page_title: Argishtikhinili (ancient city)
section_title: During the Urartian decline
hierarchical_section_title: Argishtikhinili (ancient city) / During the Urartian decline
context_page_description: Argishtikhinili was a town in the ancient kingdom of Urartu, established during the expansion of the Urartians in the Transcaucasus under their king Argishti I, and named in his honour. It lasted between the 8th and 6th centuries BC. The ruins of the Argishtikhinili fortifications are 15 kilometres southwest of the present-day town of Armavir, Armenia, between the villages of Nor-Armavir and Armavir in the Armenian marz of Armavir. The town was founded on the left bank of the middle reaches of the Aras River. Over the centuries, the river channel has shifted to several kilometres south of the town.
context_section_description: The Assyrian defeat of the Urartian king Sarduri II began the decline of the Urartian kingdom. The next Urartian king Rusa I was unable to withstand the Assyrians either, and after a terrible defeat at the hands of Sargon II, killed himself. During his invasion of Urartu in 714 BC, Sargon dealt a serious blow to the Urartian religion, with his destruction of its chief god Ḫaldi's shrine at Musasir. The intensive construction that characterised the reigns of previous kings of Urartu slowed down severely, with some amount of building work continuing only in the Transcaucasus. In Argishtikhinili, building inscriptions from the reigns of Rusa II (son of Argishti II, ruled 685–639 BC) and Rusa III (son of Erimena, ruled c. 605–595 BC) have been found. Rusa II, intending to restore the glory of the cult of Ḫaldi, constructed similar temples at Argishtikhinili, Erebuni and Teishebaini, decorated with identical inscriptions that reinforce the Urartian gods by including the Babylonian god Marduk:
  In the new temple, let a goat be slaughtered to the god Ḫaldi, let a bull be sacrificed to the god Ḫaldi, a sheep to the god Teisheba, a sheep to the god Shivini, a cow to the goddess Arubani, a sheep to the armour of the god Ḫaldi, a sheep to the gates of the god Ḫaldi, a sheep to the god Iuarsha...  ...I made all this. Rusa, son of Argishti says: He who destroys this stele, he who profanes it, he who steals it, he who buries it in the earth, ... he who proclaims "It is I who carried out these works", and who replaces his own in place of my name, may he be destroyed by the gods Ḫaldi, Teisheba, Shivini, Marduk; may there not be either his name nor his family under the sun...
  Under Rusa II, much attention was lavished on the fortress of Teishebaini; indeed, treasures from lesser towns, including Argishtikhinili, were transferred there.
  Rusa II attempted to stem the decline of Urartu but was largely unsuccessful. A new granary, mentioned in an inscription by king Rusa III, was probably the large major building works in Argishtikhinili. Shortly thereafter, civilians and the army appear to have abandoned the fortress of Erebuni (at the time the main military centre in the Ararat Plain) on tactical grounds, and joined the main forces at the great fortress of Teishebiani, thereby putting Argishtikhinili at risk of attack. Indeed, around 600 BC, this town was captured and torched. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of assault weapons, major conflagration and extensive deaths of residents. Argishtikhinili was probably destroyed by the Scythians or the Medes, and thus lasted fewer than 200 years.
caption: Fragment of Urartian cuneiform inscription of Rusa III of a granary at Argishtikhinili
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