End of an Empire: Archaeology and the Collapse of Urartu
The Iron-Age Kingdom of Urartu in eastern Anatolia, with its impressive fortresses, elaborate artistic and metalworking traditions, and substantial cuneiform literature, was the one power in the Near East that was able to survive the aggressive onslaught of the Assyrian Empire. Yet at some disputed date around the end of the 7th century B.C. it was violently destroyed by enemies of unknown identity. Even the memory of Urartu appears to have been expunged: indications of its material influence are hard to find in later Anatolia and Greek historians were unaware that the empire ever existed. Materials excavated by the lecturer in storerooms at Bastam, Iran, during the late 1970's have been used by others to present new theories about the time and circumstances of Urartu's collapse. The lecture reviews these and other recent archaeological evidence relevant to the end of Urartu and argues offers an explanation for the thoroughness of Urartu's disappearance.Ozymandias in Ararat: The Cities of Near East’s Least Known Great Monarch
From approximately 675-650 B.C., the last great king of Urartu, Rusa II, erected fortresses and cities in eastern Anatolia, northwest Iran, and Armenia in a building program that ranks him as one of the most ambitious builders in the history of the ancient Near East. Newly excavated materials from Ayanis, near Lake Van, reveal something of the character of the cities that Rusa created. Conquered peoples were settled in housing created by architects of the state and furnished with centrally produced goods, transforming the character of the kingdom. The motives behind this activity are obscure, and the consequences may ultimately have been disastrous, since the citadels created by Rusa were all violently destroyed shortly after his death.
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