this issue
next article in this issue

Document Details :

Title: Urartian Studies during the Foundation of Modern Nation States
Subtitle: Archaeological Traditions, Ideologies and Perceptions
Author(s): ÇIFÇI, Ali
Journal: Ancient West & East
Volume: 19    Date: 2020   
Pages: 1-42
DOI: 10.2143/AWE.19.0.3288557

Abstract :
This research evaluates the work on the archaeology and socio-economic aspects of the Urartian kingdom by Soviet, Turkish and Western scholars during the foundation-period of modern states. Because the former territories of the Urartian kingdom were divided between the present-day states of Turkey, Armenia and Iran, Urartian scholarship developed separately in all these areas until the last decade of the 20th century. Therefore, the different national cultures of these states influenced how these countries perceived Urartian archaeology. This paper, first of all, investigates the archaeological research on Urartian studies in Soviet Armenia, the Lake Van basin of Turkey and finally the Lake Urmia basin of Iran. It then moves on to present a new model for the administrative and socio-economic organisation of the kingdom, which places more emphasis on how diachronic changes and regional variations affected the development and organisation of the Urartian kingdom.

Download article