Muṣaṣir (Assyrian cuneiform: and variants, including Mutsatsir,

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

for ''Exit of the Serpent/Snake''), in

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, ...

Ardini was an ancient city of

Urartu Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Va ...

, attested in Assyrian sources of the 9th and 8th centuries BC. It was acquired by the Urartian King Ishpuini ca. 800 BC (see the

Kelashin Stele The Kelashin Stele ( ku, کێلەشین) (also Kelishin or Keli-Shin; from Kurdish Language: Blue Stone) found in Kelashin, Iraq, bears an important Urartian-Assyrian bilingual text dating to c. 800 BC, first described by Friedrich Eduard ...

). The city's tutelary deity was ^dḪaldi. The city's location is not known with certainty, although there are a number of hypotheses, all in the general area of , in the

Zagros The Zagros Mountains ( ar, جبال زاغروس, translit=Jibal Zaghrus; fa, کوه‌های زاگرس, Kuh hā-ye Zāgros; ku, چیاکانی زاگرۆس, translit=Çiyakani Zagros; Turkish: ''Zagros Dağları''; Luri: ''Kuh hā-ye Zāgro ...

south of

Lake Urmia Lake Urmia; az, اۇرمۇ گؤلۆ, script=Arab, italic=no, Urmu gölü; ku, گۆلائوو رمیەیێ, Gola Ûrmiyeyê; hy, Ուրմիա լիճ, Urmia lich; arc, ܝܡܬܐ ܕܐܘܪܡܝܐ is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is ...

François Thureau-Dangin François Thureau-Dangin (3 January 1872 in Paris – 24 January 1944 in Paris) was a French archaeologist, assyriologist and epigrapher. He played a major role in deciphering of the Sumerian and Akkadian languages. He studied under Julius ...

tentatively located it at Mudjesir, 10 km west of Topzawa. Reza Heidari, an archaeologist of the "Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization" of Iran's West Azarbaijan Province claims Rabat city near Sardasht,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

as the location of Muṣaṣir. H. F. B. Lynch claimed that it was close to the modern town of

Rawandiz Rawandiz ( ar, رواندز; ku, ڕەواندز, Rewandiz) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, located in the Erbil Governorate, close to the borders with Iran and Turkey, it is located 10 km to the east from Bekhal Waterfall. The di ...

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...

. Urartologist Paul Zimansky speculated that the Urartians (or at least the ruling family) may have emigrated northwest into the

Lake Van Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...

region from Musasir.

Temple

The Musasir temple, built in 825 BC, was an important temple in Musasir, the holy city of

. The Temple at Musasir appears in an

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

n bas-relief which adorned the palace of King Sargon II at

Khorsabad Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"; ar, دور شروكين, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mo ...

, to commemorate his victory over "the seven kings of Urartu" in 714 BC. (1802 - 1870) During the early 1850s, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

n Excavation Fund entered the field under

William Kennett Loftus William Kennett Loftus (13 November 1820, Linton, Kent – 27 November 1858, at sea) was a British geologist, naturalist, explorer and archaeological excavator. He discovered the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk in 1849. Biography Loftus was brou ...

and many antiquities and accurate drawings of wall sculptures were apportioned between the

Museum and the Louvre. However, a convoy of antiquities was attacked by

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

robbers while being shipped down the

Tigris River The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the P ...

, and today lies buried somewhere in the bed of that river. That particular bas-relief was copied at its original location in the palace onto a drawing by Eugene Flandin(2) as Botta's chief artist. During these Assyrian campaigns, Bianili (Urartu) was ruled by Sarduri and later by his son Rusa (

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

: Հրաչյա ''Hrachya'', according to

Movses Khorenatsi 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 ...

) with the capital at

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 ...

(

Classical Armenian Classical Armenian (, in Eastern Armenian pronunciation: Grabar, Western Armenian: Krapar; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at ...

: Տոսպ ''Tosp'') on the eastern shore of

. During Rusa I's reign (735-714 BC), Musasir was governed by a king named Urzana.

Potential locations

* Altintepe: Since 1959, the Historical Society and the Department of Antiquities have conducted excavations in the Yerznka area, west of Karin. Here at Altintepe was revealed an

temple and other monuments. Only the foundations of the temple are in view. Obviously this is not the temple of Musasir as it is located far away from the concerned area. * Rabat Tepe: Recently a site excavated in Iran, which is called Rabat Tepe and located at the southwestern side of Lake Urmia, was identified as Musasir. *At a site called Gund-i Topzawa north of

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. Hu ...

References

External links

Searching for the Kingdom of Musasir - Penn Museum
{{Urartian cities Mannaeans Urartian cities Former populated places in Iran 1st millennium BC in Assyria