Ahtamar / Akdamar (A 5-23)
The stele fragment, which belongs to the top part of a stele, was later reduced to a cylindrical shape. In the early 19th century, it was already located in the courtyard of the church on Akdamar Island on the southern shore of Lake Van, where it was seen and copied by F. E. Schulz. It was subsequently lost but was rediscovered on the island after 2007 during restoration work. Given that the inscription concerns the building of a canal, the stele must originally have come from the mainland.
Transliteration:
obverse
1 ⸢d⸣hal-di-⸢e⸣
2 ⸢e⸣-ú-ri-i-⸢e⸣
3 [i]-ni pu-lu-⸢si⸣
4 [m]mì-nu-ú-a-⸢še⸣
5 [m]iš-pu-u-ni-hi-ni-⸢še⸣
6 ⸢ku⸣-ú-i-gu-ú-⸢ni⸣
7 ⸢d⸣hal-di-i-ni-⸢ni⸣
8 [al]-su-ši-ni mmì-nu-a-⸢ni⸣
9 [m]⸢iš⸣-pu-u-i-ni-e-[hi]
10 […] x x […]
reverse
1 x URUa-hi-u-ni-ka-ni
2 KURe-ri-nu-i-di
3 mmì-nu-a-hi-na-a-di
4 ku-ṭu-bi pa-ri mu-na-a
5 KURa-i-du-ni KUR-ni
6 šú-ú-i-ni e-si-ni
7 pi-i-li-e a-gu-⸢bi⸣
8 ⸢URU⸣ú-i-ši-ni šú-i-⸢ni⸣
9 [e]-⸢si⸣-ni pi-li a-⸢gu⸣-[bi]
10 [mmì]-⸢nu⸣-a-še a-⸢li⸣-[e]
Translation:
“(obv. 1) For the god Haldi, his (or: the) Lord, Minua, son of Išpuini, erected this stele. (7) Through the greatness of the god Haldi (I am) Minua, [son] of Išpuini, […] … […].
(rev. 1) [ . . . ] the city Ahiunikani toward the land Erinui, and the city Minuahinadi. (4) I came to the river of(?) the land Aiduni; (6) in (or: from) every place I dug a canal. (8) From the city Uišini, from every place I dug a canal. Minua says: […].”
References:
Işık, K. 2019. “Urartian inscriptions at the Van Museum. A New Collection,” in Over the Mountain and Far Away (Fs Salvini), eds. P. V. Avetisyan, R. Dan & Y. H. Grekyan, Oxford, pp. 296–303 (Fig. 12).
Lehmann-Haupt, C. F. 1928–1935. Corpus Inscriptionum Chaldicarum, Berlin-Leipzig (No. 52).
Salvini, M. 2008–2018. Corpus dei Testi Urartei, v. 1 pp. 214–215, v. 3 p. 138, v. 5 pp. 130–131.
eCUT – Electronic Corpus of Urartian Texts (https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ecut/Q006921).
CTU A 5-23 = CICh 52 = HchI 31 = UKN 62 = KUKN 79
Image Sources:
M. Salvini, 2008
K. Işık, 2019