Argištiḫinili
Moses of Chorene has written in his History of Armenia of the founding of Armavir by Aramais, grandson of Hayk, the legendary ancestor of the Armenians.
Interest in the site increased with the discovery in 1869 of cuneiform tablets, which turned out to date from the time of Argishti I and Rusa III.
Owing to World War I and the Armenian genocide, systematic investigations at Armavir began only in 1927, under the leadership of Nicholas Marr.
The establishment of the town was preceded by a long-term Urartian expansion into the Transcaucasus, which was aimed at controlling the fertile Ararat plain.
From about 786 BC, the first year of his reign, Argishti I had begun a series of raids into the Ararat plain, the Akhurian River valley and Lake Sevan.
The expansion into the Ararat plain was briefly interrupted by minor clashes with the Assyrians at the south-western frontier of Urartu.
During Argishti's reign, Urartu was the zenith of its powers, and was able to easily overcome the armies of its neighbours, including the Assyrians.
After four years of warfare, Argishti was able to occupy the Ararat plain, and by 776 BC was able to found a town in the middle of the valley.
[7] According to the chronicles of Argishti I, Argištiḫinili was constructed in the land of the Azzi (or the Aza), and indeed, archaeological digs have demonstrated Bronze Age remains dating between the 3rd and the 1st millennia BC.
Various town buildings have been found scattered across the local hills, situated within the economic zone of Argištiḫinili, the total area of which was about 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres).
Following Argishti I, his son Sarduri II was also active in Argištiḫinili, constructing places of worship and greatly expanding the fortifications.
The low flat hills upon which the town was built did not allow such mighty fortresses as protected Tushpa, Erebuni, Rusahinili or Teishebaini.
Archaeologists estimate that the granaries at Argištiḫinili could store at least 5000 tonnes of produce, while the state-sponsored cultivation of grain crops occupied nearly 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) of land.
[16] Beer vessels with short necks and elongated trunks, clay censers, cheese-making vats, and jugs of various shapes have also been found.
Ceremonial (religious) vessels have been found in Argištiḫinili, decorated with triangles, zigzag lines, or with stylised pictures of bird or dragon heads.
The next Urartian king Rusa I was unable to withstand the Assyrians either, and after a terrible defeat at the hands of Sargon II, killed himself.
During his invasion of Urartu in 714 BC, Sargon dealt a serious blow to the Urartian religion, with his destruction of its chief god Ḫaldi's shrine at Musasir.
The intensive construction that characterised the reigns of previous kings of Urartu slowed down severely, with some amount of building work continuing only in the Transcaucasus.
Rusa, son of Argishti says: He who destroys this stele, he who profanes it, he who steals it, he who buries it in the earth, ... he who proclaims "It is I who carried out these works", and who replaces his own in place of my name, may he be destroyed by the gods Ḫaldi, Teisheba, Shivini, Marduk; may there not be either his name nor his family under the sun...[17]Under Rusa II, much attention was lavished on the fortress of Teishebaini; indeed, treasures from lesser towns, including Argištiḫinili, were transferred there.
