Teishebaini

an important center of the Urartian state in the first half of the seventh and early sixth centuries B.C. Architectural remains include the ruins of the citadel, located on the hill of Karmir-Blur outside Yerevan. Excavations, begun in 1939 by B. B. Piotrovskii, uncovered the remains of an enormous building with approximately 150 rooms, including workshops, storage rooms, granaries, and wine cellars. The citadel was at the center of a regularly laid out city consisting of various types of dwellings, corresponding to the social position of the inhabitants.

Teishebaini had an Urartian vicegerent and a permanent garrison; the population comprised artisans and farmers. The city collected tribute from the surrounding region; handicrafts produced in the surrounding region were also brought to the city, as well as agricultural products, which after processing were sent to the city of Tushpa, the Urartian capital. Numerous weapons have been found in Teishebaini, including richly ornamented helmets, quivers, shields, and swords that belonged to Urartian kings of the eighth century B.C. Other finds include art objects, ornaments, various items imported from Egypt, Assyria, and Scythia, clay tablets with cuneiform writing containing records of accounts and orders of the Urartian king to the vicegerent, and inscriptions on buildings. Teishebaini was destroyed by local and Scythian tribes circa 585 B.C.

Finds excavated at Teishebaini are housed in the Armenian State Historical Museum in Yerevan and the State Hermitage Museum in Leningrad.