The Anzaf Fortresses And The Gods Of Urartu

The fascinating pictorial scenes on pieces of a bronze shield from a room on the west side of the Haldi Temple in the Upper Anzaf Fortress, discovered in 1995, add greatly to our knowledge of Uraıtian religion and art. During the fire caused by a Scyhtian attack in the late seventh century B.C. objects and weapons of bronze and iron stored in this small room became molten and distorted, a large portion turning to sLag. in recent years conservation of this mass of molten metal, vveighing more than 13 kilograms, a ntımber of bronze and iron objects and weapons have been recovered and preserved for the benefit of science. in particular, seven votive rings of cast bronze with oıneiform inscriptions from the co-regency of Ki n g ispirini, Menua and Inuspua has added much to the poorly known political history in the early period of the Urartian Kingdom.Most of the fragments of bronze sheet bearing pictorial scenes come, it has been realised from the sanıe Large shield. Conservation of the bronzes is stili continuing. Conservation a 78 cm. long piece of the shield över the lastthree years has, however, revealed scenes of great interest that shed significant new light on our understanding of the art and, particularly, the religion of Urartu, A row of 12 gods are depicted in the same sequence as the pantheon of gods in the Meher Kapı rock inscription which provides much detailed information on the religion of Urartu. Nothing simHar to the pantheon in the Meher Kapı inscription, where each god is given his divine atîribütes and local characteristics, has previously been found.in ıts 20"'anniversary Arkeoloji ve Sanat is pleased to share with its readers this valuable study which, we believe, makes an important new addition to Anatolian archaeology.