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,[Journal of the American Oriental Society - Page 360][Shalmaneser III and the Establishment of the Assyrian Power, by A. T. Olmstead p.360] but was captured by Shalmaneser III in the 850s BC.
Name
Arzashkun seems to be the
form of an Armenian name ending in -ka formed from a proper name Arzash. The root of Arzashkun may ultimately be Proto-Indo-European
*harg- or *
h₂erǵ-, meaning "bright, white", by way of
Proto-Armenian intermediaries "Arcesk'o" and then "Arčešo" (genitive: "Arčišoy").
[Armen Petrosyan. "Towards the Origins of the Armenian People. The Problem of Identification of the Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review." Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies
]
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Arzashkun was hidden, and protected from attack, by a dense forest almost impassable to a regular army.
Location
The precise location of the city is uncertain. It has been located variously by different scholars as along the shore of Lake Van, near Lake Urmia, near Malazgirt, or at Bostankaya between Malazgirt and Patnos.[The Cambridge Ancient History - Page 335 by John Boardman] The name of Adduri Mountain, which was used in the Urartian period, is today Cemalverdi Mountains.
According to Robert Hewsen and Armen Petrosyan, Arzashkun was at the northeastern shore of Lake Van, probably near the site of old Arjesh, now inundated by the waters of Lake Van.
Alternately, Arzashkun might represent the Ardzik of the Armenian historical records, located west of Malazgirt.[History of Egypt - Page 91 by G. Maspero]
Fall of Arzashkun
At the headwaters of the river Tigris, there appears in the ninth century, B.C., an organized state of Urartu. Shalmaneser regarded it as so menacing to Assyria's interest that he undertook an expedition in 857, claimed to have destroyed the capital Arzashkun,[The Ancient Assyrians - Page 12 by Mark Healy] penetrated as far as Lake Van, and left his inscription on Mount Irritia.[Aram and Israel - Page 105 by Emil Gottlieb Heinrich Kraeling]
Shalmaneser on his Black Obelisk records this campaign:
- (35-44) In the third year of my reign, Ahuni, son of Adini, was frightened before my mighty weapons and retreated from Til-barzip, his royal city. I crossed the Euphrates. I seized for myself the city of Ana-Assur-utir-asbat, which lies on the other side of the Euphrates, on the Sagur river, which the Hittite people called Pitru. When I returned, I entered the passes of the land of Alzi; the lands of Alzi, Suhni, Daiaeni, Tumme, Arzashkunu, the royal city of Aramu, the Armenians (king), Gilzânu, and Hubushkia (I conquered).[2]
See also
