Erebuni Corner in the Hermitage

“The history of the excavation of two Urartian fortresses turned Urartian studies from a philosophical discipline into a historical one.

“The sensation mass finds of unique objects in Karmir Blur/Teishebaini made Urartian culture tangible. The excavation of Arin Berd delighted everyone with frescoes and amazed them with the name of Erebuni. The city’s history acquired another dimension. The two fortresses standing opposite each other above Yerevan also became a superb example of collaboration between archaeologists from Leningrad, Yerevan and Moscow. Today the long-standing collaboration is acquiring a new contemporary form. The Hermitage is to have an Erebuni corner, while in Erebuni there will be a Hermitage corner. Again we have come up with something unusual,” Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage, said.

The display has been organized by the State Hermitage in conjunction with the Erebuni Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve and is the first exhibition under a collaboration agreement between the two museums.

Over the course of a year, within the permanent display of the Oriental Department, visitors will be able to see a representational presence of the Erebuni museum and acquaint themselves with three exhibits from its stocks. A special place among these is taken by a basalt block bearing a cuneiform inscription of King Argishti I about the foundation of Erebuni.

The hall of the permanent display of Urartu provides an introduction to the culture and art of one of the most ancient states in the Caucasus – Uratu, which existed in the 9th–6th centuries BC. The hall is dedicated to the memory of the academician, scholar, orientalist and, from 1964 to 1990, Director of the Hermitage Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky (1908–1990). Thanks to his research on the ancient state of Urartu and excavations of Urartian fortresses in Armenia with the publication of the artefacts uncovered there, the interpretation of chance finds gave way to systematic scholarly study of the culture and art of this state in the Ancient East. The greater part of the items on display were found in the course of excavations of the Teishebaini fortress (Karmir Blur, Yerevan) that Boris Piotrovsky directed from 1939 to 1971.

The Erebuni Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve is one of Armenia’s most important historical, cultural, archaeological and educational centres. It is made up of a museum and archaeological sites situated in the Yerevan area. The core of the museum display was provided by finds from the excavations of the citadels of Erebuni on Arin Berd hill and Teishebaini on Karmir Blur. The Erebuni archaeological site is located on the south-eastern edge of Yerevan. The fortress was constructed in the first half of the 8th century BC by Argishti I, one of the most powerful rulers of the Urartian empire.

In the exhibition at the Hermitage, visitors will see for the first time one of Armenia’s iconic archaeological artefacts – a basalt block bearing a cuneiform inscription of King Argishti I about the foundation of Erebuni from the first half of the 8th century BC found on the territory of the fortress. The inscription states that King Argishti, son of Menua, constructed the fortress “for the might of the land of Biainili [Urartu]”. It is customarily assumed that the modern-day name of the capital of the Republic of Armenia derives from the ancient Urartian place name Erebuni and so the inscription about the foundation of the fortress is often termed Yerevan’s “passport”.

The two vessels featured in the exhibition are finds kept in the Erebuni museum and come from other archaeological sites in Armenia: the Biainili vault from the 8th century BC and the Argishtikhinili fortress. The funerary urn (ossuary) from the Biainili vault acquaints visitors with one of the Urartians’ burial rites. The second vessel comes from a grave in the ancient necropolis discovered alongside the Argishtikhinili fortress and dates from the post-Urartian period – the 6th century BC.

The exhibition has been organized jointly by the Erebuni Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve and the State Hermitage’s Oriental Department (headed by Natalia Viktorovna Kozlova). The State Hermitage Publishing House has brought out a special booklet for the exhibition.

The exhibition’s curators are Miqayel Badalyan, Director of the Erebuni Museum-Reserve, Vahe Sargsyan, Deputy Director of the Erebuni Museum-Reserve, and Anna Novikova, researcher and chief curator of the State Hermitage’s Oriental Department.

The exhibition can be visited by all holders of thickets to the Main Museum Complex.

More about the exhibition

The exhibition “Erebuni Corner in the Hermitage” is running in the hall containing the permanent display of the Culture and Art of Urartu, which is dedicated to the memory of Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky who studied the Teishebaini fortress for decades and played an active part in organizing the Erebuni excavations. The three remarkable exhibits from the stocks of the Erebuni museum-reserve are a splendid supplement to and adornment of the display.

The Erebuni museum-reserve was opened on 19 October 1968, marking the 2750th anniversary of the foundation of the ancient Urartian fortress of Erebuni – a date which is taken to be the year of the foundation of the city of Yerevan, the capital of the Republic of Armenia. The façade of the building is decorated with bas-reliefs made by the famous Armenian sculptor Ara Harutyunyan (1928–1999), depicting the Urartian king Argishti, the builders of the fortress and its warriors. The museum presents artefacts from the Urartian, post-Urartian and later periods – finds from excavations, primarily of Urartian fortresses: Erebuni on Arin Berd hill and Teishebaini on Karmir Blur, as well as numerous other archaeological sites located on Armenian soil. It is home to various objects carrying cuneiform inscriptions, wine jugs and other ceramics, remnants of barley, flour, wheat and grapes that are more than 2,700 years old. Visitors can admire the celebrated Urartian frescoes, arms and armour, and Yerevan’s stone “passport”.

The exhibition at the Hermitage features one of Armenia’s most important historical artefacts – a basalt block bearing a cuneiform inscription of King Argishti I, dating from the first half of the 8th century BC. This is one of four blocks with identical texts telling about the construction of Erebuni. The inscription on the block says: “To our lord god Khaldi, Argishti, son of Menua, built [this house] and fortress [to perfection] and called the citadel Erebuni, for the might of Biainili [i.e. Urartu] and to instil fear[?] in hostile countries. Argishti says: The land was a desert; I performed great works upon it. Argishti[, son of Menua,] mighty king…”

The two vessels included in the exhibition are finds kept in the Erebuni museum that come from other archaeological sites in Armenia: the Biainili vault from the 8th century BC and the Argishtikhinili fortress.

The 8th-century BC funerary urn (ossuary) from the Biainili vault acquaints visitors with one of the Urartians’ burial rites. In 1984, during building work in Yerevan, a monumental underground Urartian burial vault was discovered. Its excavation added to scholars’ knowledge about funerary practices while enriching the stocks of the Erebuni museum with some unique finds. Burial vessels are not represented in the Hermitage’s permanent display, so the temporary exhibition enables visitors to find out about this aspect of Urartian culture as well.

The major administrative centre of Argishtikhinili was, like Erebuni, founded by King Argishti I in the Ararat valley as a mark of Urartian rule over the area. He began the western fortress of Argishtikhinili in 776 BC on the territory of the present-day village of Nor Armavir, on what is now known as Saint David’s Hill. The eastern fortress of Argishtikhinili is situated on the Armavir hill. Spread out close to these two strongholds was the great city of Argishtikhinili with its palaces, temple complexes, urban quarters and five canals taking water from the River Araxes.

Systematic excavations of Saint David’s Hill began in 1962 under the leadership of the archaeologist Harutyun Martirosyan, and later Rafik Torosyan. Digging revealed that the site had a number of strata. The locality had been settled back in the Bronze Age (late 4th – early 3rd millennium BC). The Kura-Araxes culture settlement that existed there was already abandoned during the 3rd millennium BC. Later, in the 13th–12th centuries BC, a new settlement was founded on the hill, which was them destroyed by the Urartians. The western fortress of Argishtikhinili was in its turn captured and burnt in the 6th century BC, as was Teishebaini. The exact year of its razing is unknown, but it is possible to establish the month – it was August, since the granaries were full and the harvest gathered in. In the post-Urartian period (6th–4th centuries BC), the site of the abandoned fortress was used as a burial ground. In the Hellenistic era the hill was uninhabited.

The necropolis of Argishtikhinili was discovered on the territory of Nor Armavir village. It was located beneath buildings and plots of land adjoining farms. Excavations of the necropolis revealed several methods of interment – in the clay pots ( karases) used in winemaking, in sarcophagi or coffins, stone boxes and jugs. Some of the Urartian burials had been damaged, making it difficult to reconstruct the funerary rite.

The 6th-century BC two-handled vessel in the showcase with a biconical body and a glossy red surface comes from a karas burial within the Armavir necropolis.