The Urartian Pottery from Altıntepe

The site of Altıntepe, which is situated 20 kms east of Erzincan and close to the Erzincan-Erzurum road, has been subject since 1959 to excavations led by Prof. Dr. Tahsin Özgüç and carried out under the auspices of the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums, and the Turkish Historical Foundation. I would like to express my sincere thanks to my instructor Prof. Dr. Tahsin Özgüç, who has provided me with the opportunity to publish the Altıntepe pottery. Urartian pottery has been being discussed for a considerable period of time, namely since the last quarter of the 19th century. However, overshadowed by other attractive Urartian finds, this interest did not reach the stage of serious investigation until the excavations undertaken by K. Lake at Van in 1938, through which Urartian pottery became a seperate field of research. H. H. von der Osten, who participated in the Van excavations, published the two kinds of existing pottery, namely the monochrome and the painted varieties. In the article the author mentioned essential points about Urartian pottery. From the Second World War onwards research on Urartu has considerably developed and the excavations at the important Urartian sites have increased our knowledge of the pottery to a great extent.