Research Article
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The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers

Year 2023, , 35 - 54, 10.07.2023
https://doi.org/10.26650/iutd.1262729

Abstract

With the Urartu Kingdom, a new settled culture, which was not seen before, emerged in these geographies. The places where this new culture and state structure were most clearly characterised were the royal cities. These cities, which have been identified through archaeological excavations, reflect the mountainous geographical characteristics of a new state authority north of the Taurus Mountains. In addition to the visible reflections of the Urartian material culture, the evaluation of the records on the administrative and bureaucratic structure as a whole provides important clues about the administrative positions and officials in the cities. The fact that Urartian written records are generally uniform texts of royal propaganda has made it possible to make some determinations only in the details of a few bureaucratic sources. Some “standards” that can be identified in the details of such sources, have enabled new conclusions to be recognised. In this context, especially the governors ( LÚEN.NAM), who are known to be the administrators of Urartian provinces, and the title LÚNAM, which we propose as the highest administrators of the royal cities, bring out the dissimilarity of provinces and royal cities not only for material culture but also according to administrative structure.

Supporting Institution

TÜBİTAK

Project Number

1059B141900288

Thanks

I would like to thank the TUBITAK Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, which supports my research project for 12 months within the scope of "2214-A During Doctorate Research Abroad Scholarship Programme" and Institute of Assyriology and Hittitology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich for the opportunity to use their academic facilities.

References

  • Belli, Oktay - Mirjo Salvini, “Two Clay Documents from Upper Anzaf Fortress near Van”, Studi Micenei ed Egeo- Anatolici, XLV/2 (2003), p. 141-152. google scholar
  • Borger, R., Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon, Ugarit-Verlag, Münster 2004. google scholar
  • Burney, Charles A., “A First Season of Excavations on the Urartian Citadel of Kayalıdere”, Anatolian Studies, 16 (1966), p. 55-111. google scholar
  • CDA-A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, ed. J. Black - A. George - N. Postgate, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2000. google scholar
  • CTU A (CTU I) - Salvini, M., CorpusDei Testi Uratei, Volume I, CNR - Istituto di studi sulle civilta dell’Egeo e del Vicino Oriente, Roma 2008. google scholar
  • CTU CB/CP/CT (CTU IV) - Salvini, M., Corpus Dei Testi Uratei, Volume IV, CNR - Istituto di studi sulle civilta dell’Egeo e del Vicino Oriente, Roma 2012. google scholar
  • CTU V - Salvini, M., CorpusDei Testi Uratei, Volume V, Editions de Boccard, Paris 2018. google scholar
  • Çifçi, Ali, The Socio-Economic Organisation of the Urartian Kingdom, Culture and History of the Ancient near East. Vol. 89, Brill, Leiden-Boston 2017. google scholar
  • Çilingiroğlu, Altan - Mirjo Salvini, eds. Ayanis I: Ten Years’ Excavations at Rusahinili Eiduru-Kai 19891998,
  • Documenta Asiana, vol. 6., CNR - Istituto per gli Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici, Roma 2001. google scholar
  • Danışmaz, Harun, Urartu Krallığı Yönetim ve Organizasyon, Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, Ankara 2020. google scholar
  • Diakonoff, Igor M., Urartskij Pisma I Dokumenty (Urartian Letters and Documents) (UPD), Izdatel’stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, Moskova 1963. google scholar
  • ________ - S. M. Kashkai, Geographical Names According to Urartian Texts, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 1981. google scholar
  • Genç, Bülent - Erkan Konyar - Armağan Tan, “The Tuspa Citadel and Mound Excavations, 2010-2019”, The Archaeology of Anatolia, Volume IV: Recent Discoveries (2018-2020), ed. Sharon R. Steadman -Gregory McMahon, United Kingdom 2021, p. 194-209. google scholar
  • Grayson, A. Kirk., “Eunuchs in Power. Their Role in the Assyrian Bureaucracy”, Vom Alten Orient Zum Alten Testament-Festschrift Für Wolfram Freiherrn Von Soden Zum 85. Geburtstag Am 19. Juni 1993, ed. Manfried Dietrich - Oswald Loretz, Kevelaer 1995, p. 85-98. google scholar
  • Grekyan, Y., “The Problem of the Origin of the Urartian Scribal School”, Over the Mountains and Far Away Studies in near Eastern History and Archaeology Presented to Mirjo Salvini on the Occasion ofHis 80th Birthday, ed. P. S. Avetisyan - R. Dan - Y. H. Grekyan, Oxford 2019, p. 244-62. google scholar
  • Grekyan, Y., “A Note on the Toprakkale Tablet”, N.A.B.U., Vol. I (2016), p. 54-56. google scholar
  • Hellwag, Ursula, “Lu.A.Zum-Li Versus Lu.A.Nin-Li: Some Thoughts on the Owner of the So-Called Prinzensiegel at Rusa II’s Court”, Anatolian Iron Ages 5: Proceedings of the Fifth Anatolian Iron Ages Colloquium Held at Van, 6-10, ed. Altan Çilingiroğlu - Gareth Darbyshire, 2005, p. 91-98. google scholar
  • Hellwag, Ursula, “Sohn Der Königin” Lu A.Nin-Li Oder “Wasserwirtschaftsminister” Lu A.Zum-Li? Überlegungen Zu Einem “Fragwürdigen” Amt Am Urartaischen Königshof”, Akkadica, 117 (2000), p. 21-43. google scholar
  • Işık, Kenan, “Van Kalesi Höyüğü Kazılarında Keşfedilen Urartu Yazılı Belgeleri”, Colloquium Anatolicum/ Anadolu Sohbetleri, XIII (2014), p. 173-83. google scholar
  • ________, Urartu Yazılı Kaynaklarında Geçen Yer Adları ve Lokalizasyonları, Yüzüncüyıl University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Archaeology, Branch of Protohistory and Archeology of Near East, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Van 2015, p. 86-87. google scholar
  • ________ - Mehmet Işıklı, “Inscribed Bullae and Bone Layer Discovered at the Ayanis Fortress/Van in 2014”, Altorientalische Forschungen, 42, no. 2 (2015), p. 142-152. google scholar
  • ________ - O. Aras - A. A. Aras, “Inscribed Bullae Found During Excavations on the Northern Slope of Ayanis Fortress in 2015 and a New Urartian Building Name, ETAMALI’, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 73 (2021), p. 179-191. google scholar
  • Konyar, E. - C. Avcı - D. Yiğitpaşa - A. Tan - H. Tümer, “Eski Van Şehri, Kalesi Ve Höyüğü 2014 Yılı Kazı Çalışmaları”, Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı 37, no. 2 (2016), p. 573-90. google scholar
  • Köroğlu, Kemalettin, “Urartu: Krallık Ve Aşiretler”, Urartu: Doğu’da Değişim, ed. Kemalettin Köroğlu -Erkan Konyar, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, İstanbul 2020, p. 1-35. google scholar
  • Özgüç, T., Altıntepe I, Mimarlık Anıtları ve Duvar Resimleri-Archhitectural Monuments and Wall Paintings, Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, Ankara 1966. google scholar
  • ________, Altıntepe II, Mezarlar, Depo Binası ve Fildişi Eserler-Tombs, Storehouse and Ivories, Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, Ankara 1969. google scholar
  • Radner, K., “Assur Kenti ve Assur Krallığı Tarihine Genel Bakış”, Assurlular: Dicle’den Toroslar’a Tanrı Assur’un Krallığı, ed. K. Köroğlu - S. F. Adalı, İstanbul 2020, p. 1-23. google scholar
  • SAA V (State Archives of Assyria), “The Correspondence of Sargon II Part II, Letters from the Norther and Northeastern Provinces”, ed. G. B. Lanfranchi - Simo Parpola, Helsinki 1990. google scholar
  • SAA VII (State Archives of Assyria), “Imperial Administrative Records, Part I: Palace and Temple Administration”, ed. Frederick M. Fales - J. N. Postgate, Helsinki 1992. google scholar
  • Salvini, Mirjo, “Die Urartaische Tontafeln”, Bastam I: Ausgrabungen in Den Urartaischen Anlagen 19721975, ed. W. Kleiss, GEBR. MANN VERLAG, Berlin 1979. google scholar
  • ________, “Inscriptions on Clay”, Ayanis I: Ten Years’ Excavations at Rusahinili Eiduru-Kai 1989-1998, ed. Altan Çilingiroğlu - Mirjo Salvini, CNR Istituto Per Gli Studi Micenei Ed Egeo-Anatolici, Roma 2001, p. 279-319. google scholar
  • ________, “Die urartaische Tontafel VAT 7770 aus Toprakkale”, Altorientalische Forschungen, 34/1 (2007), p. 37-50. google scholar
  • Schramm, Wolfgang, Akkadische Logogramme, Göttinger Beitrage Zum Alten Orient Band 5, Universitatsverlag, Göttingen 2010. google scholar
  • Seidl, Ursula, “Die Siegelbilder”, Hastam I: Ausgrabungen in Den Urartaischen Anlagen, 1972-1975, ed. Wolfram Kleiss, Teheraner Forschungen, Band 4., Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 1979, p. 137-49. google scholar
  • ________, “Die Siegelbilder”, Bastam II: Ausgrabungen in Den Urartaischen Anlagen 1977-1978, ed. Wolfram Kleiss, Teheraner Forschungen, Band 5., Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 1988, p. 145-63. google scholar
  • Tan, Armağan, Urartu Dönemi’nde Bürokrasi ve Toplumsal Yapı, Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences, Department of History, branch of Ancient History, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Istanbul 2022. google scholar
  • Wilhelm, Gernot, “Urartian”, The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor, ed. Roger D. Woodard, Cambridge University, Cambridge 2008. google scholar
  • Zimansky, P. E., Ecology and Empire: The Structure of the Urartian State, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization, The Oriental Institute Press, Chicago 1985. google scholar
  • Zimansky, Paul, “Writing, Writers, and Reading in the Kingdom of Van”, Margin of Writing, Origins of Cultures, ed. Seth L. Sander, The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago 2006, p. 257276. google scholar

Urartu Bürokrasisi'nin Yapısı ve Krâli Şehir Yöneticilerine Dair Yeni Bir Öneri

Year 2023, , 35 - 54, 10.07.2023
https://doi.org/10.26650/iutd.1262729

Abstract

Urartu Krallığı ile birlikte söz konusu coğrafyalarda öncesinde görülmeyen yeni bir yerleşik kültür ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu yeni kültürün ve devlet yapısının en belirgin biçimde kendisini gösterdiği yerler ise krâli kentlerdir. Büyük çoğunluğu arkeolojik kazılarla tespit edilmiş olan bu kentler, Torosların kuzeyindeki dağlık coğrafyaya yansıyan yeni bir devlet otoritesinin kendine has niteliklerini yansıtır. Urartu materyal kültürünün kentlerdeki somut yansımalarının yanı sıra idari ve bürokratik yapıya ilişkin kayıtların bir bütün olarak değerlendirilmesi bu şehirlerde bulunan idari mevkiler, kişiler ve bürokrasi hakkında da önemli ipuçları sunar. Urartu yazılı kayıtlarının çoğunlukla tekdüze krâli propaganda metinleri olmasına rağmen az sayıdaki bürokratik kayıtların kimi detaylarında önemli tespitler yapabilmek mümkün olmuştur. Bu türden kaynakların ayrıntılarında belirlenen kimi “standartlar” Urartu Bürokrasisi’ne ilişkin yeni çıkarımlar yapabilmeyi sağlamıştır. Bu kapsamda özellikle Urartu eyaletlerinin yöneticileri olduğu bilinen valiler ( LÚEN.NAM) ve krali şehirlerin en üst düzey yöneticileri olarak önerdiğimiz LÚNAM ünvanı, Urartu’da eyaletler ve krâli şehirlerin yapısal olduğu kadar idari açıdan da farklılıklara sahip konumuna ışık tutar.

Project Number

1059B141900288

References

  • Belli, Oktay - Mirjo Salvini, “Two Clay Documents from Upper Anzaf Fortress near Van”, Studi Micenei ed Egeo- Anatolici, XLV/2 (2003), p. 141-152. google scholar
  • Borger, R., Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon, Ugarit-Verlag, Münster 2004. google scholar
  • Burney, Charles A., “A First Season of Excavations on the Urartian Citadel of Kayalıdere”, Anatolian Studies, 16 (1966), p. 55-111. google scholar
  • CDA-A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, ed. J. Black - A. George - N. Postgate, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2000. google scholar
  • CTU A (CTU I) - Salvini, M., CorpusDei Testi Uratei, Volume I, CNR - Istituto di studi sulle civilta dell’Egeo e del Vicino Oriente, Roma 2008. google scholar
  • CTU CB/CP/CT (CTU IV) - Salvini, M., Corpus Dei Testi Uratei, Volume IV, CNR - Istituto di studi sulle civilta dell’Egeo e del Vicino Oriente, Roma 2012. google scholar
  • CTU V - Salvini, M., CorpusDei Testi Uratei, Volume V, Editions de Boccard, Paris 2018. google scholar
  • Çifçi, Ali, The Socio-Economic Organisation of the Urartian Kingdom, Culture and History of the Ancient near East. Vol. 89, Brill, Leiden-Boston 2017. google scholar
  • Çilingiroğlu, Altan - Mirjo Salvini, eds. Ayanis I: Ten Years’ Excavations at Rusahinili Eiduru-Kai 19891998,
  • Documenta Asiana, vol. 6., CNR - Istituto per gli Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici, Roma 2001. google scholar
  • Danışmaz, Harun, Urartu Krallığı Yönetim ve Organizasyon, Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları, Ankara 2020. google scholar
  • Diakonoff, Igor M., Urartskij Pisma I Dokumenty (Urartian Letters and Documents) (UPD), Izdatel’stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR, Moskova 1963. google scholar
  • ________ - S. M. Kashkai, Geographical Names According to Urartian Texts, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 1981. google scholar
  • Genç, Bülent - Erkan Konyar - Armağan Tan, “The Tuspa Citadel and Mound Excavations, 2010-2019”, The Archaeology of Anatolia, Volume IV: Recent Discoveries (2018-2020), ed. Sharon R. Steadman -Gregory McMahon, United Kingdom 2021, p. 194-209. google scholar
  • Grayson, A. Kirk., “Eunuchs in Power. Their Role in the Assyrian Bureaucracy”, Vom Alten Orient Zum Alten Testament-Festschrift Für Wolfram Freiherrn Von Soden Zum 85. Geburtstag Am 19. Juni 1993, ed. Manfried Dietrich - Oswald Loretz, Kevelaer 1995, p. 85-98. google scholar
  • Grekyan, Y., “The Problem of the Origin of the Urartian Scribal School”, Over the Mountains and Far Away Studies in near Eastern History and Archaeology Presented to Mirjo Salvini on the Occasion ofHis 80th Birthday, ed. P. S. Avetisyan - R. Dan - Y. H. Grekyan, Oxford 2019, p. 244-62. google scholar
  • Grekyan, Y., “A Note on the Toprakkale Tablet”, N.A.B.U., Vol. I (2016), p. 54-56. google scholar
  • Hellwag, Ursula, “Lu.A.Zum-Li Versus Lu.A.Nin-Li: Some Thoughts on the Owner of the So-Called Prinzensiegel at Rusa II’s Court”, Anatolian Iron Ages 5: Proceedings of the Fifth Anatolian Iron Ages Colloquium Held at Van, 6-10, ed. Altan Çilingiroğlu - Gareth Darbyshire, 2005, p. 91-98. google scholar
  • Hellwag, Ursula, “Sohn Der Königin” Lu A.Nin-Li Oder “Wasserwirtschaftsminister” Lu A.Zum-Li? Überlegungen Zu Einem “Fragwürdigen” Amt Am Urartaischen Königshof”, Akkadica, 117 (2000), p. 21-43. google scholar
  • Işık, Kenan, “Van Kalesi Höyüğü Kazılarında Keşfedilen Urartu Yazılı Belgeleri”, Colloquium Anatolicum/ Anadolu Sohbetleri, XIII (2014), p. 173-83. google scholar
  • ________, Urartu Yazılı Kaynaklarında Geçen Yer Adları ve Lokalizasyonları, Yüzüncüyıl University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Archaeology, Branch of Protohistory and Archeology of Near East, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Van 2015, p. 86-87. google scholar
  • ________ - Mehmet Işıklı, “Inscribed Bullae and Bone Layer Discovered at the Ayanis Fortress/Van in 2014”, Altorientalische Forschungen, 42, no. 2 (2015), p. 142-152. google scholar
  • ________ - O. Aras - A. A. Aras, “Inscribed Bullae Found During Excavations on the Northern Slope of Ayanis Fortress in 2015 and a New Urartian Building Name, ETAMALI’, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 73 (2021), p. 179-191. google scholar
  • Konyar, E. - C. Avcı - D. Yiğitpaşa - A. Tan - H. Tümer, “Eski Van Şehri, Kalesi Ve Höyüğü 2014 Yılı Kazı Çalışmaları”, Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı 37, no. 2 (2016), p. 573-90. google scholar
  • Köroğlu, Kemalettin, “Urartu: Krallık Ve Aşiretler”, Urartu: Doğu’da Değişim, ed. Kemalettin Köroğlu -Erkan Konyar, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, İstanbul 2020, p. 1-35. google scholar
  • Özgüç, T., Altıntepe I, Mimarlık Anıtları ve Duvar Resimleri-Archhitectural Monuments and Wall Paintings, Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, Ankara 1966. google scholar
  • ________, Altıntepe II, Mezarlar, Depo Binası ve Fildişi Eserler-Tombs, Storehouse and Ivories, Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, Ankara 1969. google scholar
  • Radner, K., “Assur Kenti ve Assur Krallığı Tarihine Genel Bakış”, Assurlular: Dicle’den Toroslar’a Tanrı Assur’un Krallığı, ed. K. Köroğlu - S. F. Adalı, İstanbul 2020, p. 1-23. google scholar
  • SAA V (State Archives of Assyria), “The Correspondence of Sargon II Part II, Letters from the Norther and Northeastern Provinces”, ed. G. B. Lanfranchi - Simo Parpola, Helsinki 1990. google scholar
  • SAA VII (State Archives of Assyria), “Imperial Administrative Records, Part I: Palace and Temple Administration”, ed. Frederick M. Fales - J. N. Postgate, Helsinki 1992. google scholar
  • Salvini, Mirjo, “Die Urartaische Tontafeln”, Bastam I: Ausgrabungen in Den Urartaischen Anlagen 19721975, ed. W. Kleiss, GEBR. MANN VERLAG, Berlin 1979. google scholar
  • ________, “Inscriptions on Clay”, Ayanis I: Ten Years’ Excavations at Rusahinili Eiduru-Kai 1989-1998, ed. Altan Çilingiroğlu - Mirjo Salvini, CNR Istituto Per Gli Studi Micenei Ed Egeo-Anatolici, Roma 2001, p. 279-319. google scholar
  • ________, “Die urartaische Tontafel VAT 7770 aus Toprakkale”, Altorientalische Forschungen, 34/1 (2007), p. 37-50. google scholar
  • Schramm, Wolfgang, Akkadische Logogramme, Göttinger Beitrage Zum Alten Orient Band 5, Universitatsverlag, Göttingen 2010. google scholar
  • Seidl, Ursula, “Die Siegelbilder”, Hastam I: Ausgrabungen in Den Urartaischen Anlagen, 1972-1975, ed. Wolfram Kleiss, Teheraner Forschungen, Band 4., Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 1979, p. 137-49. google scholar
  • ________, “Die Siegelbilder”, Bastam II: Ausgrabungen in Den Urartaischen Anlagen 1977-1978, ed. Wolfram Kleiss, Teheraner Forschungen, Band 5., Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 1988, p. 145-63. google scholar
  • Tan, Armağan, Urartu Dönemi’nde Bürokrasi ve Toplumsal Yapı, Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences, Department of History, branch of Ancient History, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Istanbul 2022. google scholar
  • Wilhelm, Gernot, “Urartian”, The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor, ed. Roger D. Woodard, Cambridge University, Cambridge 2008. google scholar
  • Zimansky, P. E., Ecology and Empire: The Structure of the Urartian State, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization, The Oriental Institute Press, Chicago 1985. google scholar
  • Zimansky, Paul, “Writing, Writers, and Reading in the Kingdom of Van”, Margin of Writing, Origins of Cultures, ed. Seth L. Sander, The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago 2006, p. 257276. google scholar
There are 40 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects African Political History
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Armağan Tan 0000-0003-1598-5706

Project Number 1059B141900288
Publication Date July 10, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023

Cite

APA Tan, A. (2023). The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers. Tarih Dergisi(80), 35-54. https://doi.org/10.26650/iutd.1262729
AMA Tan A. The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers. Tarih Dergisi. July 2023;(80):35-54. doi:10.26650/iutd.1262729
Chicago Tan, Armağan. “The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers”. Tarih Dergisi, no. 80 (July 2023): 35-54. https://doi.org/10.26650/iutd.1262729.
EndNote Tan A (July 1, 2023) The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers. Tarih Dergisi 80 35–54.
IEEE A. Tan, “The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers”, Tarih Dergisi, no. 80, pp. 35–54, July 2023, doi: 10.26650/iutd.1262729.
ISNAD Tan, Armağan. “The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers”. Tarih Dergisi 80 (July 2023), 35-54. https://doi.org/10.26650/iutd.1262729.
JAMA Tan A. The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers. Tarih Dergisi. 2023;:35–54.
MLA Tan, Armağan. “The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers”. Tarih Dergisi, no. 80, 2023, pp. 35-54, doi:10.26650/iutd.1262729.
Vancouver Tan A. The Structure of the Urartian Bureaucracy and a New Suggestion for Royal City Rulers. Tarih Dergisi. 2023(80):35-54.