A Comparative Study of Urartian Jewelries of Urmia Museum, Iran

Abstract

Urartu is one of the powers of the beginning of the first millennium B. C., which has been located in Turkey, Armenia and north-west of Iran, competing strongly with New Assyrian Empire and encountering to local government of Mannea, and has dominated on some parts of Urmia Lake. The presence of Urartu can be seen in architectural remains in areas like Bastam and Hasanlu. But, the cultural effect of this great power and its affection on physical remains, to comprehend the process of forming and completion of the region’s combined art works, has not been taken into account so much. However, in the Urmia Museum, there is a significant number of artifacts attributed to Urartu have not yet been introduced or studied.In the present study, aims to fill this gap, 31 artifacts including: strap, bracelet, necklace, rod and safety pin and tweezers were selected and documentedfrom the treasury of Urmia Museum. The results of this study can be used for more precise studies in the future aimed to determine factors affected forming of the style features of Urartian art and the Urartian artistic and cultural impression on the region’s culture and art during 7th and 8th centuries B. C., which has been obviously appeared in art works of Mannea territory.