Between Sevan Lake and the Araxes. Thirty Years of Italian Urartological Archaeology in Armenia (1994-2023)

Abstract

The article presents 30 years of Italian archaeological research in Armenia, carried out by CNR and ISMEO. The research – surveys and excavations – focused on the presence in Armenia of the Urartian kingdom, the first state in the Caucasian area, and on its background, the Early Iron Age. Fieldwork was carried out in the basin of the Sevan Lake and in the regions of Kotayk and Vayots Dzor. The studies included pre-Urartian and Urartian systems of territorial control; travel routes; development of social complexity and increase of conflicts among local and foreign groups between Early Bronze Age and the birth of the Urartian state; the impact of the birth and development of the Urartian kingdom and its interactions with local communities; architecture and material culture from late Iron Age to the Achaemenid empire; cultural continuity between the end of the Urartian kingdom and Late Antiquity. It was possible to see that the economic basis of the Urartian state was based on the co-existence of a stock-raising model and of a high agricultural development, with the exploitation of local mineral resources. Interaction and integration with local communities was crucial for the success of Urartu, which had a very strong impact on local cultures also in the centuries following its demise. The strong Urartian influence was an essential element in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people.