EXCLUSIVE MATERIALS OF THE VAN KINGDOM ERA DISCOVRED

 Currently, they are cleaned, restored and firmed in the restoration laboratory of the RA Ministry of Culture’s ‘Historical and Cultural Reserve-Museums and Historical Environment Preservation Service’.

  The findings included a large number of fragments of ancient jugs, daggers and spears, animal bone-made beads, ear-rings, and others.    

According to Deputy Director of the Service on Scientific Affairs, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Ashot Piliposyan, this archaeological material is truly unique and dates back to the 7th century B.C.. «All the findings will be cleaned and restored in the laboratory and handed over to the Metsamor Museum-Reserve for permanent display in the section of the Urartu period (it will also be marked who has handed these exceptional materials)», said Mr. Piliposyan.

In turn, chief department of the recovery laboratory Tigran Zakaryan noted that there were exceptional pieces of clay vessels and fragments of pottery, which he had never met. «We will try to restore them very quickly, within two to three months. There are also intact items needing urgent cleaning. As to the arms fragments, they are in a poor condition and should be thoroughly cleaned and brought to their initial state as much as possible», said Mr. Zakyan.

The remains of ancient people are also interesting. They were accidentally destroyed when opened, but were collected by the residents and handed over to the Preservation Service, and are currently investigated by expert Hasmik Simonyan. Human and animal bones were not complete. By this point in the study, there are five adult human bones, four of whom are men. It is clear that these men have had a spinal disease. Restoration work began on the bones, are connected to each other in the long bones of the people to determine the height, it will be followed by the restoration of the skull, which is the most complicated one, because her bones were shattered. Having collected the skull study will show how the man died, beheaded, or any collision or because of an injury suffered during the war, he asel. H. Simonyan complicated and responsible work would be possible to get some important information too. the person's sex and age, after which it will be possible to find out dental what diseases he had, which in turn information will be a tremendous resource to find out what the residents of these people, what they ate or whether the famine was taken or not.

“According to the study by our expert Hasmik Simonyan, five persons were buried in the tomb, but it is hard to determine the major and the accompanying ones, because the skeletons’ initial position is irrevocably damaged. However, the tomb and the items therein are very interesting, belonging to the last stage of the military-political history of the Van Kingdom (Urartu) – the 7th century B.C. This indicates that in that period, the basin of the Sevan Lake was one of the strategically significant areas for the Van Kingdom (Urartu). The tomb is the contemporary of the Urartu layer of the fortress near the Hatsarat cemetery i.e. the residents of Urartu settled here for a long period, organizing funerals also for high-ranking persons, under certain circumstances”, said Mr. Piliposyan.

Zarine MAYILYAN