ANCIENT CITY OF METSAMOR CAPTURED AND DESTROYED BY ARGISHTI I, THE RULER OF URARTU

Ancient city of Metsamor, captured and destroyed by Arjushti, the ruler of Urartu. Metsamor, one of the most impressive prehistoric sites in the vicinity of Yerevan, Armenia has a long history. There is much historical evidence of destruction and capture of this ancient city. For many years, from 1955 to 1996 it was extensively but somewhat chaotically excavated. Polish archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw have been conducting excavations of the site since 2013. Krzysztof Jakubiak of the University of Warsaw and Armenian archaeologist Ashut Philip as John unearthed evidence of the destruction and capture of the ancient city of Metsamor in Armenia in the 8th century BC. In the entire area of research we found layers of burning and ash. The city was probably captured by the army of Arjushti, the ruler of Urartu, Jakubiak said. Arjushti, also known as Arkadizai, was the king of Urartu, during circa 786 BC to 755 BC, the biblical kingdom of Ararat in the Armenian highlands. During his reign, the boundaries of the state expanded to the Caucasus, the area of today's Yerevan. Due to its expansion, the territory of the kingdom became a serious threat to Assyria. Arjushti also founded the city of Arjushti-Hanili in 776 BC and the city of Erebuni, now known as the city of Yerevan. One of inscriptions is covered with text. By the greatness of the god Kaldi, Arjushti son of Menueh built this great fortress, named Erebuni, to the power of Baneali and the terror of its enemies. Arjushti says, The land was waste, I undertook here great works. Translation of the Cuneiform inscription, Under the authority of Kaldi, god, I, Arjushti, the son of Menueh erected this stronghold and named it Erebuni to the glory of the country of Baneali and to intimidate its enemies, X, photo credit, Evgeny Genkin. The findings of Polish archaeologists are evidence of the fighting and cruelty. Among them is a skeleton of about 30 years old woman, whose head was cut off, and of another person with a split skull. We believe that both of them were killed during the attack on the city, added Dr. Jakubiak. The discovered remains were not buried in the tombs, only randomly scattered among the buildings of the so-called Lower Town. Metsamer was a very important archaeological site. It is essentially a Bronze Age city, of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, when copper mining took place on a major scale, and it was a major source of bronze production. However it continued to be a major site in the Urartian period, 9th to 6th centuries BC, and it was even occupied in the Middle Ages. Photo credits, Andrew Selkirk What drew the attention of researchers was a small amount of finds in the form of historical objects, which may illustrate the scale of predatory Urartu invasion. The invaders did not spare the holy shrines. Archaeologists found a small, oval urban sanctuary, which had been looted during the invasion. Inside, on stone platforms, they discovered broken pottery and one vessel preserved in its entirety, made of stone. Metsamer is a protected archaeological reserve. Excavations within the reserve have been conducted for almost 50 years. Previous studies have shown that during the heyday from the 4th to the 2nd millennium BC, the settlement occupied more than 10 hectares and was surrounded by monumental walls. In the early days of Iron Period, from the 11th to the 9th century, Metsamer had expanded to nearly 100 acres. The city grew rich on the copper that was quarried and smelted there, and on the magic rock nearby that is covered with mysterious rock carvings. The central part of the fortress Erebuni was surrounded by temple complexes with seven shrines. At that time, it was one of the most important political and cultural centers in the Erez Valley. From the 8th century BC, Metsamer became part of the Kingdom of Urartu. The place was continuously inhabited until the 17th century.