <http://www.livius.org/a/turkey/euphrates/euphrates.html> became Armenia's western border. However, Assyria recuperated and in 714 BCE, the Armenian king Rusa was defeated by the Assyrian king Sargon, who marched almost unopposed through the country and took possession of the statue of the Armenian supreme god Haldi. After this humiliation, Rusa refused to live and committed suicide.

<http://www.livius.org/a/1/anatolia/nimrud_anatolian_fort.JPG>
An Anatolian fort, on an
Assyrian relief from Nimrod
(Louvre <http://www.louvre.fr> , Paris)
Aramu ? - c.840
Sardure I c.840 - c.825
Ispuine c.825 - c.810
Minua c.810 - c.785
Argiste I c.785 - 763
Sardure II 763 - 734
Rusa I 734 - 714

Rusa was succeeded by Argiste II, who chose for an 'internal expansion': the country along the Araxes was developed - something which is proved by archaeologists, who have discovered that there are far more seventh than eighth century settlements. After a century of development, the fertile country had become a natural target for the nomads who lived north of the Caucasus (known to the Greeks as 'Scythians <http://www.livius.org/sao-sd/scythians/scythians.html> ', Sakesinai or Cimmerians <http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/cimmerians/cimmerians.html> .). Archaeologists have discovered that many Urartaean fortresses were destroyed before 600; arrowheads from a type known from the Ukraine indicate that the Scythians were responsible for the end of the Urartaean monarchy.

The two peaks of Mount Ararat.
Ararat (©!!! <http://www.livius.org/mail2.html> )
Argiste II 714 - c.685
Rusa II c.685 - c.645
Sardure III c.645 - c.635
Erimena c.635 - 629
Rusa III 629 - 601
Sardure IV 601 - 585
[The order of the last four rulers is uncertain.]

An Armenian. Eastern stairs of the apadana at Persepolis. Photo Marco Prins. <http://www.livius.org/a/iran/persepolis/people/armenian.jpg>
An Armenian. Relief from the
eastern stairs <http://www.livius.org/a/iran/persepolis/apadana-eaststairs/apadana-eaststairs1.html> of the Apadana <http://www.livius.org/a/iran/persepolis/apadana/apadana.html>
at Persepolis <http://www.livius.org/pen-pg/persepolis/persepolis.html>

Having suffered from the Scythian invasion, the country was an easy target for the successors of the Assyrians, the Babylonians <http://www.livius.org/ba-bd/babylon/babylonian_empire.html> and Medes. It is certain that Armenia was part of the Median <http://www.livius.org/mea-mem/media/media.html> empire in 585 BCE, because in that year a Median army fought a battle at the river Halys <http://www.livius.org/a/turkey/halys/halys.html> in central Turkey against the Lydian <http://www.livius.org/lu-lz/lydia/lydia.html> king Alyattes <http://www.livius.org/men-mh/mermnads/alyattes.html> . The actual annexation may have taken place as early as 605; in that case, the Median conqueror was Cyaxares <http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyaxares/cyaxares.html> .

The Median empire was in turn overthrown by the leader of the Persians, Cyrus the Great <http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/cyrus.html> . From 550 onward, Armenia was a satrapy <http://www.livius.org/sao-sd/satrap/satrap.htm> of the Achaemenid empire <http://www.livius.org/aa-ac/achaemenians/achaemenians.html> ; the satrap had his palace in Yerevan (ancient name unknown).

The country rebelled against the Persians after the coup d' état of the Magian <http://www.livius.org/maa-mam/magians/magians.html> usurper Gaumâta <http://www.livius.org/sj-sn/smerdis/smerdis.htm> (or Smerdis <http://www.livius.org/sj-sn/smerdis/smerdis.htm> ) had been suppressed by the counter-coup of king Darius I the Great <http://www.livius.org/da-dd/darius/darius_i_0.html> . The new king sent two armies against an unknown Armenian leader, commanded by the Persian Vaumisa <http://www.livius.org/va-vh/vaumisa/vaumisa.html> and the Armenian Dâdarsi <http://www.livius.org/da-dd/dadarshi/dadarshi01.html> . Vaumisa managed to secure the road to Armenia on 31 December 522 in a battle near Izalâ and continued to Autiyâra, where he won his second victory on 11 June. Both towns are situated on the banks of the Greater Zab river. Meanwhile, Dâdarsi had defeated the Armenians on 20 May 521 near Zuzza, on 30 May at Tigra and on 20 June at Uyamâ. The second name suggests that thi!
s second army moved along the Upper Tigris <http://www.livius.org/men-mh/mesopotamia/tigris.html> . These five battles -which are all mentioned in the Behistun inscription <http://www.livius.org/be-bm/behistun/behistun01.html> - meant the end of the uprising. Armenia became a stable possession of the Achaemenid empire.

Armenian coin, showing a colt.
Armenian coin,
showing a colt (©!! <http://www.livius.org/mail2.html> )

According to the Greek researcher Herodotus <http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodotus/herodotus01.htm> (ca.480-ca.425), the tribes in the country belonged to the eightteenth and nineteenth tax districts; every year, they had to pay five hundred silver talents (100,000 kilogram). The geographer Strabo of Amasia <http://www.livius.org/so-st/strabo/strabo.html> mentions another tax: 20,000 colts.

Under Persian rule, the Urartaean language was replaced by the Armenian language. Probably, this was not caused by ethnic, but by social changes. Although are sources are scarce, it is certain that the before 500 BCE, the elite spoke a language that was related to Hurrian (which does not belong to any known linguistic family) and the common people spoke Armenian. When the Persians had conquered the country, they favored the latter language, which is related to Greek and -at a distance- Persian.

Although the Armenians seem to have called themselves Haikh, Herodotus makes in his Histories a distinction between the Armenians and Alarodians (a rendering of 'Urartaeans'). He also mentions the Chaldaioi, Kolchoi, Makrones, Mares, Moschoi, Mossynoikoi, Saspeires, Tibarenoi (Tabali in Persian), tribes that lived in Armenia (or in its neighborhood).

Armenia was a tribal society. The Athenian author Xenophon <http://www.livius.org/x/xenophon/xenophon00.html> (ca.430-ca.355) informs us about it in book four of his Anabasis. He describes at great length how in 401/400 BCE an army of Greek mercenaries, which had supported the Persian pretender Cyrus the Younger <http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_ii/cyrus_ii.html> , had to fight its way back to the Black Sea through Armenia. One of the characteristics of tribal society is that the tribes are loosely organized; old tribes disappear and new ones come into being, depending on the situation. From the above mentioned tribes, Xenophon mentions the Chaldaioi, Kolchoi, Makrones, Mossynoikoi and Tibarenoi, and he introduces the Chalybes, Drilai, Kardouchoi and Taochoi.

Xenophon. Bust at the British Museum, London (Britain). <http://www.livius.org/a/1/greeks/xenophon.jpg>
Xenophon
(British Museum <http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/> , London; ©** <http://www.livius.org/mail2.html> )

Herodotus already knew that Armenia was rich in cattle (Histories 5.49). Most tribesmen were poor cattle breeders who roamed with their herds -sheep, cows, horses- between the summer's and winter's pasture. Xenophon mentions no cities, but gives fine description of village live.

[A group of our soldiers] surprised the villagers with their headman, and seventeen colts which were being reared as a tribute for the [Persian] king, and, last of all, the headman's daughter, a young bride only eight days wed. Her husband had gone off to chase hares, and so he escaped being taken with the other villagers. The houses were underground structures with an aperture like the mouth of a well by which to enter, but they were broad and spacious below. The entrance for the beasts of burden was dug out, but the human occupants descended by a ladder. In these dwellings were to be found goats and sheep and cattle, and cocks and hens, with their various progeny. The flocks and herds were all reared under cover upon green food. There were stores within of wheat and barley and vegetables, and wine made from barley [i.e., beer] in great big bowls; the grains of barley malt lay floating in the beverage up to the lip of the vessel, and reeds lay in them, some longer, some sh!
orter, without joints; when you were thirsty you must take one of these into your mouth, and suck. The beverage without admixture of water was very strong, and of a delicious flavor to certain palates, but the taste must be acquired.
[Anabasis 4.24-26]

In short, Xenophon's Armenians were a primitive nation, and it comes as no surprise that Xenophon mentions that their warriors fought with simple weapons, such as slings and arrows.

The Persian garrisons, on the other hand, were oases of luxury. For example, at the confluence of the Bühtan and the Tigris, Xenophon visited a palace that could be used by the satrap; he saw houses with storage towers, which were probably used by the officers (4.4.2). Xenophon mentions an artificial road leading toward this settlement (4.3.5). In the neighborhood of a second Persian village, Xenophon's men found great supplies of beef (a delicatessen), barley, wine, raisins and pods (4.4.9). This is confirmed by the archaeological evidence: e.g., wall paintings were discovered at Arin-Berd.

One of the last Persian satraps of Armenia was Artasata, who became king of Persia under the name Darius III (336-330). During his reign, the Macedonian <http://www.livius.org/maa-mam/macedonia/macedonia.html> king Alexander the Great <http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander00.html> conquered the Achaemenid empire (between 334 and 330), and Armenia regained its autonomy. (We learn of a new tribe, the Albanoi.) Several kings are known from this period:

          Orontes c.320
  Samus c.260
  Arsames c.260 - c.230
  Xerxes c.320 - 212
  Orontes 212 - c.200

Coin of king Tigranes II the Great of Armenia. British Museum, London (Britain). Photo Marco Prins. <http://www.livius.org/a/1/anatolia/coin_tigranes_armenia.jpg>
Tigranes II
(British Museum <http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/> , London)
After 200, parts of Armenia became incorporated in the Seleucid <http://www.livius.org/se-sg/seleucids/seleucids.html> empire under king Antiochus III the Great. Soon, the country regained its independence in the form of two small kingdoms, west and east of the Euphrates. The western kingdom was known as Little Armenia under ruled by king Zariadris; the other state was called Great Armenia and ruled by Zariadris' son Artaxias (189-164). The latter rebuilt -following an advice of his Carthaginian <http://www.livius.org/cao-caz/carthage/carthage.html> friend Hannibal <http://www.livius.org/ha-hd/hannibal/hannibal.html> - Yerevan in 188, called it Artaxata, and made it his capital.

The younger capital Tigranocerta was built by a descendant of Artaxias, Tigranes II the Great (ruled ±95-±55), who had been able to reunite Armenia but was defeated by the Roman general Pompey in 66 BCE. The western part of Armenia became part of the Roman world and was included in the province <http://www.livius.org/gi-gr/governor/provinces.html> Cappadocia. Great Armenia remained independent, as a buffer state between the Roman and the Parthian <http://www.livius.org/pan-paz/parthia/parthia02.html> empires. As a rule, the Romans were permitted to appoint the king. However, the country was briefly occupied by the Romans between 114 and 117 CE.

Roman coin, stating 'Armenia capta' (Armenia has been conquered'): the goddess Victoria slaying an Armenian bull. Augustan age.
Roman coin Armenia capta
(Armenia conquered'):
Victoria slaying an
Armenian bull (©** <http://www.livius.org/mail2.html> )
Artaxias c.189 - c.164
Tigranes I c.164 - ?
Artavasdes ? - c.95
Tigranes II the Great c.95 - c.55
Artavasdes II 55 - 34
Artaxes 34 - 20
Tigranes III 20 - c.8
Tigranes IV c.8 - 1 CE
Artavasdes II [pretender]
Ariobarzanes c.2 - c.4
Artavasdes III c.4 - c.6
Tigranes V and Erato c.6 - ?
Interregnum
Artaxias 18 - c.34
Vonones [pro-Roman pretender]
Arsaces of Parthia c.34 - 36
Mithridates of Iberia 36 - 51
Radamistus [pretender]
Tiridates 51 - 59
Tigranes VI 'the Cappadocian' 59 - 62
Tiridates (restored) 63 - 75
Axidares c.110
Parthamasiris 113 - 114
Sanatruces c.115
Roman province 114 - 117
Vologases 117 - c.140
Unknown
Pacorus 161 - 163
Sohaemus 164 - c.175
Unknown
Tiridates II c.215
Unknown
Tiridates III c.287 - 330

        Another webpage on Armenia can be found here <http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Asia/Armenia/_Texts/KURARM/home.html> .
home <http://www.livius.org/home.html> : ancient Anatolia <http://www.livius.org/anatolia.html> : index <http://www.livius.org/catalogue.html>

Received on Wed, 8 Mar 2006 15:58:48 -0500

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