Photoclubalpha

On Sunday October 12th we celebrated the 2790th birthday of our city Yerevan. It is older than Rome by 29 years.
Renovation works didn't permit to shoot much the ancient fortress of Erebuni (ancient name for Yerevan), which was constructed in 782 BC. Here are some shots (some were shot previously).

The main entrance of the fortress


I think it's the guests hall


The maquette (scale model) of the fortress


One of the paintings on a wall (replica)


The ceremony hall


Basalt statues preserved by being buried for centuries



Hope you like them (mandatory )

Awesome scenery (bet you can almost feel the history there) and great captured Doc

The distinct difference of preservation between the ancient stones of the fortress and the statues is almost painful ...The elements of weather and vandalism of thieves through the times are always harsh on historical treasures. I sometimes think that some values are better off of human access, because soon after their discovery they are subjected to ignorance, ill-intentioned actions, and failures in preserving against elements...The details on the statues are beautiful and I hope museum officials either take them indoors or build special shading cabinets to preserve the level of details against harsh weather conditons in Armenia.

3000 years ago there were some very interesting civilisations on planet Earth!! Always astonishing to see them surface with traces of architectural remnants from time to time..

Thanks Dr. Harout!
And Happy Birthday... (I hope thieves stay away from these values)

Yildiz

Thanks Yildiz and Zeb.
By the way the shots were with the 16-105.

You're welcome Doc!

You wrote 'mandatory', remember? I think I'm off the hook now....I guess..?

Hey, just kidding! They are very good photos...

Yildiz

aster wrote:You're welcome Doc!

You wrote 'mandatory', remember? I think I'm off the hook now....I guess..?

Hey, just kidding! They are very good photos...

Yildiz

Thanks for sharing these. Sheesh...I thought I was old.

Winston wrote:Sheesh...I thought I was old.

Oldies are in museums, such as the museum which is at the foot of the fortress mentioned above:

Was this the Hittite Empire? They look like Hittites though I do easily get Assyrians confused with them, same barber but different hat maker

David

Hey Doc the last picture is interesting. did you notice the figure on the wall has it's face turned to the right of the frame slightly ? it reminds me of a particular type of art I can't remember the name of .. the face cards on a traditional deck of playing cards are sometimes made in the same style. your guy also appears to have a "shiner (black eye) on the right side.

David Kilpatrick wrote:Was this the Hittite Empire? They look like Hittites though I do easily get Assyrians confused with them, same barber but different hat maker

David

No, it's not the Hittite Empire. Hittite Empire was centered in Anatolia, Asia Minor, which is present Turkey and its capital was Hattusa. What we see in these photos is the Urartu Kingdom, which was located in the mountainous region between Asia Minor and Mesopotamia and the capital was Tushpa.

Hittite Empire



Urartu Kingdom

Yes Yildiz is right, it was during the Urartian dynasty. In fact Urartu "Oo-rur-too" was mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions only as RRT, no vowels at that time. Could've been read as Ararat as well or Araratian kingdom. Anyway, I'm not a historian, but local inscriptions depict it as well as "Nairi" (Nayiri), or Biayni (Biayni=Van?, thus Van kingdom?).
As for Tushpa (Toosh-puh), it is present Van where you can find similar constructions and cuneiform inscriptions.

Dr. Harout wrote:Yes Yildiz is right, it was during the Urartian dynasty. In fact Urartu "Oo-rur-too" was mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions only as RRT, no vowels at that time. Could've been read as Ararat as well or Araratian kingdom. Anyway, I'm not a historian, but local inscriptions depict it as well as "Nairi" (Nayiri), or Biayni (Biayni=Van?, thus Van kingdom?).
As for Tushpa (Toosh-puh), it is present Van where you can find similar constructions and cuneiform inscriptions.

True, Dr. Harout

That's how the name Ararat came to stick with the modern times too because it was mentioned in the Holly Books while the others were forgotten only to be found in history books...

More pictures from the museum.

Original cuneiform inscription


New carvings on the walls of Erebuni museum

Very nice charcteristic art on the reliefs Dr. Harout. The realism of the human forms is beautifully proportioned.

What do you mean by 'new' in your comments? New as newly unearthed, and only recently put in the museum or new as reproduction of the originals?

Thanks for sharing,
Yildiz