Urartu[b] was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van, Lake Urmia, and Lake Sevan.
Urartu, ancient country of southwest Asia centred in the mountainous region southeast of the Black Sea and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Today the region is divided among Armenia, eastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran.
Urartu, also known as the Kingdom of Urartu or the Kingdom of Van, was a civilization which developed in the Bronze and Iron Age of ancient Armenia, eastern Turkey, and northwestern Iran from the 9th century BCE.
The kingdom of Urartu, overshadowed by Mesopotamia and Egypt, was a powerhouse in the Armenian Highlands, leaving a legacy of military might, architecture, and culture.
Urartu was one of several first-millennium B.C. states that came into existence and prominence in Anatolia (modern Turkey) after the destruction of the Hittite state around 1200 B.C. (others include Phrygia, Tabal, and Lydia).
Urartu emerged around 860 BCE as a formidable kingdom centered near Lake Van, in today’s eastern Turkey and Armenia. Founded by King Arame and reaching its peak under rulers like Sarduri I, Menua, and Argishti I, Urartu was a regional rival to the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom that flourished between the ninth and the seventh centuries BCE in the northern regions of the Ancient Near East, stretching across portions of the modern nations of Turkey, Armenia, Iran, and a small part of northeastern Iraq (Dan 2010).
This chapter covers the history of Urartu from its formation to its violent end and examines the state’s structure; its administrative, economic, and military organization; and the state pantheon, as well as issues of chronology and ethnicity.