Geography and power
The sequence of Armenia’s historical capitals usually begins with Tushpa, the capital of the Kingdom of Van, or Urartu. From a scholarly perspective, the Kingdom of Van and the later Armenian kingdoms were not identical political formations, yet Tushpa remains inseparable from the political, urban, and cultural heritage of the Armenian Highlands. It demonstrates the advanced systems of governance and construction that had already developed in the region during the ninth to sixth centuries BCE.
Tushpa was built around the enormous rock rising on the eastern shore of Lake Van. Its natural elevation gave the city exceptional defensive advantages, while the presence of the lake and the fertile lands surrounding it supported population growth and economic development. Royal structures, cultic areas, rock-cut halls, and tombs were situated on the rock. A settlement extended at the foot of the fortress and was connected to the surrounding regions through a network of roads and canals.
From Tushpa, the kings of the Kingdom of Van governed a broad network of fortresses, storehouses, irrigation systems, and administrative centers. The cuneiform inscriptions carved into the city’s rocks not only recount military campaigns but also testify to the organized nature of state economy, construction, and religious ceremonies. Tushpa thus established a model of a fortified capital in which royal authority was expressed through the rock, massive walls, and monumental buildings.
Historical evidence
Sarduri I’s inscriptions in Assyrian illuminate the early capital. The king claimed the building work in his own name. Masonry and inscription answer different questions: how a structure was made, and who wished to be remembered as its patron.
Later history of the city
After the fall of the Kingdom of Van, Tushpa lost its former significance as a state-wide center, but urban life did not disappear. Van continued to remain one of the important centers of the Armenian Highlands in later centuries. Meanwhile, the political center of gravity gradually shifted toward the Ararat Plain, where Armenia’s next capital developed on the foundations of ancient fortresses and settlements.
Sources and further reading
Sarduri I, inscriptions from Van · Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Urartu”.