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Urartians (Armenian: Ուրարտացիներ) were an ancient people who lived in the Armenian highlands and spoke the Urartian language.

The Urartians constituted the political elite of the state of Urartu, which existed as a tribal union from the 13th century BC and as a centralized state from the 8th to the 6th centuries BC. The greatest territorial expansion of Urartu ccurred in 743 BC.

According to the migration-mixed hypothesis of Armeni ethnogenesis proposed by I. M. Diakonov, the Urartians, along with the Hurrians and Luwians, gradually adopted the Indo-European, Proto-Armenian language. They later became part of the Armenian ethnos, transmitting their cultural heritage and forming the primary genetic component of the modern Armenian people.

History and Origin

Exact information about the origin of the Urartians is absent. It is known that the Urartians, like the Akkadians and Hurrians, belonged to the Armenoid race of populations. It is assumed that the Urartians spread across the Armenian highlands from the region of Rewanduz (modern-day northwestern Iran), where the ancient city of Musasir was located. The ruling dynasty of Urartu likely had Indo-European origins, as the names of Urartian rulers have parallels in Balkan languages.

In the 1st millennium BC, the Urartians, along with other peoples of the region, participated in the formation of the Armenian ethnic group. Armenians inherited the physical and cultural components of the ancient population of the highlands, primarily the Urartians, Hurrians, and Luwians, who constitute the main genetic and cultural basis of the modern Armenian people.

Language

The Urartian language belongs to the Hurro-Urartian languages family and is closely related to the Hurrian language. The Urartians used a simplified form of Assyrian cuneiform, adapting it to their needs. For example, many polysemous Assyrian ideograms were used by the Urartians with a single meaning, losing the original multiplicity of the Assyrian signs.

Around 500 cuneiform texts are known, containing about 350-400 root words. Most of these have Urartian origins, some are borrowed from other languages. More than 200 Urartian roots have been preserved in the Armenian language. Arno Furne and Allan Bomhard suggested that the Hurro-Urartian languages might be related to Indo-European languages, though this hypothesis is not widely accepted. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the relationship between Hurrian and Urartian languages and Indo-European languages is denied.

Religion

The religious beliefs of the Urartians shared many similarities with the religions of Mesopotamia. The Urartian pantheon included numerous deities, many of which were borrowed from the religious traditions of Sumer, Akkad and Assyria.

Sacrifices, mainly of animals (bulls and sheep), were practiced, although there is evidence of human sacrifices. Rituals of worship, usually performed in special chambers carved into the rocks, resembled ziggurats. In one such chamber, a tablet was found listing 79 Urartian deities and the number of animals that were to be sacrificed to each of them.

References

1. ^ Piotrovsky B. B. The Kingdom of Van (Urartu) / Edited by I. A. Orbeli. — Moscow: Publishing House of Oriental Literature, 1959. — 286 pp. — 3,500 copies.
2. I. M. Diakonov (1983). "On the Prehistory of the Armenian Language (Facts, Evidence, and Logic)" (PDF). № 4 . pp. 149-178. ISSN 0135-0536. Historical-philological journal. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-12-11. Retrieved 2024-12-11. In other words, the Armenians are primarily the descendants of the Urartians, who adopted an Indo-European language but retained their own pronunciation (articulatory base, or, in everyday terms, their «accent»). They are also descendants of the Hurrians, Luwians, and, of course, the original speakers of the Proto-Armenian language.
3. N. A. Kislyakov, A. I. Pershits // Peoples of the Near East // Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1957 — p. 49 — Total pages: 613 The regions inhabited by these peoples (in the Zagros Mountains and further to the north) lie at the boundary of the area where the most distinctly expressed Armenoid type was historically widespread (Akkadians, Hurrians and Urartians).
4. ^ Barnett R.D. Urartu // Edwards I.E.S., Gadd C.J., Hammond N.G.L., Boardman J. Cambridge Ancient history. — London: Cambridge University Press, 1982. — Vol. 3, part 1. — P. 314—371. — ISBN 0-521-22496-9.
5. Stone E. C., Zimansky P. (2003). "The Urartian Transformation in the Outer Town of Ayanis". Archaeology in the Borderlands. Investigations in Caucasia and beyond. Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 1931745013.
6. Salvini, Mirjo (1995). Geschichte und Kultur der Urartäer. Darmstadt.
7. Melikishvili, G. A. (1948). "Musasir and the Question of the Earliest Habitat of the Urartian Tribes". Bulletin of Ancient History (2): 37–48. This article by Georgian historian G. A. Melikishvili explores the ancient city of Musasir and its significance in understanding the earliest territories inhabited by Urartian tribes. Drawing on historical and archaeological evidence.
8. D’yakonov I. M. (1989). History of the Ancient World= The Decline of Ancient Societies. Vol. 3. M.: Main Editorial Board of Eastern Literature. p. 282. The Armenian people include Proto-Armenian, Hurrian-Urartian, and Luwian elements
9. Leo "History of Armenia" Volume I. Yerevan: “Hayastan” Publishing House. 196. pp. 246–262..
10. Johannes Friedrich (2003). Decoding Forgotten Scripts and Languages. Moscow: URSS. ISBN 5-354-00045-9.
11. Encyclopedia Americana, v. 2, USA 1980, pgs. 539, 541; Hovick Nersessian, "Highlands of Armenia, " Los Angeles, 2000. Mr. Nersessian is in the New York Academy of Sciences.
12. Melikishvili G. A. Urartian Cuneiform Inscriptions. — Moscow: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1960.
13. Lehmann-Haupt C.F. Armenien, einst und jetzt. — Berlin: B. Behr, 1910—1931.
14. König F. W. (1955). Handbuch der chaldischen Inschriften. Graz: E. Weidner. p. 275.