Çavuştepe
Coordinates: 38 ° 21 ′ 10.7 ″ N , 43 ° 27 ′ 40 ″ E
Çavuştepe is a village in the Turkish province of Van . Cavustepe is 21 km from the city of Van situated on the southeastern part of Lake Van .
In Çavuştepe are the remains of the Urartian fortress Šarduriḫinili ( Sarduris city ), which was built between 764 and 735 BC. Were built by King Sarduri II . The fortress is located on the slope of Bol Dağı, which gave the fortress strategic importance. An important military road led from the Urartian capital Tušpa to Šarduriḫinili and from there over the Kel-i-Schin pass to Musasir .
ruins
Šarduriḫinili was built when Urartu was powerful and is an impressive example of Urartian architecture, art and culture. Excavations took place between 1961 and 1986 under Afif Erzen . The Šarduriardinili fortress consists of an acropolis and a lower town. In the smaller upper fortress there is a temple of the god Ḫaldi , in the lower fortress there is a palace, depots, stables, workshops and a temple for the god Irmušini . No temples of other gods were found in other fortresses, only those for Ḫaldi. There are also cisterns inside the fortress wall . A royal toilet was discovered during the excavations.
Inscriptions
Many inscriptions of dedication and thanksgiving by the king to the god Ḫaldi have been found scattered over the fortress . An exemplary inscription reads:
“Because of the greatness of the god d Ḫaldi, Sarduri, son of Argišti , built this granary. There is 5800 kapi (measure) [grain contains]. "
The fortress was built in the 7th century BC. Destroyed by the Scythians , perhaps . In the Middle Ages, stones from the fortress were used to build houses.
literature
- O. Belli: Çavuştepe (Šardurḫinili) Excavations. In: O. Belly (Ed.): İstanbul University's Contributions to Archeology in Turkey 1932–2000. Istanbul 2001, pp. 173-178.
- A. Ores: Çavuştepe IM Ö. 7th-6th Yüzyil Urartu Mımarlik Antilari ve Ortaçağ Nekropolü. Ankara 1978.
- A. Ores: excavations at the Urartian castle Çavuştepe in the area of Van. In: E. Akurgal (Ed.): The Proceedings of the Xth International Congress of Classical Archeology, Ankara-İzmir, 23-30.9.1973. Ankara 1978, pp. 55-59.
- HD Kaspar, E. Kaspar: Urartu. An ancient empire. A travel guide. Hausen 1986, pp. 84-91.
Web links
- Inscription from Çavuştepe (PDF file; 9.22 MB)