Sarduri I

Sarduri I, son of Lutipri

Sarduri, son of Lutipri, is the second Urartian ruler known by name and the first to leave written sources of his own. As a contemporary of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, who mentions him in his annals, he ruled in the second half of the 9th century BC (approximately 840-830 BC). It is assumed by researchers that Sarduri I was the founder of a new dynasty that ruled the kingdom of Urartu for many generations to come. Sarduri I is also regarded as the founder of the capital Ṭušpa (the historic center of modern Van, Turkish Van kalesi). Although this is quite likely, it cannot be sufficiently proven. The dynasty could also have been founded by Sarduri's father Lutibri, who is only known from Sarduri's self-designation "Sarduri, son of Lutibri". It is equally plausible that another predecessor could have founded the kingdom. The same holds true for the Urartian capital Ṭušpa. That the kingdom of Urartu existed before Sarduri's rule, is confirmed by Assyrian sources. For example, Shalmaneser III mentions campaigns against a certain "Aramu (or Arame), the Urartian". However, Aramu's royal seat, which Shalmaneser claims to have destroyed, was not Ṭušpa but Arṣaškun. Whether there was a relationship between Aramu and Sarduri remains unclear. One thing, however, is certain: Sarduri is the first Urartian ruler who is known from his own textual sources. According to this evidence, Sarduri was also the one who built the so-called Sardur's castle (Turkish: Mardırburç) at the foot of Van fortress.

Written sources

Map 01

Map showing the distribution of the inscriptions of Sarduri I.

Only one inscription refers to Sarduri I, son of Lutibri, as its author (A 01-01). It is inscribed in six huge blocks of limestone of the so-called "Sardur's castle" (Turkish: Mardırburç) at the foot of Van fortress. The year of Sarduri's reign in which the inscription was composed is unknown.

Sarduri_I_Vanfortress.jpg

The fortress of Van (Ṭušpa), photo: M. Tümer in: Köroğlu and Konyar 2011: 295

01_Sarduri_I_Sardurscastle.jpg

Sardur's castle of Sarduri I at the western border of Van fortress, photo: Salvini 2011: 82

Additionally, the fragmentary cultic inscription A 01-02 might have been composed by Sarduri. There is, however, no clear indication in the text regarding its authorship. Neither a royal nor a deity name has been preserved. The location and language of the inscription strongly point towards Sarduri. Similar to the inscription A 01-01 from Sardur's Castle, it is written in the Assyrian language, whereas most of the stone inscriptions of Sarduri's successors are written in Urartian. In addition, it is inscribed inside a rock niche in the south of the fortress of Van and thus not far away from "Sardur's Castle" (see Salvini 1982; Dinçol – Dinçol 1986).

01_Sarduri_I_A_1_2_position.jpg

Niche at the south side of Van fortress with the Assyrian inscription A 01-02, photo: CTU III: 52

Royal Titles

Great king, strong king, king of the world, king of the land Nairi, king who has no equal, marvelous shepherd, fearless in battle, king who subdues those insubordinate to him. (I am) Sarduri, son of Lutibri, king of kings, the one who has received the tribute of all kings (CTU A 01-01, lines 1-5a).

Except for the title "king of the land Nairi" all these epithets are known from Assyrian inscriptions (see Roaf 2012: 191-194). This and the fact that the text is written in the Assyrian language and cuneiform script demonstrates the strong Assyrian influence on the Urartian kingdom. The fact that the epithets are already attested in inscriptions of Assurnaṣirpal II, while some of them were no longer in use by the time of Shalmaneser's III reign, indicates that the adoption of the Assyrian cuneiform script had already taken place one generation before Sarduri's reign (see Wilhelm 1986; Salvini 1995: 36-37; Kroll et al. 2012: 26-28). Inscriptions of this period are, however, not attested.

Military Activities and Political Development

Shalmaneser III reports that he defeated Sarduri I ("Sēduru, the Urartian") in his twenty-ninth year (Shalmaneser III 014 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004619] [RIMA 3 A.0.102.14] lines 141b–146a; Shalmaneser III 016 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004621] [RIMA 3 A.0.102.16] lines 228'–244'; for the date see Fuchs 2012: 135 with further references) after he had already conducted successful campaigns against "Aramu, the Urartian" in his first, third, and fifteenth year. The campaign in Shalmaneser's III twenty-ninth year against Sarduri I was headed by his field marshal Dayyān-Aššur who led the troops to Urartu via Bīt-Zamāni by entering the pass of the city Ammaš and crossing the River Arṣania. Shalmaneser III reports that the Urartian king, "relying on the might of his mighty army" began waging war after he had heard about the Assyrians' approach. Shalmaneser III defeated Sarduri I and "filled the wide plain with the corpses of his warriors" (Shalmaneser III 014 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004619] [RIMA 3 A.0.102.14] line 146a; (Shalmaneser III 016 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004621] [RIMA 3 A.0.102.16] lines 235'–236'). Sarduri I, however, managed to flee (Shalmaneser III 016 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004621] [RIMA 3 A.0.102.16] line 236'). Neither Urartian texts composed by Sarduri I nor texts authored by his successors refer to the event.

Building Activities

Sarduri's inscription A 01.01 inscribed in six huge blocks of limestone of the "Sardur's Sastle" at the foot of the fortress of Van characterizes Sarduri as a great and successful ruler (see "Royal Titles").

Sarduri claims that he brought the foundation stones of the building from the city Alniunu. The location of this city remains unclear. Belli (1980) suggested that the city was located about 17 km to the south of Van near Edremit, where archaeologists found a "stone workshop". According to Salvini (1995: 35), Sarduri's title "king of the land Nairi" instead locates Alniunu in the land Ḫubuškia, which later was called "land Nairi". This again might indicate a political link between Urartu and Hubuškia, whose kings also used this title. The city Alniunu would then be located far away from Sardur's castle. The statement that Sarduri brought the foundation stones from Alniunu to Sardur's castle might then refer to the relocation of an earlier center of power to the newly founded capital Ṭušpa (Salvini 1995: 35).

01_Sarduri_I_A_1_1.jpg.

Inscription A 01.01 A on one of the six stone blocks from Sardur's Castle, photo: Salvini 2011: 83

Religious Activities

With respect to religion and state cult, it is interesting that Sarduri's inscription at Sardur's castle does not refer to the god Haldi. The same is probably true for the very fragmentary cultic inscription A 01-02 located at the Southern slope of Van Kalesı, which likely was composed by Sarduri I, too. As other evidence suggests, Haldi became the Urartian national god only during Išpuini's reign. Thus, the main sanctuary of Haldi in Muṣaṣir was located outside Urartu's borders during Sarduri's I reign. Theophoric personal names of the Middle Assyrian period further reveal that Haldi was already worshipped in Northern Mesopotamia in the second millennium BC (see Mayer 2012: 21-22 with note 6 for further references). Haldi was therefore not an indigenous Urartian deity, but a deity originally at home in northern Mesopotamia.

01_Sarduri_I_A_1_2_recess.jpg

Niche with the Assyrian Inscription A 01-02 and a rectangular recess for the installation of a stele which today is lost, photo: Tarhan (2011: 301)

01_Sarduri_I_A_1_2.jpg

Assyrian inscription A 01-02, photo: CTU III: 52

Further reading

Belli, Oktay (1980): Alniunu Kenti ve Taş Atölyesinin Keşfi, Anadolu Araştırmaları 8, 115-127.
Dinçol, Belkis and Ali M. Dinçol (1986): Eine wiederentdeckte assyrische Inschrift auf dem Van-Felsen, Anadolu Araştırmaları X, 351-353.
Fuchs, Andreas (2012), Urarṭu in der Zeit, in: Stephan Kroll, Claudia Gruber, Ursula Hellwag, Michael Roaf, and Paul Zimansky (eds.), Acta Iranica. Biainili-Urartu. The Proceedings of the Symposium Held in Munich 12-14. Oktober 2007, Leuven, 135–161.
Kroll, Stephan et al. (2012), Introduction, in: Stephan Kroll, Claudia Gruber, Ursula Hellwag, Michael Roaf, and Paul Zimansky (eds.), Acta Iranica. Biainili-Urartu. The Proceedings of the Symposium Held in Munich 12-14. Oktober 2007, Leuven, 1-38
Mayer, Walter (2012), Assyrien und Urartu I. Der achte Feldzug Sargons II. im Jahr 714 v. Chr, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 395/1, Münster.
Roaf, Michael (2012), Could Rusa son of Erimena have been king of Urartu during Sargon's Eighth Campaign? in: Stephan Kroll, Claudia Gruber, Ursula Hellwag, Michael Roaf, and Paul Zimansky (eds.), Acta Iranica. Biainili-Urartu. The Proceedings of the Symposium Held in Munich 12-14. Oktober 2007, Leuven, 187-216.
Salvini, Mirjo (1982): Eine vergessene Felsinschrift mit einem assyrischen Opfertext, in: Nicholas Postgate (ed.), Societies and Languages of the Ancient Near East, Studies in honor of I. M. Diakonoff, Warminster, 327-332.
Salvini, Mirjo (1995): Geschichte und Kultur der Urartäer, Darmstadt, 63-78.
Salvini, Mirjo (2004): Reconstruction of the susi temple of Adilcevaz, on Lake Van, in: Antonia G. Sagona (ed.): A View from the Highlands: Trans-Caucasus, Eastern Anatolia and Nordwestern Iran. Studies in Honour of C. A. Burney, Herent, 245-275.
Salvini, Mirjo (2008): Minima Urartaica, ARAMAZD III/2, 143-145.
Salvini, Mirjo (2011): Urartu Tarihine Genel Bir Bakış - An Overview of Urartian History, in: Kemalettin Köroğlu and Erkan Konyar (eds.), Urartu. Doğu'da Değişim. Transformation in the East, Istanbul 2011, 74-97.
Tarhan, Taner M. (2011): Başkent Tuşpa - The Capital City Tushpa, in: Kemalettin Köroğlu and Erkan Konyar (eds.), Urartu. Doğu'da Değişim. Transformation in the East, Istanbul 2011, 288-335.
Wilhelm, Gernot (1986): Urartu als Region der Keilschrift-Kultur, in: Volkert Haas (ed.), Das Reich Urartu, Xenia 17, Konstanz, 95-116.

Birgit Christiansen

Birgit Christiansen, ' Sarduri I, son of Lutipri ', Electronic Corpus of Urartian Texts (eCUT) Project, The eCUT Project, 2018 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ecut/urartianrulersandchronology/sarduriisonoflutipria01/]

 
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