The Powerful Kings of the Van Kingdom

It is not known exactly when Sarduri I became king of the Urartu, and for the same reason it is not certain when Van became his capital. Another unknown factor is whether there were other Urartian kings between Arame, their first king, and Sarduri. There is no certainty as to how long Sarduri, who was mentioned in the chronicles of the Assyrian king Salmanasar III in 832 B.C, in the 27th year of the latter’s reign, had been on the throne. In all probability this event took place a few years before the date mentioned above.

Thus, Sarduri must have succeeded Arame or another king in 834 or 833 B.C. It has been suggested that Sarduri, who was the leader of the principalities to the east of Lake Van, could have organised an uprising against the king at Arzashkun, then declared his independence and chosen Tushpa as his new capital. Another theory on this subject is that the Urartian kings, who were worried about growing Assyrian power in the middle of the 9th century B.C, decided to move their capital to a safer place, namely to the east of the lake.

It is not certain when the reign of Ishpuini, who succeeded Sarduri, began. According to information gained from cuneiform inscriptions on tablets found near Zivistan Castle (now Elmalı), which is 15 km to the south of Van, Ishpuini was Sarduri’s son. Thus it is probable that he ascended the throne in 825 or 824 B.C.

One of the most important inscriptions made by King Ishpuini is the one describing the acquisition of the city of Musasir by the Urartu at Kelishin (Kel-i Shin). According to the information provided by the bilingual inscription on the Kelishin Stele, King Ishpuini had acquired the city of Musasir, which had been regarded as one of the sacred cities of the Near East ever since the 9th century B.C. However, the text does not tell us whether the “acquisition” in question involved a military victory or whether it was obtained without bloodshed.

On the contrary, it states that when the Urartian king and his army entered Ardini (this is the name used on the Urartian language side of the bilingual inscription) the event was celebrated with an impressive ceremony involving the slaughter of thousands of animals.