Post #2252

🇦🇲 🇦🇲 🇦🇲 🇦🇲 Facial reconstruction of a 2,800-year-old man from Armenia According to Assyrian sources from the 9th–8th centuries BC, the state of Urartu gradually formed on the Armenian Highlands. Early texts mention the “lands of Uruatri,” a tribal confederation resisting Assyrian expansion and linked to the Hurrians and Subarians. Urartu was a vast but diverse state that united many peoples by force; the Urartians themselves formed only the ruling elite. The Kingdom of Van arose from a union of tribes. In annexed lands, local rulers often remained in power under Urartian governors. Despite a well-organized administrative system, border regions, especially near Lake Sevan, often rebelled. A warlike Etiuni tribe, associated with proto-Armenics, lived there, and inscriptions of King Sarduri I, discovered by Joseph Orbeli in 1916, describe campaigns into this region. “The god Haldi went forth; by his great mercy he subdued Murini, king of the land of Uelikuhi; he subdued Tzinalibi, son of Luehu, king of the city-land of Tulikhu; he subdued Ashur-nirari, son of Adad-nirari, king of Assyria; he subdued the land of Arme; he subdued Nihiriani, the royal city of the land. They bowed before Sarduri, son of Argishti.” This text refers to two campaigns, spring and autumn, conducted by Sarduri in the same year. The first of these campaigns was directed into Transcaucasia, in the region of Lake Sevan. Near Lake Sevan, excavations at a village once known as Golovino uncovered a 9th–8th century BC necropolis, contemporary with the Van kingdom. The site contained large “royal” kurgans and smaller graves rich in Urartian-type ceramics, closely resembling those from the fortress Karmir-Blur, as well as bronze ornaments and iron weapons. Due to soil conditions, skeletal remains were poorly preserved - only one complete skull survived. The skull belonged to a long-headed man, aged about 40–43, with a narrow cranium and a wide, sharply profiled face, strong brow ridge, and a massive jaw with a well-defined chin groove, resembling the modern Armenian type @illyrianometer