Читать книгу A Companion to the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 2 Volume Set - Группа авторов - Страница 191

On the northern slope of the eastern sector of Van Rock the Russian expedition of 1916 unearthed the famous text of the Annals of Sarduri II, son of Argišti (Marr and Orbeli 1922). The first successful military expeditions of this king, who reigned between 755 and c. 730 BCE, are summarized at the beginning of his annals: the conquest of the lands Uelikui in Armenia, Tuliu in Transcaucasia, and, most importantly, a victory over the Assyrian king Aššurnirari V (754–746 BC) in the first years of his reign (Salvini 1995: 66 ff). Following his father, Sarduri made expeditions against the countries of Mana (Assyrian Mannea: RlA s.v.), Babilu, and Baruata in Iran, and Etiuni and Erikuai in Armenia, with the conquest of the southern shore of Lake Sevan. Furthermore, he reached the northern land of Qula, in which we identify the oldest record of classical Colchis.

The expedition against Miliṭia (modern Malatya), recalled in the annals (in CTU A 9‐1 rev.), was recorded on the rock (CTU A 9‐4) overlooking the Euphrates on the bank opposite to the Melitene. Beyond the Euphrates, in the region of Commagene (Assyrian Kummui, Urartian Qumaa), one of the greatest struggles between the Assyrians and the Urartians took place in 743 BCE (RlA s.v. Sarduri). The Annals of Tiglath‐Pileser III relate the Assyrian victory in the battle of Commagene, pushing the Urartians back to the east of the river which marked the western frontier of the Urartian kingdom (Tadmor 1994: pp. 100–101).

The Urartian expansion in Iranian Azerbaijan, toward the Caspian sea, is testified by the rock inscription (CTU A 9‐8) and the fortress of Seqendel (Kleiss and Kroll 1980), east of Tabriz, recording the conquest of the country of Puluadi and its capital city Libliuni together with many fortresses. In the Annals of Sarduri (CTU A 9‐3 D 8‐13) the same episode is narrated.