Sarduri II
The crucial factor in Urartu's economy was water, since many regions such as the coast of Lake Van, the valley of the river Murat River and Ararat plain were poorly adapted for primitive farming and were productive only with artificial irrigation. As a result, all the king's farm were concentrated around the irrigation canals, which were built through mass mobilization of the population and were one of the main factors of the Urartian prosperity of the 8th century BC. Thanks to the irrigation system, Urartu was self-sufficient with grain and was the major producer and exporter of wine in the region. The system was mostly built during the reign of the kings Ishpuini, Menua, Argishti I, Sarduri II and Rusa I and is still used nowadays, often without substantial reconstruction.