Rusa, son of Sarduri II

Introduction

Until recently, most scholars assumed that Rusa, son of Sarduri, was the son of Sarduri II, who followed his father Argišti I on the throne, and that Rusa was the opponent of the Assyrian king Sargon II during his 8^th campaign. His reign would then have lasted from approx. 730-713 (see, e.g., CTU III: 23; Çifçi 2017: 305f.; Fuchs 2012: 158).

As a result of the recent debate about the Urartian chronology, which was initiated by Ursula Seidl's observations concerning art history (see Seidl 2004 and 2007), Michael Roaf (2012) has challenged this view. He has argued that the opponent of Sargon II was actually Rusa, son of Erimena.

Similarly to other scholars, Roaf assumes that Rusa's father Sarduri was the son of Argišti I, although he does not completely rule out the theory that he was the son of Sarduri, son of Sarduri, who is only known from one inscription on a bronze shield found in Karmir Blur. Since most inscribed bronze objects from Karmir Blur date from the 8^th century, Stephan Kroll had already argued in 1984 that Sarduri, son of Sarduri, reigned in the 8^th century and not in the middle of the 7^th century, as other scholars had assumed (see, e.g., Salvini 2008: 23).

According to Roaf (2012), the most probable scenario is that Rusa, son of Sarduri, ascended the throne after the death of Rusa, son of Erimena, in 713 BC. Alternatively, the former may have been king before he was deposed by Rusa, son of Erimena, and may have then regained the throne after the latter's death (Roaf 2012: 213). In the year 709 at the latest his son Argišti became ruler of Urartu.

The present overview follows Roaf (2012) by interpreting Rusa, son of Sarduri, as the contemporary of Sargon II and the Assyrian king Sennacherib.

Map showing the distribution of the stone inscriptions of Rusa, son of Sarduri II, in: Mirjo Salvini, CTU I: 494.

Royal Titles

(I am) Rusa, son of Sarduri, mighty king, the one who enlarged (or: exalted) the Bia lands (A 10-01, lines 7b-8)
(I am) Rusa, son of Sarduri, servant of the god Ḫaldi" (A 10-03, obv. 5-6; A 10-04 rev. 6)
(I am) Rusa, son of Sarduri, servant of the god Ḫaldi, faithful shepherd of the people (A 10-03 left 11'-14')
(I am) Rusa, son of Sarduri, servant of the god Ḫaldi, faithful shepherd of the people, the one who approaches the house of the god Ḫaldi, the one who has no fear in battle (CTU 10-03 rev. 52'-53')
(I am) Rusa, servant of the god Šebitu, in view of the god Šebitu I am subordinate(??) (A 10-06 9'-10').

Military activities

According to his inscriptions on the stelae of Movana (A 10-03), Mergeh Karvan (A 10-04), and Topzawa (10-05), Sarduri fought successfully against Muṣaṣir and restored the cult for the god Ḫaldi in the deity's main sanctuary of Muṣaṣir, which was formerly destroyed by the Assyrian king Sargon II.

Stele of Movana, photo: Mirjo Salvini, CTU III: 295

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Stele of Topzawa with Urartian-Assyrian bilingual inscription, photo: Stephan Kroll

Rusa, son of Sarduri, further continued Urartu's expansionism in the north by conquering several lands in the region to the west of Lake Sevan, including the land of Uelikuḫi. There he built the "City of the God Ḫaldi" and installed a governor. These events are reported in a rock inscription located in Tsovinar (A 10-02) and in an inscription on a stone block from Kamo (CTU A 10-01).

Further information about the reign of Rusa, son of Sarduri, may be obtained from the Assyrian state correspondence, some letters of which were sent to the Assyrian ruler Sargon II by the crown prince Sennacherib. The dating of these letters is, however, unclear. We do not even know to which Urartian ruler they refer, since his name is not mentioned in any of them. We therefore do not know the identity of the Urartian ruler who fought against the Cimmerians and was ultimately defeated by them.

According to Lanfranchi (1983), the military conflicts between the Urartians and Cimmerians and Sargon's attack on Muṣaṣir were related events which took place at similar points in time. Fuchs (2012) and Roaf (2012), however, have argued convincingly that the Urartian-Cimmerian conflicts were independent of Sargon's 8^th campaign and occurred at a later time.

According to Roaf (2012), the Urartian king who waged war against the Cimmerians and was eventually defeated by them was most probably Rusa, son of Sarduri, whereas Fuchs (2012) considers it more likely that it was his successor, Argišti II.

If we follow Roaf (2012) it would then have been Rusa, son of Sarduri, who mobilized the Urartian army to wage war against the Cimmerians, whose land, which in Assyrian is called ^KURGamir, likely lay to the north or north-east of Lake Sevan.

These campaigns may have started after Rusa's defeat of the land Guriaini mentioned in the Tsovinar rock-inscription among a total of 19 conquered lands in the same region (A 10-02 line 9). According to the Assyrian sources, Guriaini (or: Guriania) was a district between Urartu and Cimmeria and paid tribute to Urartu (SAA 5 92: 5-8, see Roaf 2012: 211). The Cimmerians were, however, obviously a more difficult opponent which eventually defeated the Urartians.

Building activities

According to CTU A 10-02 (lines 15-18), Rusa built fortresses in the Bia lands (which is the Urartian equivalent of the Assyrian name Urartu) for its protection. One of them, which he named "City of the Weather-God", is situated in the area of lake Sewan (Tsovinar in modern Armenia). CTU A 10-01 mentions the foundation of the fortress "City of the God Ḫaldi" in which Rusa also erected a "Gate of the God Ḫaldi" (Nor Bajaset in modern Armenia). As the "City of the Weather-God", it served to protect the Bia lands. In Van, the king erected a stele for the Weather-God (CTU A 10-07).

Stele of Movana, photo: Mirjo Salvini: CTU III: 295

Religious activities

Furthermore, Rusa, son of Sarduri, established a ritual of sheep offerings to the god Šebitu to be performed in case of building projects and the restauration of tower temples. He also directed sheep offerings for the gods Arṭuarasau and Šebitu as well as for "The Gate of the God Šebitu" when a king intended to go to war (A 10-06).

Inscriptions on metal objects

Bronze objects were found in Karmir Blur (B 10-1 to 3A-C), one of which was a votive offering for the god Ḫaldi (B 10-01; shield), while B 10-02 and B 10-03 refer to the ownership of Rusa, son of Erimena (cups).

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Bronze cup from Karmir-blur, photo: Mirjo Salvini, CTU IV: 57