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Conflict and Interaction in the Iron Age: The Origins of Urartian–Assyrian Relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2017

Kemalettin Köroğlu
Kemalettin Köroğlu*
Affiliation:
Ancient History Department, Marmara University, İstanbul, Turkey
*
[email: kemalettin@marmara.edu.tr]
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Abstract

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The Neo-Assyrian Kingdom and the Urartian Kingdom were two important Near Eastern states in the Middle Iron Age (ninth to sixth centuries BC) that steered political developments and considerably transformed the lives of populations within their territories. This article aims to explore the origins of Urartian–Assyrian relations: the processes and ways through which Mesopotamian and Assyrian influences reached the eastern Anatolian highlands. The populations who founded the Urartian Kingdom lived mostly as semi-nomadic tribes in eastern Anatolia and surrounding areas during the Early Iron Age (thirteenth to ninth centuries BC). It is impossible to explain the emergence of the Urartian Kingdom in the Van region towards the mid-ninth century BC—which quickly became a powerful rival of its contemporaries—as a natural development of local culture. The main question at this stage is how and from where Assyrian influences were transmitted to the tribes who founded the Urartian Kingdom. Our opinion is that the answer to this question should be sought in the Upper Tigris region, which was inhabited by both cultures (Pre-Urartian and Assyrian) before the foundation of the Urartian Kingdom.

Le royaume néo-assyrien et le royaume d'Urartu étaient deux importants Etats du Proche-Orient durant l'âge du fer moyen (9e au 6e siécle av. J.-C.), dirigeant les développements politiques et transformant de façon substantielle la vie des populations sur leurs territoires. Cet article a pour but d'analyser les origines de la relation Urartu – Assyrie et donc les processus et chemins par lesquels les influences mésopotamiennes et assyriennes arrivaient dans les régions montagneuses de l'Anatolie orientale. Les peuples fondateurs du royaume d‘ Urartu vivaient pour la plupart en tant que tribus semi-nomades en Anatolie orientale et dans les régions environnantes pendant l'âge du fer ancien (13e au 9e siècle av. J.-C.). On ne peut pas expliquer l'émergence du royaume d'Urartu—qui très vite devenait un puissant rival des ses contemporains—dans la région de Van vers le milieu du 9e siècle av. J.-C. comme un développement naturel de la culture locale. La principale question à ce point est de savoir comment et d'où les influences assyriennes furent transmises aux tribus fondateurs du royaume d'Urartu. Nous pensons qu'il faut chercher la réponse à cette question dans la région du Haut Tigre, qui fut habitée par les deux cultures avant la fondation du royaume d'Urartu. Translation by Isabelle Gerges.

Das Neuassyrische Reich und das Königreich von Urartu waren zwei bedeutende vorderasiatische Staaten der mittleren Eisenzeit (9.-6. Jh. v. Chr.), die die politischen Entwicklungen lenkten und das Leben der Bevölkerung in ihren Territorien in wesentlichem Maße veränderten. Dieser Beitrag hat zum Ziel, die Wurzeln der urartäisch-assyrischen Beziehungen und somit auch die Prozesse und Wege, über die mesopotamische und assyrische Einflüsse das Hochland Ostanatoliens erreichten, zu beleuchten. Die Bevölkerungsgruppen, die das urartäische Reich gründeten, lebten während der frühen Eisenzeit (13.-9. Jh. v. Chr.) weitgehend als halbnomadische Stämme in Ostanatolien und umliegenden Regionen. Es ist nicht möglich, die Entstehung des urartäischen Königreiches, das schnell ein mächtiger Rivale seiner Zeitgenossen wurde, allein als einen natürlichen Entwicklungsprozess der lokalen Kulturen um die Mitte des 9. Jh. v. Chr. in der Van-Region zu verstehen. Die wichtigste Frage ist dabei zu diesem Zeitpunkt, wie und woher assyrische Einflüsse auf die Stämme trafen, die das Königreich von Urartu gründeten. Wir meinen, dass die Antwort auf diese Frage in der Region des oberen Tigris gesucht werden sollte, die vor der Gründung des urartäischen Reiches von beiden Kulturen besiedelt wurde. Translation by Heiner Schwarzberg.

Keywords

Early Iron AgeMiddle Iron Ageeastern AnatoliaUpper Tigris regionUruatriNairiUrartian KingdomNeo-Assyrian Kingdomâge du fer ancienâge du fer moyenAnatolie orientalerégion du Haut TigreUruatriNairiroyaume d'Urarturoyaume néo-assyrienfrühe Eisenzeitmittlere EisenzeitOstanatolienobere Tigris-RegionUruatriNairiUrartäisches ReichNeuassyrisches Reich
Type
Articles
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , 2015 , pp. 111 - 127
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 the European Association of Archaeologists 

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