Browsing by Author "Konyar, Erkan"

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Excavations at the Van Fortress, the Mound and the Old City of Van in 2012
(Colloquium Anatolicum XII/Türk Eskiçağ Bilimleri Enstitüsü: 193-210., 2012) Genç, Bülent; Avcı, Can; Genç, Bülent; Akgün, Rıza Gürler; Tan, Armağan; Department of Archaeology / Arkeoloji Bölümü
The capital of the Urartians, a kingdom centred at Lake Van basin be tween the ninth and the sixth centuries BC, was at the city of Van/Tushpa. The city of Van comprises a citadel rising on top of a mass of conglomerate rocks measuring 1345 m long, 200 m wide and 100 m high, and a lower city surrounding the citadel (Fig. 1). The lower city of Van in the Urartian period comprised the area known as The Mound of Van Fortress to the north of the citadel and the old city of Van to the south of the citadel. This area has been inhabited from the Early Bronze Age to the early twentieth century AD. The fortifications and foundations troughs of the citadel, building floors easily discernible on the rock-hewn platforms, open-air cult areas, rock-tombs for kings, royal annals inscribed on rock surfaces, inscribed stelae, and construc tion inscriptions all indicate an advanced and large state structure
Citation - Scopus: 0
The Tuspa Mound Columned Hall
(Archaeopress, 2023) Genç, Bülent; Konyar, Erkan; Department of Archaeology / Arkeoloji Bölümü
Tuspa, the capital city of the Urartian kingdom, today identified with the Van Fortress, rises on a conglomerate rock and extends approximately 1,250 meters long in the east-west direction, 70-80 meters wide in the north-south and rises approximately 100 meters high on the eastern shores of Lake Van. The Tuspa Mound, which has been continuously settled since the Bronze Age, was the lower settlement of the city during the Urartian period and extends along the north of the citadel. The excavations carried out between 2010-2019 at the Tuspa Citadel and Mound revealed important chronological and stratigraphic data. The Tuspa Mound excavations in particular unearthed structure layers, as well as the architectural and material culture, related to the Urartian period. The identification of building levels belonging to the Middle and Modern Ages, Post-Urartian/Late Iron Age, Urartian, Early Iron, and Bronze Ages has provided important contributions to understanding the settlement history of the Lake Van Basin. In this article, the structure and archaeological data of the columned hall belonging to the Early Urartian Building Level, which was unearthed as a result of 10 years of excavation at Tuspa Mound are evaluated and the results are interpreted.
Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 0
Urartian Cult of the Stelae and New Discoveries at Aznavurtepe and Yesilalic (Ashotakert)
(Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions, 2022) Genç, Bülent; Işık, Kenan; Genç, Bülent; Konyar, Erkan; Department of Archaeology / Arkeoloji Bölümü
The Urartian Kingdom is recognized for its idiosyncratic religious architecture and ritual practices. Tower-temples (susi) at the peak of citadels, dedicated to the "national" god Haldi constitute the most essential element of religious architecture. Additionally, cult areas with an altar and uninscribed stelae on pedestals, best known from Erzincan/Altuitepe, demonstrate that there were different types of sanctuaries in the Urartian world. Veneration of stelae is also known from depictions in seal-impressions. Recent discoveries of an open-air sanctuary with stelae at Varto/Kayandere and uninscribed stelae at Aznavurtepe and Yesilalic bear witness to the wide distribution of this cult. Although discoveries at Altintepe and Varto/Kayandere led to an association of stelae with funerary cults, inscriptions that speak of Haldi worship in front of stelae (pulusi) strongly suggest that stelae sanctuaries on the slopes of citadels must be related with the Haldi cult, in whose name susi and temple complexes (E.BARA) were built in citadels.
Citation - Scopus: 2
Van Kalesi Analıkız Yapısı: İşlev ve Kronolojisine Dair Bir Değerlendirme.
(İstanbul Üniversitesi Yayınevi, 2019) Genç, Bülent; Konyar, Erkan; Department of Archaeology / Arkeoloji Bölümü
Özet: Van Kalesi'nin kuzeydoğu yamaçlarında, ova düzeyine yakın bir yükseltide Analıkız veya Hazine Kapısı olarak adlandırılan kaya anıtı yer almaktadır. Anıt ana kayaya işlenmiş bir platform ve gerisinde yine ana kayaya açılmış iki adet anıtsal nişten oluşur. Marr ve Orbeli'nin 1916 yılında gerçekleştirdikleri kazılardan bu yana Analıkız alanının işlevi, sitadelle ilişkisi, krallık açısından önemi, inşa evreleri ve mimari tasarımı hakkında ayrıntılı bir değerlendirme yapılmamıştır. Literatürde bu alan genel olarak Açık Hava Kutsal Alanı olarak tanımlanmıştır. Lehmann-Haup'tun 1898'lerde alanın kuzeyinde yer alan drenaj kanallarını kurban kanalı olarak tanımlaması açık hava kutsal alanı tanımını yerleştirmiş ve sonraki çalışmalara referans olmuştur. Bu makalede alanla ilgili literatür ve hikayeleri ve kazı sonuçları tekrar değerlendirilerek yeniden tanımlanmaya çalışılmıştır. Minua ile başlamış olması muhtemel inşa faaliyetlerinin I. Argişti ve II. Sarduri ile devam ettiği yönündeki tespitler, bu alanın yapım evreleri de göz önüne alınarak değerlendirilmiştir. Analıkız yapısının aslında açık hava kutsal alanı olmayabileceği, krallık için sadece başkente özel ünik bir anıtsal birim olabileceği ele alınmıştır. Söz konusu birimin kralların kroniklerinin yazılı olduğu stellerinin toplu olarak bulunduğu bir alan olabileceği ve bütün çevresel özellikleriyle beraber kapalı bir alan olabileceği arkeolojik ve filolojik kanıtlar üzerinden tartışılmıştır. Abstract: On the northeast sides of the Van Fortress, an elevation nearby, stands a rock monument on the plain named Analıkız or also called Hazine Kapısı. The monument consists of a platform engraved into the rock and two monumental niches. Yet ever since the excavations conducted by Marr and Orbeli in 1916, there have been no detailed examinations or evaluations of the functions of the field, the relationship to the citadel, its importance for the kingdom, the levels of construction or architectural design. In literature, this field is generally recognized as Open Air Sanctuary or the way Lehmann-Haupt defined in 1898. In this study, we attempted to reevaluate and redefine the literature, stories and excavation outcomes. The deductions suggesting construction activities initiating with Minua then continuing with Argishti I and Sarduri II have been made considering the construction levels of the field. The possibilities of Analıkız structure not being an open-air sanctuary but rather a monumental site for the kingdom, a field in which the steles with king’s chronicles carved onto them are gathered or a closed field with all of its surroundings have been discussed with the aid of archeological and philological proofs.