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territories and Mesopotamian regions and to emerge as the dominant empire in the Middle East. The vast administrative structure of the Median empire became highly decentralized, allowing satraps, or local governors, wide latitude in the management of their territories.18 Members of the local Ervanduni dynasty of Armenian origin served as satraps in the region of Lake Van and participated in the economic, cultural, and military affairs of the Median empire. Particularly significant was the Ervandunis’ ability to mobilize considerable manpower for the military campaigns against the decrepit Assyrian monarchy to the south, in the process strengthening their own political and military base in the area. Relations with the Median empire deteriorated, however, when, confronted with financial difficulties, the imperial administration sought to tighten its control on the expanding domain. The Ervandunis, in turn, having contributed to that expansion, now demanded privileges of autonomous rule.19
In the meantime, the period between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C. witnessed the emergence of the Armenian nation on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and in the regions of Mush (or Taron) and Van, the center of Urartian power where Armenians now established themselves as the predominant group. The disintegration first of the Urartian and Assyrian empires and subsequently of the Median empire, which collapsed in 550 B.C., provided the opportunity for the local Armenians, led by the Ervanduni dynasty, to conduct their affairs with a considerable degree of autonomy from the neighboring powers. An Armenian state thus took shape along the lines of Urartian institutions and heavily influenced by Urartian religious and cultural traditions and customs that themselves represented the amalgamation of various cultural and linguistic strata.20
THE EMERGENCE OF THE ERVANDUNI DYNASTY
In about 585 B.C. the Ervanduni dynasty emerged as the powerful overlords in historic Armenia. The Ervanduni (or Orontid) dynasty, a name derived from the Iranian origin of arvand (mighty), ruled Armenia during the period from the disintegration of the Urartian kingdom and the rise of the Armenian Artashesian monarchy by 190 B.C.21 Although the origins of the Ervanduni family is not clear, historians suggest dynastic familial linkages to the ruling Achaemenian dynasty in Persia. The Greek historian Xenophon (ca. 431–355 B.C.) recorded in 401 B.C. as he passed through Armenia that a certain Ervand, the son-in-law of the Persian king Artaxerxes I, ruled as satrap in the eastern parts of Armenia.22 Ervanduni leaders included Ervand I (r. 401–344 B.C.), Ervand II (r. 344–331), and Mithranes (r. 331–317). They were the immediate descendants of the
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Achaemenians through Princess Rhodogune, the daughter of King Artaxerxes II and the wife of an Ervanduni satrap.23 During the reign of the Achaemenian King Artaxerxes III, Kodomanus, who later ascended to the Persian throne under the regnal name of Darius III (r. 336–330 B.C.), the last Achaemenian king, had served as a satrap in Armenia. The Ervandunis certainly stressed their Achaemenian lineage to strengthen their political legitimacy.24
The Ervanduni dynasty ruled as satraps in the region of Van, once the capital of the Urartian kingdom, and named the city Ervandavan.25 Subsequently its domain expanded to the southernmost territories of historic Armenia between lakes Van and Urmia, northward across the Armenian highland to Erebuni and Lake Sevan, and to the banks of the Upper and Lower Euphrates in the west. In the mid-sixth century B.C., a number of vassals, including the Ervandunis, led by King Cyrus II (r. 546–529 B.C.) of Persia, overthrew the Medes, whose empire at the time was rent by internal divisions and rebellions. Cyrus II strengthened the Achaemenian dynasty and with his eldest son, Cambyses, launched major military campaigns to India, the Mediterranean, and the Aegean.26 Upon conquering Armenia in about 546 B.C., Cyrus maintained amicable relations with the Ervandunis and (like the Medes) supported their prominent position in society and government; in return he increased taxes and demanded Armenian troops for his campaigns. Confident of his relations with the Ervandunis, Cyrus granted them the freedom to establish their own political power and to practice their local customs.
The Armenians, however, having remained under Median control for more than a century, sought independence from outside powers, and in 521 B.C., when Darius I the Great assassinated Gaumata the Magian, who had succeeded Cyrus, they rebelled against Persian and pro-Persian authorities. To suppress the rebellions in Armenia, Darius I dispatched one of his loyal Armenian generals, Dadarshish, to impose stability. The general registered several victories but failed to end the crisis. Dissatisfied with the results, Darius I dispatched a Persian general, Vaumisa, who in fever-pitch battles destroyed the anti-Darius movements.27 Thus Darius I, with the blessings of the great Persian god Ahuramazda, as he claimed, had successfully subdued the rebellious Armenians. Darius designated a number of Armenian families among the nobility to serve as satraps over the Armenian provinces, with Van serving as the principal administrative center. (Erebuni served as a center as well.)28 Darius I eventually consolidated power over a vast empire, as indicated by the majestic portrayal of raw power and authority carved in the royal inscriptions of 518 B.C. at Behistun.
The Persian empire ruled the Armenian highlands, an area rich in tribal and linguistic diversity and populated by the descendants of Assyrians,
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Hurrians, Urartians, and Scythians among others. The Achaemenians established a decentralized imperial administrative system encompassing more than twenty satrapies, whereby the Achaemenian King of Kings reigned supreme at his capital city of Susa. Under Darius I, the first Persian king to coin money, the Armenian financial system was based on the Achaemenian system, and Armenia was required to pay annual tribute and to serve in and supply horses for the Persian army.29
The integration of the Armenian Plateau into a single political and cultural unit within the Persian empire in general proved beneficial to the Armenian people. As long as the subjects remained peaceful and fulfilled their obligations, the empire’s loosely organized political structure and tolerance for cultural diversity enabled the Armenians to maintain their traditions while the imperial regime provided security against external and internal threats. Armenians benefited from East-West international trade relations and the economic and infrastructural development (e.g., the extension of the Royal Road covering a distance of 1,500 miles and passing through Armenia) sponsored by King Darius I.30 The generally close relations between Armenians and Persians enhanced the formers’ sense of loyalty toward the empire. Armenians served in the imperial army against Greece in 480 B.C. and provided a contingent of 10,000 soldiers for the Persian campaign in Cilicia in 368 B.C. Armenian soldiers served loyally in the Achaemenian army under the reign of Darius III, as during the Battle of Issus in 333 B.C. and the Battle of Gaugamela (Arbela) in 331 B.C. against Alexander the Great.31 As is often the case with imperial rule, however, the Achaemenian army failed to maintain absolute control, and on several occasions the Armenians, resentful of the high taxes, rebelled against the empire.32
Persian political and economic dominance in Armenia also resulted in heavy Persian cultural influence ranging from industry to language and religion. Achaemenian influences were apparent in Armenian ceramics, metallurgy, architecture, jewelry, and the like. The impact of Persian culture was demonstrated by pre-Christian Armenian language and Zoroastrian religio-mythological traditions. Persian words have survived in the Armenian language to this day, including, for example, Persian mazda-Armenian imastutiun (wisdom), arda-ardarutiun (justice), azata-azat
(free), and shakert-ashakert (student). Moreover, Armenians were forced to replace some of the Urartian temples with Persian temples for fireworship and the Zoroastrian pantheon, including, for example, Aramazd, the creator of heaven and earth; Mihr, the god of light; Astghik, the goddess of love; Vahagn, the god of war; and Anahit, the goddess of fertility and wisdom.33 Like Persians, Armenians practiced polygamy and imposed severe limitations on women’s role in society and on their individual freedom beyond the familial environs.
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Outside influences were not limited to Persians. Some of the earliest local Armenian mythologies that perhaps originated in relations with Babylon included Hayk and his archenemy, Bel. Hayk, a descendant of Noah and a god worshiped by Armenians as the progenitor of the Armenian people, refused to submit to the repressive dictates of Bel, the god and ruler of Babylon and, upon defeating Bel, he is said to have led his followers to the land of Ararat, where he established the Armenian homeland. According to traditional Armenian narrative Hayk and his descendants ruled Armenia for generations, and King Paruir, also a descendant of Hayk, founded the first Armenian kingdom. The Armenian people thus call themselves Hay and their homeland Hayastan (the place of Hay).34
The collapse of the Achaemenian empire in the aftermath of Alexander the Great’s invasions in 331 B.C. allowed the Ervandunis to claim sovereignty and to establish the first independent Armenian state.35 By then “Armenia” consisted of three separate regions: Greater Armenia (Armenia Major); Lesser Armenia (Armenia Minor), situated northwest of the Euphrates; and Dsopk (Sophene). Greater Armenia comprised most of historic Armenia. Neither Greater Armenia nor Lesser Armenia was apparently listed among the divided lands in the post-Macedonian period, suggesting that Alexander the Great did not conquer Greater Armenia, although he probably appointed a handful of weak governors in Lesser Armenia. The latter administered the region for purposes of taxation, but Armenians under the Ervanduni leadership soon rebelled against them. Alexander’s death in 323 B.C. led to power struggles among his top generals, who agreed, under the partitions of Babylon in 323 B.C. and of Triparadeisus in 320 B.C., to divide his vast empire into four areas. General Seleucus acquired the lands between the Euphrates and India. Upon assuming the throne in his capital Seleucia in 305 B.C., he rapidly expanded his domain from Central Asia to Asia Minor and to the Mediterranean Sea. He ruled until his death in 281 B.C. Meanwhile, the Ervandunis, taking advantage of the political turbulence, consolidated power in Greater Armenia (and at times Dsopk); the more Hellenistic Lesser Armenia at various times came under Seleucid, Pontic, or Cappadocian rule.36 Armenia was not yet completely drawn into the East-West geopolitical struggles, but Alexander’s campaigns against the Persian empire and the subsequent spread of Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean basin heavily influenced Armenian culture and political economy.
ERVANDUNI ARMENIA AS AN INDEPENDENT STATE
The paucity of reliable information concerning the structure of the Ervanduni state remains a major obstacle for a comprehensive treatment
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of the subject. Nor is there a consensus with respect to the chronological sequence of successive rulers during this period.37 The historical reconstruction presented here therefore is fragmentary, although the available material show direct lineage to the Urartian and Persian cultural heritage and social, economic, and political structures. The Ervandunis consolidated their domain and unified the different cultures into a highly centralized state in the region previously under Urartian rule.38 The state structure consisted of a palace court, the imperial military command and personnel, chamberlains, councils, secret police, accountants, representatives of conquered lands, wine makers, craftsmen, huntsmen, musicians, and cooks. The higher echelons of the socio-economic structure consisted of the royal family and its palace economy, the nobility, and temple economy, as in the ancient city of Bagaran.39 The Greek inscriptions at Armavir indicate that the upper classes used Greek as one of their languages.40 The economy was based on agriculture, metalworks, animal husbandry, and various crafts, all of which contributed to the development of highly sophisticated functional complexes, which in turn contributed to Armenia’s trade relations with the neighboring economies.
Under Ervand the Last (r. ca. 210–200 B.C.), the structure of government had begun to resemble Greek institutions, and Greek was used as the language of the royal court. Ervand had surrounded himself by the Hellenized nobility and sponsored the establishment of a Greek school in Armavir, the capital of the Ervanduni kingdom.41 The Ervanduni kingdom registered significant economic successes, as demonstrated by the reconstruction and construction of several cities. It rebuilt the declining Urartian cities of Argishtikhinili (Nor Armavir), Erebuni (Erevan), and Tushpa (Van, perhaps Ervandavan),42 the latter two having served as Achaemenian administrative centers with geostrategic significance for the empire. The Ervandunis built a number of major cities of their own, including Ervandashat, Ervandakert, and Vardgesavan.43 Ervandashat, a city of approximately 50,000 families on the banks of the Akhurian and Arax rivers, replaced Armavir as the capital city for the Ervanduni state, and Vardgesavan set the foundation for what later became Vagharshabat. Armavir, where the temples of Apollo and Artemis/Anahit were located, continued to serve as the religious center of Ervanduni Armenia but, along with Ervandashat, also became an important center for international commerce.44
As the Ervanduni kingdom consolidated its domain over different tribes, rapid economic development, particularly in the newly emerging urban centers, created vast economic inequalities that pitted one local leader against another and gave rise to centrifugal forces. Local socioeconomic differences and tensions weakened Ervand the Last by 200 B.C.45 In fact, the transfer of the capital from Armavir to Ervandashat reflected the