The fall of the kingdom of Urartu

The Urartu Kingdom established a central administrative system in Eastern Anatolia for the first time in the mid-9th century BC and ruled the land for over 200 years. Therefore, the decline and fall of this kingdom is a completely fascinating subject full of unknowns and question marks. Although this process has attracted the attention of some researchers in recent times, studies in this field have been limited due to the lack of written and archaeological data. Hence, many of the answers to its fall are unclear. For example, it is unclear whether the decline started in one particular region and spread to other regions or occurred collectively. Among the other questions that need to be answered is whether the government and the royal families continued after the large fires that were observed in different strata in the Urartian centers or not. And if kings like Rusa and Sarduri - mentioned in inscription tablets - were actually from the same dynasty. The scarcity of written documents that can shed light on the death of the Urartu kingdom has forced us to study the archaeological remains to reach certain conclusions about this process.