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Document Details : Title: The Economic and Political Spread of Urartu with Reference to Etiuni in the Context of Archaeological Research at the Iron Age Fortress of Aramus Author(s): KUNTNER, Walter , HEINSCH, Sandra Journal: Ancient West & East Volume: 23 Date: 2024 Pages: 25-42 DOI: 10.2143/AWE.23.0.3293565 Abstract : Urartian cuneiform inscriptions are an invaluable descriptive tool for understanding the unprecedented political unification of the South Caucasus under the leadership of one dynasty, the kings of Tušpa, between the 9th and the 7th century BC, who referred to it in their royal titulary as the kingdom of KURŠuraue and KURBiainaue. The cuneiform inscriptions represent the ultimate witness declaration, being literally set in stone. Yet, there are a multitude of collateral events that, depending on the chancellery’s intention, may not have been worthy of attributing to a king and ultimately the divinity represented in the conquests. Indeed, archaeological results from Aramus unveil a much more complex cultural interaction of the groups involved. The emergent patterns are at variance with the historically and still widely accepted Urartian expansion models, which, because drawn from the cuneiform records, emphasise the militaristic aspect of the triumph celebrated by listing conquests and tributes as well as the deeds accomplished to the pacification. The appreciation of Urartu’s numerous facets can but gain from a deeper consideration of constructivist motives in Urartian political geography, together with yet insufficiently explored social structures. We propose that complementary to violence and heinousness Urartian expansion strongly relied also on an integrative and redistributive economic policy. A policy based on the formation of a differentiated social stratification, which benefited from the establishment of the kingdom, with each group’s profits being reflective of their respective status. In the case of Etiuni, these newly imposed agreements or effectively ‘laws’ accelerated the formation of a political identity. The above suggested processes are inferred from the study of the cultural development seen in the Iron Age material and the settlement sequence of Aramus within the context of the Lchashen-Metsamor horizon. |
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