Argishti I of Urartu

Argishti I (Armenian: Արգիշտի Ա), was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 786 BC to 764 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan.[1] Alternate transliterations of the name include Argishtis, Argisti, Argišti, and Argishtish. Although the name is usually rendered as Argišti (read: Argishti), some scholars argue that Argisti is the most likely pronunciation. This is due to the belief that the Urartians used the cuneiform symbol š to voice an s-sound, as opposed to representing the digraph sh.[2]

Argishti I
Monument of Argishti in Yerevan, Armenia
King of Urartu
Reign786–764 BC
PredecessorMenua
SuccessorSarduri II
Bornc. 827 BC
Diedc. 764 BC
IssueSarduri II
FatherMenua
MotherTariria

A son and the successor of Menua, he continued the series of conquests initiated by his predecessors, apparently campaigning every year of his reign.[3] He was involved in a number of inconclusive conflicts with the Assyrian king Shalmaneser IV. He conquered the northern part of Syria and made Urartu the most powerful state in post-Hittite Asia Minor. He also expanded his kingdom north to Lake Sevan, conquering much of Diauehi and the Ararat Valley.[4] After an uprising by the inhabitants of the newly conquered regions, Argishti deported them and repopulated the area with subjects from other parts of his empire.[5] In those territories, Argishti built Erebuni Fortress in 782 BC, settling it with 6,600 prisoners of war from Hatti and Supani.[5][6] He also founded the fortress of Argishtikhinili in 776 BC, on the site of Armavir, the first capital of the later Kingdom of Armenia.[7]

He was succeeded by his son Sarduri II.

Linguists believe that the name Argishti has Indo-European etymology (Armenian).[8] Compare Armenian արեգ (translit. areg) – "sun deity", "sun" ΑΡΕJΑΣΤΙΝ (translit. Areyastin) - "epithet of the great mother" and Ancient Greek αργεστής (translit. argestes) - "shining", "brilliant", "white", "bright". Ti (Di) meant "god" in proto-Armenian (compare with Classical Armenian Dik').

See also

References
  1. Burney, Charles Allen (2004). Historical Dictionary of the Hittites. Scarecrow Press. p. 187. ISBN 9780810865648.
  2. Zimansky, Paul (2011). "Urartian and the Urartians". In Steadman, Sharon R.; McMahon, Gregory (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia. Oxford University Press. p. 554. ISBN 9780195376142.
  3. Zimansky, Paul (1985). Ecology and Empire: The Structure of the Urartian State (PDF). Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. p. 54. ISBN 0-918986-41-9. OCLC 469553313.
  4. Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994). The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indiana University Press. p. 6. ISBN 0253209153.
  5. Adam T. Smith. The Political Landscape: Constellations of Authority in Early Complex Polities. University of California Press. 2003.
  6. Hovhannisyan, K. (1978). "Ērebuni". In Hambardzumyan, Viktor (ed.). Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia (in Armenian). Vol. 4. Yerevan. pp. 90–91.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. Zimansky, Paul (1985). Ecology and Empire: The Structure of the Urartian State (PDF). Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. p. 94. ISBN 0-918986-41-9. OCLC 469553313.
  8. Petrosyan, Armen - The Indo-european and ancient Near Eastern sources of the Armenian epic, 2002, Institute for the study of Man

Further reading
  • N. Adontz, Histoire d'Arménie. Les origines, Paris, 1946
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