Archaeology and History of Urartu (Biainili)

Urartu is still less well known than it should be, despite the best
efforts of many of the contributors to the current work. This edited
collection of 21 chapters (all but one in English) written by a mixture
of established and younger scholars, mainly from Turkey and Armenia but
also from Western Europe and North America, offers a very broad coverage of Urartu and its principal sites. It may still leave unclear whether
the Urartian state was centralised or decentralised, both (over time) or
neither – probably there are as many opinions as contributors. There is
not an over-arching narrative. Two chapters consider the state of
Urartian studies, one examines Eastern Anatolia before Urartu; others
look at Urartian history, economy, architecture, temples and
sanctuaries, funerary architecture, pottery, iconography, and metalwork.
‘International relations’ and Urartian expansion, north, south and west,
are the focus of the next three chapters. The final seven consider major
Urartian sites: Erzincan/AltÐntepe Castle, the fortress of Ayanis,
Bastam, Sardurihinili–Çavu?tepe, Erebuni/Arinberd, Karmir-Blur and
Tushpa/Van Citadel. The aim has been to produce an in-depth introduction
to most matters Urartian.