This year's annual excavation near Van Fortress in eastern Turkey to unearth artefacts from the Kingdom of Urartu from 5,000 years ago commenced on Tuesday with nearly 40 archaeological experts at the site.
 |
| Van Fortress in southeast Turkey [Credit: DHA] |
The dig is being led by Dr. Erkan Konyar, the director of Istanbul University's Van Regional History and Archaeology Research Center with the assistance of experts from 12 other universities.
With permission granted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the team from Istanbul University has been working in the area every year for the past five years. Some archaeologists are excavating at the top of Van Fortress, where an Urartian palace is located and some are focusing on the northern areas of the fortress to unearth an ancient city dating back to the 13th century, while others are excavating inside the fortress itself.
 |
Nearly 40 archaeological experts started this year's annual excavation near Van Fortress
in eastern Turkey to unearth artefacts from the Kingdom of Urartu [Credit: DHA] |
Said Dr. Konyar to the press on Tuesday: “We are carrying out work in the areas that are identified as Old Van City, the castle and the Van Castle Mound. Our work is aimed at repairing and further protecting Old Van City. … We are carrying out work to protect the areas that we have worked on in previous years. We are also carrying out excavations at Van Castle. The Van Castle Mound contains some of the oldest layers [of historic artefacts] of Van. From here, we can profile 5,000 years of history. These are Urartian areas. The hearths of their homes were on top of here; this wide area is where there were many Urartian homes.”
Centered around Lake Van in eastern Turkey, the Urartian Kingdom ruled from the mid-ninth century B.C. until its defeat by the Medes in the early sixth century B.C. The most splendid monuments of the Urartian Kingdom were built in Van since the city was the capital of the kingdom.
Source: Today's Zaman [August 18, 2015]
