The Origin of the Discovered Urartian Bulla in Ziwiye

Abstract

There are several discovered Urartian artifacts and among them are the bullae. They are sometimes inscribed and sealed with cylinder and/or stamp seals. The impressions sometimes contain an inscription along with a royal, mythical or ritual scene. Royal impressions include the figure and the inscription of King Rusa II. There is an Urartian bulla from Ziwiye with a stamp seal impression representing Rusa’s figure, a parasol over his head and an inscription which resembles the impressions of Ayanis bullae. Additionally, cylinder seal impressions with similar iconography and inscription are discovered in Bastam and Toprakkale. There are previous contributions on the bulla of Ziwiye but none are about its inscription or the detail of the impression in comparison with other bullae. The inscription on the bulla from Ziwiye as Dḫal-di URU (the city of God Ḫaldi). There were several cities of Ḫaldi in the Urartian kingdom but as the impression of Ziwiye bulla resembles to bullae of Ayanis, it is possible that the city this bulla came from was close to or under the control of Ayanis.

Keywords

• Urartu
• Ziwiye
• Bulla
• City of Ḫaldi
• Ayanis