Anatolian Civilizations and Historical Sites - TEDA

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS:10x19 antik kentler 8/1/11 10:50 AM Sayfa
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Ivory Statue of a Sitting Lion.
needs of the capital. This dam, which was the engineering wonder of that
period, overcame the water needs of the city. Rusa II died in 645 BC and
was succeeded by Sarduri III (645-625 BC) and then Erimena (625-605
BC), and afterwards by Rusa III (605-590 BC) and Sarduri IV. Around this
time, the Meds who emerged in Iran ended the Assyrian State in 612 BC.
During the period of Rusa IV, Med-Scythian forces attacked the Urartians
and ended the State of Urartu in 590 BC.
Urartian Art and Cities
The Urartians used cuneiform script. The Urartian Language was
deciphered by making use of the bilingual epitaphs written in the
Assyrian and Urartian languages. Their religion was polytheistic and the
main three gods were the chief god Haldi, the god of sky Teisheba and the
solar god Sivini. Cauldrons, belt buckles, shields, vow offering plates, and
harnesses uncovered during the expeditions exhibit the mastery of the
Urartians in metal workmanship. Castles, temples, palaces, dams and
irrigation channels as well as open air temples carved in the stones are the
monumental architecture remaining from the Urartians. They established
their castles and cities on high rocky areas and used the level grounds for
agricultural purposes. The temples were made of stone and the interiors
of them were adorned with rich motifs. Excavations reveal that they
established a very good system of removing waste and waste water.