Nairi

For other uses, see Nairi (disambiguation).
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Nairi (Akkadian: 𒆳𒆳𒈾𒄿𒊑, romanized: mātāt [KUR.KUR] Na-i-ri, lit. 'Nairi lands', also Na-'i-ru; Armenian: Նաիրի)[1] was the Akkadian name for a region inhabited by a particular group (possibly a confederation or league) of tribal principalities in the Armenian Highlands, approximately spanning the area between modern Diyarbakır and Lake Van and the region west of Lake Urmia.[2][3] Nairi has sometimes been equated with Nihriya, known from Mesopotamian, Hittite, and Urartian sources.[4] However, its co-occurrence with Nihriya within a single text may argue against this.[1]

Prior to the Bronze Age collapse, the Nairi tribes were considered a force strong enough to contend with both Assyria and Hatti. If Nairi and Nihriya are to be identified, then the region was the site of the Battle of Nihriya (c. 1230 BCE), the culminating point of the hostilities between Hittites and Assyrians for control over the remnants of the former kingdom of Mitanni.

The first kings of Urartu referred to their kingdom as Nairi instead of the native self-appellation Bianili.[5] However, the exact relationship between Urartu and Nairi is unclear. Some scholars believe that Urartu was a part of Nairi until the former's consolidation as an independent kingdom, while others have suggested that Urartu and Nairi were separate polities.[6] The Assyrians seem have continued to refer to Nairi as a distinct entity for decades after the establishment of Urartu, until Nairi was totally absorbed by Assyria and Urartu in the 8th century BCE.[7]

  1. ^ a b Salvini, M. (1998). "Nairi, Na'iri". In Frantz-Szabó, Gabriella (ed.). Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie (in German). Vol. 9. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 87–90. ISBN 3-11-0158809.
  2. ^ Redgate, Anne Elizabeth (2000). The Armenians. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 27. ISBN 978-0631220374.
  3. ^ Bryce, Trevor (2012). The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History. Oxford University Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0199218721.
  4. ^ Trevor Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites 2005:316; Bryce locates Nairi north or northeast of modern Diyarbakir.
  5. ^ Zimansky, Paul (1995). "Urartian Material Culture As State Assemblage: An Anomaly in the Archaeology of Empire". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 299–300 (299/300): 103–115. doi:10.2307/1357348. ISSN 0003-097X. JSTOR 1357348. S2CID 164079327.
  6. ^ Buccellati, Giorgio (1972). "Nairi e Ir(u)aṭri. Contributo alla storia della Formazione del regno di Urartu, by Mirjo Salvini [Review]". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 92 (2): 297. doi:10.2307/600663. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 600663.
  7. ^ Zimansky, Paul (1985). Ecology and Empire: The Structure of the Urartian State (PDF). Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. pp. 49–50. ISBN 0-918986-41-9. OCLC 469553313.