Urartian Gardens

Abstract

Urartians placed great importance on the establishment of vineyards and gardens. Gardens could be dedicated to kings, nobility, royal consorts or their daughters and gods. Prominence was assigned to the cultivation of fruits and vegetables in their gardens, which were situated in proximity to channels of water. Nonetheless, their overall area was on a fairly small scale. Within the gardens, pavilions were erected upon posts with stone bases. During the hot, summer months, they took on the appearance of arbors. Arbored gardens of this type lay on the south slopes below the citadels of Çavuştepe and Aşağı Anzaf. The Urartians not only dedicated vineyards to the gods, they also offered animal sacrifices to the god Haldi at ritual ceremonies held in vineyards bearing their own names. For this reason, just as in the Near East, their gardens bore a religious significance. This concept of the garden differs both from the early examples of the Assyrian Empire, which were designed for practical purposes only, and those of the Sargonid period, which were showy and served as pleasure haunts.