The Tradition of Epigraphy as a foundation of State Strategy in the Armenian Highlands
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52603/RA.XXI.1.2025_02Keywords:
cuneiform, epigraphy, Biaynili-Urartu, Kingdom of Van, Classical Armenia, medieval Armenia, construction, donation, stele, inscriptionAbstract
The tradition of creating inscriptions for various events and occasions was widespread across different civilizations of the ancient world – Egyptian, Assyrian, Urartian, Iranian, and Greco-Roman – during the second and first millennia BCE. The Armenian Highlands were no exception. Here, the establishment of the Kingdom of Van in the mid-9th century BCE led to the creation of Urartian cuneiform writing as one of its strategic state elements, resulting in nearly two centuries of inscription creation.
Over time, influenced by the military and political developments in the Armenian Highlands, writing developed its own
characteristic features, becoming a unique tool in Armenian state strategy throughout the post-Urartian, Classical, and all phases of medieval Armenia. Moreover, the tradition of epigraphy in the Armenian Highlands emerged as a distinctive phenomenon of written monuments, maintaining its own traditional templates and formal-contextual methods.
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