Newly-dedicated Urartian inscription from Bastam by Rusa II

The Urartians ruled over the shores of Lakes of Van, Sevan and Urmia from ca. the ۹th to ۷th centuries B.C. There are several stone and rock inscriptions remained in northwest of Iran. A new Urartian stone inscription is dedicated in Maku Office of Cultural Heritage of the province and is in Urmia Museum at the moment. It was discovered during a construction project behind the fortification of Bastam. The stone block has been inscribed with a sixteen-line Urartian cuneiform text. As the block is damaged, especially from its right side, it appears that the missing lines are greater than in number than the preserved lines, necessitating some reconstruction to interpret the text. The inscription dates to the region of Rusa II, Argišti II’s son, who founded Bastam fortification. Its text concerns the perfect construction of "The Small city of Rusa" with the support of Ḫaldi. The inscription includes a rare cursing formula as well. But, there are a couple of questions to be answered. What is the context of the inscription? What are the possible reconstructions of the inscription? What are the other similar texts with the cursing formula at the ending part? Where is the possible installing place of the stone block? This article is written with the help of the field and library research and it is the aim of it to introduce and reconstruct the inscription text in order to mention the possibility that the stone block may have been installed at the place where the king received the tribute. It seems that the original context of the inscription might have been a place or gate of reception by the king. The end of the inscription features a cursing formula with a rare content in comparison with the other Urartian inscriptions.

Keywords:

Bastam , Rossa , Seng-Nabashte , Mako , Urartos