Ḫaldi (^d,''Ḫaldi'', also known as Khaldi) was one of the three chief deities of

Urartu Urartu was an Iron Age kingdom centered around the Armenian highlands between Lake Van, Lake Urmia, and Lake Sevan. The territory of the ancient kingdom of Urartu extended over the modern frontiers of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Armenia.Kleiss, Wo ...

(Urarat/Ararat Kingdom) along with Teisheba and Shivini. He was a warrior god to whom the kings of

would pray for victories in battle. Ḫaldi was portrayed as a man with or without wings, standing on a lion. His principle shrine was at

Ardini Muṣaṣir (Assyrian cuneiform: and variants, including Mutsatsir, Akkadian for ''Exit of the Serpent/Snake''), in Urartian Ardini was an ancient city of Urartu, attested in Assyrian sources of the 9th and 8th centuries BC. It was acquired b ...

(Muṣaṣir). The temples dedicated to Khaldi were adorned with weapons such as swords, spears, bows and arrows, and shields hung from the walls and were sometimes known as "the house of weapons". Museum of Anatolian Civilizations066

History

According to Urartologist Paul Zimansky, Haldi was not a native Urartian god but apparently an obscure Akkadian deity (which explains the location of the main temple of worship for Haldi in Musasir, believed to be near modern Rawandiz, Iraq). Haldi was not initially worshipped by Urartians, at least as their chief god, as his cult does not appear to have been introduced until the reign of Ishpuini. Haldi

According to Michael C. Astour, Haldi could be etymologically related to the

Hurrian The Hurrians (; ; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri) were a people who inhabited the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age. They spoke the Hurro-Urartian language, Hurrian language, and lived throughout northern Syria (region) ...

word "heldi", meaning "high". An alternate theory postulates that the name could be of

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

(possibly Helleno-Armenian) or

Old Armenian Classical Armenian (, , ; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and most Armenian literature fro ...

origin, meaning "sun god" (compare with Hellenic ''

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

'' and Roman '' Sol''). The Urartian Kings used to erect steles dedicated to Ḫaldi in which they inscribed the successes of their military campaigns, the buildings built, and also the agricultural activities that took place during their reign.

Mythology

Along with Ḫaldi of

, the other two chief deities of

were Theispas of Kumenu, and Shivini of Tushpa. Of all the gods of the Urartian pantheon, the most inscriptions are dedicated to Ḫaldi. His wife was the goddess Arubani and / or the goddess Bagvarti. He was the primary god of the most prominent group of Urartian tribes. Some sources claim that the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenians,

Hayk Hayk (, ), also known as Hayk Nahapet (, , ), is the legendary patriarch and founder of the Armenian nation. His story is told in the ''History of Armenia'' attributed to the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi and in the ''Primary History'' ...

, is derived from Ḫaldi, but other theories about the etymology of ''Hayk'' are more widely accepted. Haldi's depiction in Uratian art has been the subject of confusion, and as of 2012 no images of him explicitly labelled as such were known. In 1963, Margarete Riemschneider proposed that Ḫaldi was "pictureless" and never depicted in Uratian imagery, and suggested that he was symbolized by a lance. wrote that he had been a skeptic of this theory, but : "I think it unlikely that the paucity of securely identified depictions of Haldi can be due entirely to the poverty of secure identifications in Uratian art generally" and suggested that one image, of a man surrounded by flames leading a pantheon of gods into battle, might represent the king – a ''"mortal agent ... empowered by the divine"''.

Gallery

Tample of Khaldi plan.jpg, Khaldi's temple in Erebuni, 782 BCE Stamp of Armenia m31.jpg, Khaldi god standing on a lion,

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 around the ...

postage stamp, 1993 RusaCube03.jpg RusaCube04.jpg Erevan - La forteresse d'Erébouni 03.JPG,

Erebuni Fortress Erebuni Fortress () is an Urartian fortified city, located in Yerevan, Armenia. It is above sea level. It was one of several fortresses built along the northern Urartian border and was one of the most important political, economic and cultural ...

Erevan - La forteresse d'Erébouni 04.JPG,

2014 Erywań, Erebuni, Ruiny twierdzy (18).jpg, Erywań,

Erebuni pattern.jpg, Erebuni pattern Armenia - Close up (5034044461).jpg, Modern Armenian reproduction Urartian Carcanet.jpg, Urartian Carcanet

History

Mythology

Gallery

Footnotes

References

Further reading