The Powerful Kings of the Van Kingdom

Turkish government website ^ | 2000 | editors

[SunkenCiv]

It is not certain when the reign of Ishpuini, who succeeded Sarduri, began. According to information gained from cuneiform inscriptions on tablets found near Zivistan Castle (now Elmal?), which is 15 km to the south of Van, Ishpuini was Sarduri's son. Thus it is probable that he ascended the throne in 825 or 824 B.C. One of the most important inscriptions made by King Ishpuini is the one describing the acquisition of the city of Musasir by the Urartu at Kelishin (Kel-i Shin). According to the information provided by the bilingual inscription on the Kelishin Stele, King Ishpuini had acquired the city of Musasir, which had been regarded as one of the sacred cities of the Near East ever since the 9th century B.C... [I]t states that when the Urartian king and his army entered Ardini (this is the name used on the Urartian language side of the bilingual inscription) the event was celebrated with an impressive ceremony involving the slaughter of thousands of animals.

[SunkenCiv]

Household names...

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[SunkenCiv]

The Ancient Civilization of Urartu by Boris B. Piotrovskii tr by James Hogarth

In inscriptions of the Assyrian King Shalmaneser I (1280-1261 B.C.) we find the first occurrence of the term Uruatri... eight countries, collectively referred to as Uruatri, situated in a mountainous region to the southeast of Lake Van... the Assyrian name of Uruatri had no ethnic significance... (perhaps meaning 'the mountainous country')... In Assyrian inscriptions of the 11th century B.C., we again find the term Uruatri, and from the second quarter of the 9th century, in the reign of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C.), it is of common occurrence, in the form Urartu, being used concurrently with the name of Nairi... [pp 43-45] The inscription by Sarduri I is written in Assyrian — indicating that the nascent Urartian state had already assimilated certain elements of the culture of its enemy, Assyria... The less advanced hieroglyphic script remained in use only for administrative and accounting purposes... We have also an inscription by King Ishpuini, sone of Sarduri I — the Kelishin Stele — which is written in both languages... The earliest surviving inscriptions in the Urartian language date from the reign of King Ishpuini, son of Sarduri, who is mentioned in the Assyrian annals of theyear 824 B.C. The primitive hieroglyphic script proved inadequate to the needs of the rapidly rising Urartian kingdom, and accordingly the Urartians took over the Assyrian cuneiform script at the end of the 9th century B.C... The local hieroglyphic script retained a restricted role for accounting and cult purposes. [pp 50-65]

[SunkenCiv]

from the "Lost Languages" website:

Urartian Language
modified from Turkish Print, Chapter 16

Oldest Urartian cuneiform inscriptions found are from the end of ninth century B.C. However, Aramaic inscriptions are also found in the ruins of the Urartian city of Teishebaini (Karmir Blur) which was apparently destroyed by the Scythians. The effect of the Urartian script, together with their culture and civilization, on the neighbouring peoples is also stressed by Prof. Frye who notes:

"It has been suggested that one must look for the origins of much of the Achaemenid art, architecture, state protocol and writing in Urartu" (FryHP 90).

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[blam]

GGG bump.

[SunkenCiv]

MultiTree — extinct languages
http://multitree.org/codes/extinct.html

Linguist List - Get List of Ancient and Constructed Languages
http://linguistlist.org/forms/langs/GetListOfConstructedLgs.cfm

Dictionary of dead language complete after 90 years
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13715296

WorldCat
http://www.worldcat.org/

[SunkenCiv]

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[Bob Ireland]

No pics or translations of the Kelishin Stele...? murderous Kurds most likely. I think there are pics of the Rusa Stele...

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/595683?uid=3739728&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21103611626147

http://www.academia.edu/5803735/A_Lion-Headed_Shield_from_Ayanis_An_Identifier_of_the_Urartian_Culture

http://translation.babylon.com/english/Kelishin+stele/

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic was posted 8/1/2004, and turns out to be one of *those* topics.

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