Çavuştepe Fortress
Sardurihinili
Türkiye · Van
In brief
Founded during the reign of Sarduri II, the settlement consists of two sections: the lower and upper fortresses. Excavations in the fortress and the necropolis to its north document Urartian architecture and burial practices.
What was found?
- 1Inscription of the Temple of İrmuşini
A cuneiform construction text is located at the temple's entrance. The inscription documents that the building was dedicated to the god İrmuşini.
- 2Temple of Haldi
The Upper Fortress contains a temple dedicated to Haldi and associated religious spaces. Sacred areas devoted to different gods can thus be seen within the same fortress.
- 3Palace remains
A palace and its associated service spaces were uncovered in the Lower Fortress. They help explain how administration and everyday needs were organized within the fortress.
- 4Storerooms and large jars
The storerooms contain large storage jars partly buried in the ground. They are tangible traces of provisions storage in the fortress.
- 5Necropolis graves
Chamber, urn, cist, and simple pit graves were identified in the cemetery north of the fortress. This diversity documents different burial practices in Urartian society.
What does it point to?
Çavuştepe was an organized center with its palace, storerooms, and temples as well as its defensive structures. The necropolis shows that the funerary practices of the community living in the fortress were not uniform.
What did it teach us?
- It showed that temples dedicated to Haldi and İrmuşini existed within the same Urartian fortress.
- It illuminated the economic organization of fortress life through storage and service spaces.
- It documented the concurrent use of different grave types in an Urartian cemetery.
Record
- Culture
- Urartian
- Team / historical
- Rafet Çavuşoğlu / Van Yüzüncü Yıl University
- Coordinates
- 38.3524°, 43.4594°
Sources
- kulturportali.gov.tr
- avesis.yyu.edu.tr
- en.wikipedia.org
- Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı — Çavuştepe Kalesi broşürü
Nearby excavations
- Ayanis Fortress 45 km
- Areni-1 Cave 215 km
- Erebuni Fortress 219 km
- Nineveh 223 km
- Teppe Hasanlu 231 km
- Ani 239 km
- —
- —
- 12.000
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