Armenia in the 2nd millennium BC

The Armenian Highlands in the 20th-28th centuries BC

In the 20th-28th centuries BC, the Armenian Highlands were part of a major trade route for metals stretching from Kanesh (a city in eastern Anatolia) to Ashur. This route connected more than thirty settlements in the Armenian Highlands, from which goods were exported.

The Kingdom of Mitanni

In the 16th century BC, the Indo-European kingdom of Mitanni, with its capital at Washukanni, was established in the southwest of the Armenian Highlands and in the north of Mesopotamia. This kingdom played a significant role in the Near East starting from the end of the 16th century BC. Like the Egyptian, Babylonian, and Hittite rulers, the kings of Mitanni bore the title “Great King.”

The influence of the Mitanni kings extended to the east to the valleys of the Bohtan and Great Zab rivers, and to the west to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the mountains of Cilician Taurus. The kings of Mitanni were of Indo-European origin, as evidenced not only by their names but also by their worship of Indo-European gods.

Mitanni was destined to enter into armed conflict with Egypt because the latter, starting a vengeful war against the Hyksos, directed strikes against Mitanni. Mitanni was involved in a prolonged military conflict with the Hittite power, which was located in Anatolia. Its fall was associated with the blows of the developing Assyria in the 13th century BC.

The Kingdom of Hayasa

In Hittite cuneiform records related to the events of the 15th-13th centuries BC, the country of Hayasa is mentioned. The basis of this toponym is the self-designation of the Armenian people.

In the Hittite language, toponyms were formed using the particle a(sa), so Hayasa means “Hayk, Hayastan”. Hayasa is mentioned in the western parts of the Armenian Highlands.

One of the most important centers of Hayasa was Kumaha – in the future Ani-Kamakha of High Armenia, where the mausoleum of Armenian kings was located.

Hayasa is last mentioned at the end of the 13th century. There are two points of view in science about the end of the history of Hayasa. According to the first one, the fall of Hayasa should have occurred at the end of the 13th century. Supporters of another version claim that Hayasa continued to exist, but was no longer mentioned under the Hittite name “Hayasa”, as the Hittite power fell in the 13th century.

Hayasa had its royal court, army, and mythological centers. Hayasa fielded an army consisting of 700 chariots and a 10,000 infantry, which was a significant force at that time.

It also had its own pantheon. Based on the mentions of Armenian-Hittite correspondence by Hittite sources, Hayasa had a royal archive, with its own scribes, who conducted state writing.

Nairi “Countries”

In Assyrian sources, the area around Lake Van and the vast territories to the south and west of it were referred to by the general name “Nairi”. In this spacious territory, numerous tribal states united on a federal basis, which were called “countries” in Assyrian sources.

The toponym “Nairi” is first mentioned by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser I (first half of the 13th century BC). The power of the Nairi “countries” is evidenced by the fact that Shalmaneser I was forced to place special units in border cities to prevent Nairi attacks on Assyrian territories.

The Nairi “countries” and their 40 leaders (who are referred to as kings in the sources) are mentioned in the records of Shalmaneser I’s successor Tukulti-Ninurta (13th century BC) and a century and a half later Tiglath-Pileser I (12th-11th centuries BC).

It should be noted that, although the predecessors write about the conquest and subjugation of the Nairi “countries”, Tiglath-Pileser I calls Nairi a “spacious, free, and unknown” country.

Assyrian kings speak of “large cities”, “riches”, “numerous horses, mules, herds of cows, and countless agricultural property”, which speaks of the power and wealth of this country.

Two centuries later, from the record of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (9th century BC), we learn that he organized four campaigns against Nairi, and it is not mentioned as a union of several countries but as a single united country-state.

The sources mention “in the land of Nairi 250 cities with strong fortress walls”. Nairi as a single state is also mentioned by his successor Shalmaneser III (9th century BC). The rulers of the Kingdom of Van (Biainili, Urartu, Ararat) called their countries by the name “Nairi” in their records in the Assyrian language.

Movsisyan Artak

Translated by Vigen Avetisian