050803 - Oggetti Urartuiani trovati vicino al lago di Urumieh - IRAN

Tehran Times Culture Desk
TEHRAN -- Iranian archaeologists recently discovered over 50 ancient sites dating back to the Urartian era northwest of Lake Urmia which seem to confirm the theory of Urartian settlement in the region.
The discoveries, which were made near Salmas and Khoy in West Azarbaijan Province, include mounds, castles, cemeteries, and tombs, West Azarbaijan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department archaeologist Reza Heydari announced on Monday.
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> The sites are similar to the Urartian sites located near Lake Van in Turkey, Heydari added.
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> The ancient kingdom of Urartu, the biblical Ararat, flowered in the area south of the Caucasus from the ninth century to the seventh century BC.
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> Urartu, centered in the mountainous region around Lake Van, existed from about 1000 BC, or earlier, until 585 BC, and stretched from northern Mesopotamia through the southern Caucasus, including parts of present-day Armenia up to Lake Sevan.
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> “The similar sites discovered in Turkey indicate that there was a wide range of political, social, commercial, and economic ties between Iran and Turkey at that time,” he noted.
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> According to Heydari, the Lake Urmia region’s copper, metal, and salt mines, fertile land, and central location on trade routes were the main reasons that the Urartians chose to settle in the area.
> One feature of Urartu architecture, that was to be very influential in the Near East, was the blind arch. The layout of Urartu buildings was the precursor to that of the Iranian Apadana layouts.
> Experts believe that Urartian architects played a major role in designing Iranian fortified buildings. Urartu fortresses were solid structures of stone blocks.

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