Salmanağa (A 5-17)
The stele was found in 1891 inserted into a side niche of the completely ruined 7th-century church of Surp Astvacacin in the village of Artsovaberd (now Salmanağa), about 11 km northeast of Erciş. It is inscribed on both sides, and the text concerns the building of a canal and a city by Minua. The stele has an overall height of 2.52 meters, a width of 59 cm, and a thickness of 32 cm. It was transferred to the Van Museum in 2012.
Transliteration (Salvini, 2020):
obverse
1 dhal-di-i-ni-ni
2 uš-ma-a-ši-i-ni
3 dhal-di-i-e
4 e-ú-ri-i-e
5 mmì-i-nu-ú-a-še
6 miš-pu-u-i-ni-hi-ni-še
7 i-ni pu-lu-si ku-gu-ni
8 dhal-di-i-ni-ni
9 al-su-i-ši-i-ni
10 mmì-i-nu-ú-a-ni
11 miš-pu-u-i-ni-e-hi
12 MAN DAN-NU MAN al-su-ni
13 MAN KURbi-i-a-i-na-e
14 a-lu-si URUṭu-uš-pa URU
15 dhal-di-i-ni-ni
16 uš-ma-a-ši-i-ni
17 mmì-i-nu-ú-a-še
18 miš-pu-u-i-ni-hi-ni-še
19 a-li-e pi-li-e
20 a-gu-ú-bi-e
21 KURe-ba-a-ni-i-e
22 URUa-li-a be-di-ni
23 dqu-e-ra-a-i-⸢na⸣
24 ta-ra-ma-na be-di-⸢ni⸣
25 ku-ṭu-u-be pa-ri-e
26 da-i-na-li-ti-i-ni
27 ka-am-na-a-hi-e
28 pa-a-ni-it-hi-e
29 ma-nu mmì-nu-a-še
30 e-ʾa pi-li a-gu-ni
31 e-ʾa URU ši-di-ši-tú-ni
reverse
1 mmì-i-nu-ú-a-še
2 miš-pu-u-i-ni-hi-ni-še
3 ti-a-lí-e DUB-te a-li
4 a-me-e-i te-e-ru-bi
5 a-li i-ru-ú-li-e
6 lu-ru-qu-ú-li-e
7 ⸢šú⸣-hi ba-at-qi-du-li-ni
8 a-li e-di-i-ni e-di-[na]-ni
9 i-si ⸢i-ku-ka-a⸣-ni
10 e-di-i-ni ma-nu-li
11 šú-hi ba-at-qi-di-la-ni
12 e-si-ni mmì-nu-a-i
13 ti-i-ni te-er-di-la-ni
14 a-lu-še ú-la-a
15 ú-e-si-du-li-i-e
16 a-lu-še ú-i-e
17 šú-hi ba-at-qi-i-a-ni
18 nu-lu-uš-tú-ú-i-ni-ni
19 dhal-di-še e-ú-e
20 DINGIRMEŠ-a-še pa-ri-e
21 e-si-ni te-e-la-a-ni
Translation (after eCUT):
“(obv. 1) Through the protection of the god Haldi, (3) for the god Haldi, his (or: the) Lord, (5) Minua, son of Išpuini, erected this stele. (8) Through the greatness of the god Haldi (10) (I am) Minua, son of Išpuini, (12) strong king, great king, king of the Bia lands, lord of Ṭušpa-City. (15) Through the protection of the god Haldi, Minua, son of Išpuini, says: (19b) ‘I dug a canal in the land for the city Alia, from the sources of the god Quera, (24) I let it reach up to the (river) Dainalitini. (27) It was . . . and . . .’ (29b) Minua dug a canal, and he built a city as well.
(rev. 1) Minua, son of Išpuini says: ‘[The inscription whi]ch I [estab]lished, which might . . . . and . . . one might re-establish it from anew, which furthermore might(?) be (at) this same place(?), one shall re-establish it from anew, the place of Minua (as its) name. (14) (As for the one) wh[o] . . . who does not re-establish it from anew, let the god Haldi and (all) the gods … to this place.”
References:
Lehmann-Haupt, C. F. 1928–1935. Corpus Inscriptionum Chaldicarum, Berlin-Leipzig (No. 48).
Salvini, M. 2003. “Collazioni e ricostruzioni di testi urartei nella zona di Van,” SMEA 45, 209–223.
Salvini, M. 2008–2018. Corpus dei Testi Urartei, v. 1 pp. 209–211, v. 3 pp. 133–134, v. 5 p. 125–127.
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. 3).
Salvini, M. 2020. “Storia moderna di due stele urartee dell’800 a.C.,” in Σπουδῆς οὐδὲν ἐλλιποῦσα (Gs Biraschi), eds. G. Maddoli, M. Nafissi, & F. Prontera, Perugia, 535–551.
eCUT – Electronic Corpus of Urartian Texts (https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ecut/Q006915).
CTU A 5-17 = CICh 48 = HchI 33 = UKN 58 = KUKN 75
Image Sources:
K. Işık, 2019
M. Salvini, 2020
Salmanağa (A 5-82)
The stele was found by W. Belck in 1891, reused as a lintel above the door of a side chamber in the ruined 7th-century church of Surp Astvacacin in the village of Artsovaberd (now Salmanağa), about 11 km northeast of Erciş. As of October 2024, the stele remains in situ. It measures 116 cm in height, 59 cm in width, and 31 cm in thickness. The same text, a dedication to the god Elipuri, is repeated twice in the inscription.
Transliteration:
1 dhal-di-ni-ni uš-ma-ši-ni
2 de-li-ip-ú-ri-e
3 mmì-i-nu-ú-a-še
4 miš-pu-u-i-ni-hi-ni-še
5 i-ni pu-lu-si ku-gu-ni
6 dhal-di-i-ni-[ni]
7 al-su-ú-i-⸢ši⸣-[ni]
8 mmì-i-nu-ú-[a-ni]
9 miš-pu-ú-i-⸢ni⸣-[hi]
10 MAN DAN-NU MAN al-⸢su⸣-[ni]
11 MAN KURbi-i-a-i-⸢na⸣-[e]
12 a-lu-si URUṭu-uš-[pa URU]
13 dhal-di-ni-ni uš-ma-⸢ši⸣-[ni]
14 de-li-ip-ú-ri-[e]
15 mmì-i-nu-ú-a-[še]
16 miš-pu-u-i-ni-hi-ni-[še]
17 i-ni pu-lu-si ku-gu-[ni]
18 dhal-di-i-ni-⸢ni⸣
19 al-su-ši-ni mmì-i-nu-a-[ni]
20 miš-pu-u-i-ni-[hi]
21 MAN DAN-NU MAN al-su-[ni]
22 MAN KURbi-i-a-i-na-e
23 a-lu-si URUṭu-uš-⸢pa⸣ URU
Translation:
“(1) Through the protection of Haldi Minua, son of Išpuini, has erected this stele for the god Elipuri. (6) [Through] the greatness [of] the god Haldi (8) (I am) Minu[a], [son of] Išpuin[i], (10) strong king, grea[t] king, king of the Bia lands, lord of Ṭuš[pa-City].”
(the text is repeated a second time)
References:
Salvini, M. 2003. “Collazioni e ricostruzioni di testi urartei nella zona di Van,” SMEA 45, 209–223 (219–221).
Salvini, M. 2008–2018. Corpus dei Testi Urartei, v. 1 p. 258, v. 3 p. 183, v. 5 p. 176.
eCUT – Electronic Corpus of Urartian Texts (https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ecut/Q006980).
CTU A 5-82 = CICh 92 = HchI 66 = UKN 104 = KUKN 129
Image Sources:
Bora Bilgin, 2024
Tayfun Bilgin, 2024
Salmanağa (A 8-45?)
The basalt stele fragment was discovered in 2017 in the garden of a private house in Salmanağa. It was reportedly brought there a few years earlier from the medieval Armenian ruins next to the house. Another smaller fragment of the same stele, reported to the museum with a photograph, was not found. The large fragment was transported to the Van Museum. It measures 113 cm in height, 60 cm in width, and 31 cm in thickness. With the missing fragment and the broken base, the original stele would have been over 2 meters high. The stele is inscribed on one face, where Argišti I celebrates the construction of an irrigation canal from the Dainalitini River, identified with the modern Deliçay. The very same irrigation canal, running less than 50 m east of the find spot, is still in use today.
Transliteration (Işık, 2019):
1 dhal-di-i-e en-[šú]
2 i-ni NA4pu-lu-si-[e]
3 mar-gi-iš-ti-[-še]
4 mmì-nu-a-hi-ni-še ku-gu-[ni]
5 dhal-di-ni-ni uš-ma-š[i-ni]
6 mar-gi-iš-ti-še a-l[i-e]
7 ÍDda-i-na-li-ti-ni-n[i]
8 pi-li-e a-gu-bi ú-i a-še-[e-i?]
9 MAN-še a-ga-la-a-ni-[x]
10 mar-giš-ti-še a-gu-ú-[ni]
11 [m]ar-giš-ti-še a-li-⸢e⸣
12 dhal-di-ni ú-di-da-[be]
13 GÁN Ú.ŠE hi-šá-ni-bi za-du-[bi]
14 ku-ul-me-e KURšú-ra-ú-[e]
15 KURšú-ri-li pi-ṣa-di-a-[li]
16 mar-giš-ti-ni-e MAN-tú-hi-[e]
17 mar-gi-iš-ti-i-n[i]
18 MAN DAN-NU MAN al-su-i-[ni]
19 MAN KURbi-a-i-na-a-ú-[e]
20 a-lu-si URUṭu-uš-pa-[e URU]
21 mar-giš-ti-še a-l[i-e]
22 gu-ni ar-di-še ma-[nu-li?]
23 a-še pi-li-e i-di-[x x]
24 MAN-ni-ni GU4 2 UDU [dhal-di-e]
25 UDU dIŠKUR GU4 KURib-[x x x]
26 GU4 su-lu-ú-[uš-ti-x-x]
27 ÍDda-na-l[i-ti-ni-x x]
?
28ʹ [ x x ur-pu]-li ⸢d⸣[ x x]
29ʹ [dUTU?]-ni-e [ x x]
30ʹ [ x x] ur-pu-li [ x x]
31ʹ [ x x] a-bi-di-[ x x]
32ʹ [ x x] UDU KUR-ni [ x x]
33ʹ [x x u]r-pu-l[i x x]
Translation (Işık, 2019):
“(1) Argišti, the son of Minua, erected this stele for Haldi, his lord. (5) Thanks to the protection of Haldi, Argišti says: “I dug an irrigation canal from the Dainalitini River that no king had dug. (10) Argišti dug (the canal).” Argišti says: (12) “Haldi fertilized (?), (he) cultivated fields of grain, (and) made the earth abundant (?), (and) rejoiced the territories (and) kingship of Argišti. (17) (I am) Argišti, powerful king, great king, king of Biainili, lord of the city of Tušpa.” (21) Argišti says: “And, moreover, (I) ordered (the following): (23) When the King opened the canal (water?), one bull (and) two sheep (shall be sacrificed) for [Haldi], one sheep for the Storm God, one bull for the ib-[x x x] Mountain. (26) One bull shall be placed (sacrificed) on the ground towards the Dainalitini Stream. (28ʹ) … …”
References:
Işık, K. 2019. “The Irrigation Canal Stele of the Urartian King Argišti I Recently Discovered in Erciş/Salmanağa, North of Lake Van,” ZA 109, 204–213.
Image Sources:
K. Işık, 2019
Bora Bilgin, 2024