Atilla Batmaz
Atilla Batmaz received his Ph.D. from Ege University, Izmir, where he continues to work as a professor. He has been involved in various archaeological projects throughout Anatolia, including the Ulucak Höyük (Izmir) and Alacahöyük (Çorum) excavations. Dr. Batmaz was also a long-term member of the excavation team at Ayanis Fortress (Van). His scholarly interests center on the archaeology of Eastern Anatolia, especially the history and culture of the Urartian Kingdom. Batmaz has been researching ceramic ethnoarchaeology for the past 10 years and continues his ethnoarchaeological studies in Van Bitlis, Tunceli, and Elazığ provinces of Turkiye.
Address: Ege University
Department of Archaeology
35100
Bornova-Izmir
TURKEY
Address: Ege University
Department of Archaeology
35100
Bornova-Izmir
TURKEY
less
Related Authors
InterestsView All (65)
Uploads
Papers by Atilla Batmaz
Talks by Atilla Batmaz
aspects include styles of visual arts. The present paper,then, aims to draw up a general theoretical framework using diverse elements in order to better understand the Urartian cultural identity.
that mentions an Urartian King ‘Rusa’, possibly Rusa III, relating to his conquest of Elam in 653 BC. After the collapse of Ayanis Fortress the local inhabitants continued to live in the Outher Town since Triangle Ware, a new element, was
found together with the Urartian ceramics. Thus, it is reasonable to suggest that the local people of Ayanis did not abandon the area, but rather co-habitated with immigrants."
culture is the lion-headed shield. It is portrayed in the
Khorsabad relief as hung on the walls of the temple built
for Haldi, the chief god of Urartu, at Muṣaṣir and is
mentioned in Assyrian written documents. Most
importantly, an example has been unearthed in
archaeological excavations of the Urartian Fortress at
Ayanis, demonstrating that lion-headed shields are items
found within Urartian culture. There is, however, enough
evidence to show that contemporary Neo-Assyrian, Neo-
Hittite and Western cultures such as on Crete had shields
with a lion-head protome. Therefore, to comprehend
whether this unique artifact found in Ayanis in 1997 was
an identifier of Urartian culture, it is necessary to
examine it from different aspects. The role played by lion-headed
shields and the meaning they assumed in the
Urartian religion suggest that these shields should be
evaluated in terms of context, technique and style, dating,
meaning and function.
ilişkin buluntuların sayısı bir hayli azdır. Arkeolojik olarak döneminin
kültürü hakkında önemli bilgiler sunan dokuma ürünleri ve dokumacılık
endüstrisi, Yakındoğu Demir Çağı toplumları için önemli bilgi
kaynağı oluşturur.
Dokuma ürünleri, doğası gereği günümüze kadar nadiren ulaşmasına
karşın Urartu yerleşimlerinde bugüne kadar yapılan kazılarda dönemin
dokumacılık teknolojisini ve dokuma ürünlerin özelliklerini yansıtan
verilere ulaşılmıştır. Bu anlamda Ayanis ve Karmir Blur başta olmak
üzere bazı kumaş kalıntılarının Urartu kalelerindeki varlığından söz
edilebilir. Yün, kıl, lif vb. malzemenin dayanıksız yapılarına karşın
bunları işlerken kullanılan bazı aletler günümüze kadar rahatlıkla
ulaşabilmektedir. Bu bağlamda kemik, pişmiş toprak, metal ve taş
gibi kazılarda açığa çıkarılan aletler dönemin dokumacılık faaliyetleri
hakkında bilgiler sağlamaktadır.
Urartu kazı yerlerinde bugüne kadar herhangi bir dokuma tezgâhı ele
geçmemiştir. Buna karşın kalelerde farklı kontekstlerde dokumacılıkta kullanılan ağırlıklar, ağırşaklar, iğne ve diğer farklı malzemeden alet
açığa çıkartılmıştır. Buradan hareketle bazı kazıcılar kazdıkları kalelerde
dokuma işliği veya atölyeleri tanımlamaya çalışmışlardır.
Urartu dokumacılığına ilişkin bir başka veri kaynağını tasvirler oluşturur.
Narratif bir geleneği benimsemeyen Urartular yalnızca bazı
kemerler üzerinde bu yöntemi uygulamışlardır. Bu tür kemerlerden
birinin üzerindeki yer tezgâhlarında dokuma yapan kadın betimlemeleri
ilginçtir. Kadınların benimsediği bir meslek grubu olduğu anlaşılan
dokumacılık ile ilgili yazılı veriler de Urartu için çok sınırlıdır. Ancak
Asur yazılı kaynaklarından alınan bilgilere göre Urartu kıyafetlerinin
ve türlü çeşitli kumaşların doğu dünyasını etkileyecek düzeyde ileri
ve zevklidir.
Bu makalede Urartu dokumacılığına ilişkin temel veri kaynakları sınıflandırılarak
analiz edilecek ve Urartu dokumacılığı hakkında genel bir
çerçeve oluşturulacaktır.
Among the many remains unearthed in archaeological excavations,
the number of finds related to weaving is quite low. Although weaving
products (such as wool, line, straw, bristle and fibre) and the weaving
industry can provide an important source of information for Near
Eastern Iron Age societies, they are rare in the archaeological record.
Data reflecting the weaving technology of the period and the characteristics
of woven products have been reached to some degree in
excavations carried out in Urartian settlements to date. The presence
of some fabric remains in Urartian fortresses, especially from Ayanis
and Karmir Blur, should be assessed.
Despite the instability of textile materials, baked clay, stone, metal and
bone tools used in processing remain. Although no weaving looms were
found, weights, spindle whorls, pins and needles were unearthed in the
fortresses’ various contexts.
Based on archaeological findings, some scholars have attempted to
define weaving workshops or ateliers in the fortresses they excavated.
Another source of data on Urartian weaving comes from depictions.
The Urartians did not adopt a narrative art, except seldom depictions on bronze belts. A scene on one of these belts illustrating women weaving
on a floor loom is interesting. Such depictions confirm that weaving
was a profession for females.
Written data on weaving is also very limited for Urartu. However, according
to the information obtained from Assyrian written sources,
Urartian clothes and various fabrics are advanced and tasteful enough
to affect the Eastern World.
In this article, all data sets will be classified, analysed and a general
framework will be drawn regarding Urartian weaving.
some common features in terms of their context and the period. All were male and found in storerooms or areas close to the
storerooms. Furthermore, all were uncovered in the fortresses of Rusa son of Argishti, who reigned in the seventh century BC.
Their functions are considered to be connected to protection from evils. In this paper, I would like to reconsider these figurines
all together and classify them according to their identities.
inşa faaliyetlerini gerçekleştirirken deprem riskini gözardı etmiş olması beklenemez. Dolayısıyla klasik Urartu inşa tekniklerinin oluşmasında depreme karşı alınan yapısal ve mimari önlemlerin önemli bir payı
olduğunu söylemek mümkündür. Bu makale, Ayanis Kalesi’nde gözlenen deprem riskine karşı alınan önlemleri ortaya koymayı; MÖ 7. yüzyılda Ayanis Kalesi’nin yıkımına sebep olan depremlere işaret eden arkeolojik kanıları aramayı ve 2011 depremi ile antik dönem depremleri arasında bir ilişki kurmayı hedefler.
A crucial theme of the conference and of this publication is problems associated with practising archaeology in eastern Anatolia. The main questions addressed are why is there declining interest in doing eastern Anatolian archaeology, how can we ensure consistency among archaeological projects in the region and how can financial and logistical support be secured, what should be done to attract undergraduate and graduate students to the field, and what is the reason for the decreasing number of international collaborations in the region? This book is intended for all those who are interested in the present and future of archaeological practice in eastern Turkey.
Fortress, near the lake of Van. They are large bronze shields, quivers, helmets, arrows and plates, some of which are decorated with cuneiforminscriptions,anddemonstrateahigh-levelqualityof technological competencereachedbytheancientcraftsmen of Ayanis during the reign of King Rusa II. The artefacts have been studied from a microchemical, micromorphological and
microstructural point of view by means of different techniques, from opticalmicroscopy to scanning electronmicroscopy (SEM), to X-ray diffraction. Microchemical and microstructural investigations showedmetallurgical features of the bronze artefacts and of the corrosion products’ layered structures that can be explained in terms ofmanufacturing processes (repeated cycles of mechanical work andannealing thermal treatments) and environmental context (presence of high amounts of chlorides in the soil that preferentially attack the bronze along the grain boundaries). In particular, the repeated cycles of mechanical work and annealing thermal treatments were carried out to restore the ductility and the malleability of the alloy, thus inducing the crystallisation and the growth of flattened grains aswell as impurities segregation phenomena along grain boundaries.
As with many ancient Near Eastern peoples, religion in the Urartian state provided direction to political activities, even in terms of forming a foundation of legitimacy for the state, and played an important role in activities relating to warfare, agriculture and construction. The numerous ritual ceremonies that took place in the Temple Area of Ayanis Fortress and the temple storage rooms have revealed this role in the clearest manner. This paper’s purpose is to follow the footsteps of one of the new and indigenous ritual practices that Ayanis Fortress has to revealed of Urartu’s religious culture.
of the Ayanis fortress (Eastern Anatolia, Turkey), have been investigated by means of scanning electron
microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEMeEDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-
Raman (m-Raman) and optical microscopy (OM) techniques. The analysis of the Ayanis cakes has shown
the presence of Egyptian blue (i.e. CuCaOSi4O10, cuprorivaite), as the major component, intermixed with
minor amount of other phases such as partially reacted quartz grains, an adherent glass phase and
copper oxides. Since the finding of Egyptian Blue in Turkey has been never reported so far, great attention
has been paid to its characterisation. The micro-chemical and micro-structural investigations of the
Ayanis cakes have allowed a further insight into the manufacturing process and into the sources of the
starting materials. The results of the characterisation have revealed some significant differences with
respect to Egyptian blue cakes found in Egypt and Mesopotamia, as for instance the absence of tin
excluded the use of bronze scraps or filings in their preparation differently from those produced in Egypt
and Mesopotamia. Furthermore, some peculiarities of Egyptian blue found in Ayanis, as the detection of
zinc in the cakes, allow to put forward the hypothesis of a local production considering that a large part
of the bronze artefacts found at the Ayanis fortress is characterised by the presence of zinc as minor
alloying element.
KEYWORDS: URARTU, METALLURGY, BRONZE, ANATOLIA, IRON AGE, ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS, LEAD ISOTOPE RATIO ANALYSIS
The paper analyses tin bronze weaponry found at the first‐half‐of‐the‐seventh‐century‐BCE Urartian fortress in the Lake Van region of eastern Turkey. Examples of finely manufactured artefacts provide evidence for the consumption of high‐quality bronzes in a well‐defined elite context. This study tests for the presence or absence of long‐distance procurement of the raw materials used to produce status objects. The results of quantitative elemental and lead isotope abundance ratio analyses show that the bronzes were produced with varying copper tin alloys, and the copper was procured from several possible locations, including Anatolia and Cyprus.
pottery of the Urartian Kingdom (9th–6th century BC) was
manufactured. Ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology,
as well as more traditional archaeological research methods, are
used to discern the processes involved. First, the pottery was
categorized based on surface treatment. Next, ethnoarchaeological
research was carried out in the village of Bardakçı in the province
of Van (Eastern Turkey) to gain a more detailed understanding of
ancient ceramic production techniques. This approach and
subsequent experiments provided important insights into the
technology that was used during the production of ancient
Urartian pottery. The findings of the ethnoarchaeological work
indicate that the practices of modern potters living in villages near
Urartian settlements are similar, in terms of materials and methods,
to the practices of the past.
İki çağdaş kültürün birbiri arasında etkileşim veya iletişim olduğunu gösteren kanıtlardan bir tanesi çanak çömlek özellikleridir. Öte yandan farklı zamanlarda yaşamış ancak aynı coğrafyayı paylaşmış kültürlerin ürettiği benzer nesneler/ürünler için bir iletişim veya etkileşimden söz edilemez. Zira doğrudan bir temas yoktur, ancak aktarım söz konusu olabilir. Urartu seramiği ile Tophane Lüleleri arasındaki olası bir ilişkiyi konu olan bu makalede zamansal boşluk büyük bir sorun yaratmaktadır.
Ancak her iki kültürün de ortak özellikleri Van Bölgesi’nde varlık göstermiş olmalarıdır. Coğrafyanın sunduğu özelliklerden her iki kültür de benzer şekilde yararlanmış olmalıdır. Urartu kırmızı astarlı parlak
seramiğinin astarı Van bölgesinden elde edildiği kesindir. Bölgede bugün halen kırmızı bir topraktan üretilen seramik astarı, Bitlis’teki kadın çömlekçiler tarafından kullanılmaktadır. Üretim teknolojisi açısından Urartu Kırmızı astarlı, parlak malları ile Tophane Lüleleri arasında benzerlikler görülür. Bu yazı iki farklı kültür tarafından elde edilen benzer özellikteki kırmızı astarı çeşitli yönleriyle incelemeyi hedeflemektedir.