Etiuni ( hy, Էթիունի, other names Etiuḫi, Etiu, Etio) was the name of an early Iron Age tribal confederation in northern parts of

Araxes , az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...

rivers, roughly corresponding to the subsequent

Ayrarat Province Ayrarat () was the central province of the ancient kingdom Armenia, located in the plain of the upper Aras River. Most of the historical capitals of Armenia were located in this province, including Armavir, Yervandashat, Artashat, Vagharshapat, ...

of the Kingdom of Armenia.Armen Petrosyan (2007).
Towards the Origins of the Armenian People: The Problem of Identification of the Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review (in English)
. ''Journal for the Society of Armenian Studies''. Etiuni was frequently mentioned in the records of

Urartian Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushpa, ...

kings, who led numerous campaigns into Etiuni territory. It is very likely it was the "Etuna" or "Etina" which contributed to the fall of Urartu, according to Assyrian texts. Some scholars believe it had an Armenian-speaking population.Sargis Petrosyan. "Light Worship in Etiuni Lands." 2019
/ref>

Names and etymology

Igor Diakonoff Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff (occasionally spelled Diakonov, russian: link=no, И́горь Миха́йлович Дья́конов; 12 January 1915 – 2 May 1999) was a Russian historian, linguist, and translator and a renowned expert on th ...

wrote that Etiuni was a

name meaning "land/people of Etio",I. M. Diakonoff.
The Pre-History of the Armenian People
' (revised, trans. Lori Jennings). Caravan Books, New York (1984) whereas Mirjo Salvini preferred to read it as "Etiu". Ethnographer Armen Petrosyan suggested that this name could be a Urartian cuneiform rendering of "Hatio" (sometimes transliterated as "Hattiyo" or "Hatiyo"), which Diakonoff had offered as a reconstructed initial form of the modern Armenian endonym, ''Hay'' (հայ). The cuneiform writing system the Urartians used lacked a symbol to designate an "h" sound, so the Urartians used either a symbol usually meant to convey a laryngeal h (ḫ, χ), or opted to not use any symbol to try to convey this sound. Petrosyan, citing Diakonoff and

Gevorg Jahukyan Gevorg Jahukyan ( hy, Գևորգ Ջահուկյան, 1920-2005) was an Armenian linguist and philologist, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Honored Scientist of the Armenian SSR. Biograp ...

, said that Urartian "e" may correspond with Armenian "a" when used at the start of words. Petrosyan, citing 19th century linguists

Friedrich Spiegel Friedrich (von) Spiegel (11 July 1820 in Kitzingen – 15 December 1905 in München) was a German orientalist. He was one of the pioneers in the field of Iranian philology. Biography He was born in Kitzingen, studied at Erlangen, Leipzig, ...

and Heinrich Kiepert, proposed that "Hatio" might ultimately derive from Proto-Indo-European
*poti
', meaning "lord, master, husband." According to this theory, the name, with plural suffix, developed from ''*potiio''→''*hetiyo''→''*hatiyo''→''hay''. The Urartians sometimes used the variation, Etiuḫi, which seems to have referred to the people of Etiuni specifically.

Location and regions

Etiuni was composed of a number of small kingdoms and tribes, included Iga (also known as Igani, Iya, and Aia), on the south shore of

Lake Cildir A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the World Ocean, oce ...

, Abiliani and Apuni, probably corresponding to the Armenian Abełean and Havnunik, in Kars region, and the Luša, Katarza, Uiṭeruḫi (Witeruḫi), and Gulutaḫi, of the Ararat plain. Another region of Etiuni was Liquini, located near Armavir. Petrosyan suggested that Erkuaḫi, another Etiunian region located on the north side of Mount Ararat, could be a native Armenian name for the two peaks of the mountain (compare to Armenian ''erku'' (երկու, meaning "two")).Armen Petrosyan
Էթիունին հայոց օրրան. Գիտական հոդվածների ժողովածու, նվիրված Գրիգոր Ղափանցյանի ծննդյան 130-ամյակին
Երևան 2018, էջ 299-330։. Etiuni – cradle of Armenians. The city of Aza, mentioned by Rusa as an important temple-city along the Araxes River, has been connected to the wealthy religious center, Azara, which was later placed by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

near

Artashat Artashat ( hy, Արտաշատ); Hellenized as Artaxata ( el, Ἀρτάξατα) and Artaxiasata ( grc, Ἀρταξιάσατα), was a large commercial city and the capital of ancient Armenia during the reign of king Artaxias I; the founder of t ...

. The Etiunian lands of Uelikuni (Welikuni) and Tiluḫu were located on the western shore of Lake Sevan and Kekuni was on the lake's northern shore. The archaeological site of

Lchashen Lchashen ( hy, Լճաշեն) is a village in the Gegharkunik Province of Armenia. History The settlement dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. It has a Bronze Age cemetery, a Urartian Iron Age fortress, and a 13th-century church. It is an i ...

, probably corresponding to the city of Ishtikuni, was located in one of these kingdoms. The Urartians mentioned "the four kings of Uduri-Etiuni." This may have referred to a separate, but perhaps culturally and linguistically connected, confederation from Etiuni, comprising the lands Lueḫi, Kemani, Urteḫini, and Arquqini, stretching along the southern shore of Lake Sevan. The word "Uduri" probably means "water" (referring to its location along Lake Sevan). Etiuni seems to have been bordered by Diaeuḫi to the west, Urartu and possibly the separate lands of Biani to the south and Kulḫi to the north or northwest.

Relation with Urartu

During the co-regency of Išpuini and his son,

Menua Menua ( ariations exist hy, Մենուա), also rendered Meinua or Minua, was the fifth known king of Urartu from c. 810 BC to approximately 786 BC. In Armenian, Menua is rendered as ''Menua''. The name Menua may be connected etymologically to t ...

, Urartu began expanding northward into Etiunian territories, battling the Katarza and Luša tribes, bragging about conquering Liquini and "the mighty land of" Erkuaḫi, and putting Etiuni under tribute as a result.R.D. Barnett. "Urartu." The Cambridge Ancient History. eds. Stanley Arthur Cook, Martin Percival Charlesworth, John Bagnell Bury, John Bernard Bury. Cambridge University Press. 1982 edition. Menua's son,

Argišti Argishti I (), was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 786 BC to 764 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan. Alternate transliterations of the name include ''Argishtis'', ''Argis ...

, ventured further into Etiunian territory than his predecessors, building the fortress of Erebuni (located in Yerevan) on newly conquered land, and bringing to it 6600 warriors from

Hatti Hatti may refer to *Hatti (; Assyrian ) in Bronze Age Anatolia: **the area of Hattusa, roughly delimited by the Halys bend **the Hattians of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC **the Hittites of ''ca'' 1400–1200 BC **the areas to the west of the Euphrat ...

and Shupria. Argišti conquered Apuni, Luša (castrating its king as a result), and Iga, taking many of the inhabitants of these regions as captives. However, the Etiunians seem to have revolted and invaded Urartu during Argišti's reign, stealing the ''aštiuzi'' (perhaps an idol of a god, compare this word to Armenian ''Astuas'' (god)) of the Urartian religious center, Musasir. Sarduri II, Argišti's son, also launched numerous military campaigns in Etiuni in the 740s BCE, battling with local rulers and the king of Etiuni, Diaṣuni. However, whatever became of this confrontation with Diaṣuni is unknown, as the text breaks off. According to the Assyrians, "the Etinaeans" revolted three times during the reign of Rusa I, Sarduri II's son. These revolts apparently resulted in Urartian military losses and Urartu being "plundered." A later Assyrian text mention that Urartu had been "destroyed" by the "people of Etuna."

Ethno-linguistic makeup

Igor Diakonoff considered Etiuni to be a

Hurro-Urartian The Hurro-Urartian languages are an extinct language family of the Ancient Near East, comprising only two known languages: Hurrian and Urartian. Origins It is often assumed that the Hurro-Urartian languages (or a pre-split Proto-Hurro-Urartian l ...

people, although he did not explain his reasoning for this classification. More recently, Armen Petrosyan, linguist Hrach Martirosyan, and other scholars have suggested Armenian etymologies for a number of Etiunian personal, place, tribal, and religious names.Hrach Martirosyan.
Origins and historical development of the Armenian language.
pp. 8, 18. Armenian names and words have been identified in Urartu as well, suggesting the possibility that Armenian speaking tribes could have constituted part of the populations of both lands. In addition to Armenian speaking populations, there were also likely Scythian and/or Cimmerian tribes present in Etiuni or its vicinity.Hayk Avetisyan, Pavel Avetisyan, Arsen Bobokhyan, Knarik Navasardyan, Artak Gnuni.
Notes on Urartian Era Pottery Traditions in Armenia.
2019. The names of the Etiunian land Ishkugul (probably near Gyumri) and its prince, Saga-tur or Sagaputara (perhaps the Skayordi of

Moses of Khorene Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late an ...

), seem to indicate a Scythian connection.

Rulers

The Urartians only named one king of Etiuni, Diaṣuni of Iga (or Iya). Petrosyan etymologized Diaṣuni as being an otherwise unattested Armenian name meaning "born of god" (տիւ+ծնուն), comparing it to Greek "Diogenes" (Διογένης), Thracian "Diazenus,"

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

"Divogenos," and Sanskrit "Devaja" (देवजा). Other kings of regions of Etiuni were likely rulers of smaller kingdoms or local chieftains. These included: Murinu of Uelikuni, Murini of Abiliani, Ṣinalbi of Lueḫi, Rashu of Ruishia, and Kapurini of Iga (Iya).

In historiography

Petrosyan theorized that memories of Etiuni may have been passed down by the medieval Armenian historian

Moses of Khoren Movses Khorenatsi (ca. 410–490s AD; hy, Մովսէս Խորենացի, , also written as ''Movses Xorenac‘i'' and Moses of Khoren, Moses of Chorene, and Moses Chorenensis in Latin sources) was a prominent Armenian historian from the late an ...

. In the ''

History of Armenia The history of Armenia covers the topics related to the history of the Armenia, Republic of Armenia, as well as the Armenians, Armenian people, the Armenian language, and the regions historically and Armenian Highlands, geographically consid ...

'', Khoren says the historically unattested Armenian king, Zarmayr, led an army of "Ethiopians" to aid Troy during the Trojan War. Petrosyan speculated that Khoren or his contemporaries may have confused "Etio" for "Ethiopia" (a name they would have been more familiar with through Biblical studies). Petrosyan also suggested that the well-known Armenian legend of Aram the Handsome may have been a mythologized version of the conflict between Etiuni (represented by Aram) and Urartu (represented by the Assyrian queen Semiramis). Urartu may have been become conflated with Semiramis as Urartu's capital was

Tushpa Tushpa ( hy, Տոսպ ''Tosp'', Akkadian: ''Turuspa'', tr, Tuşpa; from Urartianbr>tur-, ''to destroy''i.e. victorious) was the 9th-century BC capital of Urartu, later becoming known as Van which is derived from ''Biainili'', the native name ...

, near the city of Van, and a medieval name for Van was Shamiramakert ("city of Semiramis").

Archaeology

Archaeologists connect Etiuni with the Lchashen-Metsamor culture. Lchashen-Metsamor culture ultimately descends from the

Trialeti-Vanadzor culture The Trialeti-Vanadzor culture, previously known as the Trialeti-Kirovakan culture, is named after the Trialeti region of Georgia and the city of Vanadzor, Armenia. It is attributed to the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC. Trialeti-Vanadzo ...

. Ishtikuni, near modern Lchashen, is a notable Etiunian archaeological site. The

Metsamor site Metsamor site is the remains of an old fortress located to the southwest of the Armenian village of Taronik, in the Armavir Province. While it used to be believed the city of Metsamor was destroyed by the Urartians during the Iron Age researchers ...

, near modern Taronik, was an important metal-working center during the Iron Age.Krzysztof Jakubiak and Kinga Bigoraj.
Metsamor: the Early Iron Age/Urartian settlement in the Aras Valley, Armenia.
''Cambridge University Press''. 2020.

References

{{Regions of Kingdom of Armenia Ancient Armenia Archaeology of Armenia