2700-year-old Urartian inscriptions testify to antiquity of Albanian heritage, historian says

Urartian cuneiform inscriptions from 2700 years ago testify to the antiquity of the Albanian heritage and contain one of the first mentions of Caucasian Albania, Ramin Alizada, a senior researcher at the A.A. Bakikhanov Institute of History and Ethnology of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), told Report.

According to him, Caucasian Albania is first mentioned as "Ku-Alban" in the cuneiform inscription of the Urartian ruler Sarduri II, who led a campaign to the shores of Lake Goycha in the late 40s of the 8th century BC.

"This inscription, known as 'Analykyz' or 'Treasury Gate', is located on a high rocky area on the shore of Lake Van. The information in it indicates that the country of Alban covered the territory south of Lake Goycha. The Urartian state emerged in the first half of the 9th century BC in the Lake Van basin in Eastern Anatolia, mainly as a confederation of Hurrian tribal alliances of Caucasian origin. The Urartians called their state Biainili. Their southern neighbors and main rivals, the Assyrians, initially called this state Uruadri, and later Urartu," he said.

Alizada stated that although the Urartian cuneiform inscriptions mention dozens of names of tribes, mountains, rivers, and various areas of the South Caucasus, none of the currently known texts in the Urartian language mentions either the Hay or Armenian community.

"Cuneiform inscriptions about the military campaigns of Urartian rulers 2700 years ago once again confirm this fact. The oldest toponyms of the South Caucasus have been preserved in Urartian cuneiform inscriptions of the 9th-7th centuries BC with minor changes - in the form in which they exist in the Azerbaijani Turkic language. In Urartian cuneiform inscriptions, the name of the Loru mahal is reflected as 'Lueru', the country of Uti as 'Etiu', the country of Alban as 'Ku-Alban', the Alatala wintering ground in the Shamshadil region as 'Alate', the country of Ashkuz (Ishkuz/Iskit) as 'Ishkikulu', the Garni fortress as 'Giarni(ani)', the Yoruk (Qarapapaq Terekeme-Turks) camp in the Shorayel region as 'Erekua', the ancient village and camp of Yellija northwest of Lake Goycha (an ancient region near the Agbulag village of the Chambarak district) as 'Ueliku', and the Zabazadur village in Western Zangezur as 'Zabahe'," he said.

Alizada also noted that the Urud village is reflected as "Irdua", Irmis village as "Amusha", Jul camp as "Chuluku", Ushtepe (Uchgaya) west of Lake Goycha as "Ushkiya", Kamarli mountain near Gursali village in the Loru mahal and Gamarli village as "Gamirra", Gorus fortress as "Guriya", the ancient Ulash (Ulashik) camp near the Ashaghi Akhta village on the left bank of the Zangi River as "Lusha", Salli village in the Daralayaz mahal as "Shila", and Ulukhanli village in the lower basin of the Zangi River as "Ulua(ne)."