The Position of the God Haldi in the Urartian Kingdom in the light of archaeological sources

Abstract

The Urartians are considered to be one of the indigenous people of ancient Kurdistan and the Zagros regions in the first millennium B.C, the Kingdom of Urartu covered a vast area, from Syrian Kurdistan in the west and the Black sea in the north to Iranian and Armenian Kurdistan in the east and northest to Diyana, Sidakan and Amedi in southern Kurdistan. In this context, the Urartians were able to become the owners of an important civilization and Kingdom to play their role in the region. In this study we will try to present the position of this God in the light of the archaeological material sources that mention the position of this God in the Kingdom of Urartian. It is worth mentioning that in addition to the cuneiform texts that mention the position of this God in the record of the kings of Urartian. The importance of this study is reflected in the artistic remains left behind by the Urartians throughout their reign. The method of this study is an artistic method to analyze and interpret the position of this God and identify these opinions about his position in the light of material and written archaeological sources. The results of this study showed that the Urartian view of the God Haldi was the source of all Goodness, strength and power so throughout the Kingdom of Urartu remained unchanged until 714 B.C, as a result of the Assyrian Campaign destroyed the city and looted the temple and took away the statue of Haldi and his wife Bakbartu to the city of Musasir, as a result of treaty between the Assyrians and the Urartians, all this evidence confirms that Haldi had prominent position and a significant role in the Kingdom of Urartu.