Cuneiform commemorating Erebuni birth, 782 B.C.
The Urarturians were conquered, vanquished and overthrown by the Medes. Short after its destruction, the magnificent kingdom of Urartu vanished from history and the memory of humankind and was totally forgotten. But, thanks to the discovery of the Scroll of the Dead Sea (Jars of Umran), the contemporary excavations in Mesopotamia, ancient Palestine and Umrit (Amrit, ancient Phoenician city in Syria), ancient Assyrian and Phoenician terra-cotta tablets and inscriptions found in cities in the Near East which contained accounts and historical records pertaining to the kingdom of Urartu and its remarkable cities and temples architecture , fortified cities, ramparts, garrisons and fortresses of the kingdom of Urartu such as the garrisons of Erebuni, Karmir Blur, Toprakkale and the temple of Mousasir which were very-well known to the ancient civilizations and were mentioned in the official records of the Assyrian empire. Unfortunately, none of them survived.
Photo: Bronze plate of Balawat representing the campaign of Salamanzar the third against Urartu.
THE METAL
WORK ART OF URARTU
Ancient Uraturians quickly realized and discovered that Armenia’s soil and terrains were rich and abundant with deposits of iron, copper, lead, aluminum, mercury, zinc, silver and gold. Those discoveries caused the early development of metal work and various metallurgies. Armenia began mining metals as early as 4,000 B.C. She was the major bronze, tin and copper supplier to Phoenicia, Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Urarturian art of metalwork and metallurgy was unquestionably very advanced. Urartu artifacts were exported to Ertruria, Phoenicia, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Phrygia. The excavations of the ancient Urartian site of Garmir-Ploor is considered as one of the most important archaeological discoveries and findings in the Middle East, the Near East and Asia Minor for they included carved ivory, stone, ceramics, metal figurines, pottery and an astonishing wide variety of bronze domestic tools and utensils, military equipment decorated with mythological symbols, forms and animals, daggers, swords, helmets arrows, quivers, shields of an advanced metallurgy, as well as vases, bracelets, earrings and medallions in gold and varied sets of other jewelry. Fortunately and unlike ancient Urarturian temples and fortresses which did not survive, many metal work, carved jewelry and other objects were found and kept in churches for safe keeping. Many of those treasurers and marvelous religious artworks in metal and precious stones are displayed or can be seen in Jerusalem, Yerevan, Venice and Vienna.