Sıhke (A 5-91) The small stele was built into a wall in the church of Sıhke (now Bostaniçi) village, where its outward-facing back was seen and copied in the late 1820s by F. E. Schulz. In 1898/99, W. Belck and Lehmann removed the stele and transported it to Van. It was later transferred to Tbilisi, … Read more
Toprakkale(?) (A 12-5a) The small fragment preserved in the Hermitage Museum probably comes from Toprakkale. It was likely collected during the expedition of Iosif A. Orbeli in 1911–1912. The preserved text corresponds with the main texts from Ayanis and Karmir Blur, indicating it is from another duplicate of the standard text of Rusa II. Transliteration … Read more
Kavuncu (A 5-53A-B) The fragmentary cylindrical stone (a column base?) with a three-line inscription (A) was found in a house in Van in the late 19th century but was subsequently lost. In 2009, a duplicate of this inscription was discovered on another cylindrical stone fragment (B) in the village of Kavuncu, east of the city … Read more
➥ Anzaf Inscriptions The fortresses of Upper Anzaf (Yukarı Anzaf) and Lower Anzaf (Aşağı Anzaf) represent a critical architectural and strategic complex from the Urartian period, located approximately 10 km northeast of Van in eastern Turkey. These fortified sites were constructed during the reigns of Kings Išpuini and Minua in the 9th–8th centuries BCE and … Read more
➥ Van Kale Inscriptions ➥ Van Old City Inscriptions Tušpa, the capital of the Urartian Kingdom was established on and around a rocky hill rising on the shore of Lake Van, about 5 km west of today’s city center of Van. It is generally known as Van Kalesi (Van Fortress). The settlement consists of a … Read more
➥ Meher Kapı Inscription Meher Kapı (Meher Gate) is an Urartian open-air cult center. It is located at the foot of Mount Zimzim, about 4.5 km east of the Urartian capital Tušpa. Among the locals, it is also known as the Stone Gate, Treasure Gate, or Mithra Gate. Mehr/Meher is an alternative name of Mithra.There … Read more
