opled by a very mixed race, for its mountains
have always afforded a safe asylum for refugees, and at each migration,
which altered the face of Western Asia, some fugitives from neighbouring
nations drifted to the shelter of its fastnesses.

[Illustration: 082.jpg THE KINGDOM OF URATU]

The principal element, the Khaldi, were akin to that great family of
tribes which extended across the range of the Taurus, from the shores of
the Mediterranean to the Euxine, and included the Khalybes, the Mushku,
the Tabal, and the Khati. The little preserved of their language
resembles what we know of the idioms in use among the people of Arzapi
and Mitanni, and their religion seems to have been somewhat analogous
to the ancient worship of the Hittites. The character of the ancient
Armenians, as revealed to us by the monuments, resembles in its main
features that of the Armenians of the present time. They appear as tall,
strong, muscular, and determined, full of zest for work and fighting,
and proud of their independence.

[Illustration: 083.jpg FRAGMENT OF A VOTIVE SHIELD OF URARTIAN WORK]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Hormuzd Rassam.

Some of them led a pastoral life, wandering about with their flocks
during the greater part of the year, obliged to seek pasturage in
valley, forest, or mountain height according to the season, while in
winter they remained frost-bound in semi-subterranean dwellings similar
to those in which descendants immure themselves at the present day.
Where the soil lent itself to agriculture, they proved excellent
husbandmen, and obtained abundant crops. Their ingenuity in irrigation
was remarkable, and enabled them to bring water by a system of trenches
from distant springs to supply their fields and gardens; besides which,
they knew how to terrace the steep hillsides so as to prevent the rapid
draining away of moisture. Industries were but little developed among
them, except perhaps the working of metals; for were they not akin to
those Chalybes of the Pontus, whose mines and forges already furnished
iron to the Grecian world? Fragments have been discovered in the
ruined cities of Urartu of statuettes, cups, and votive shields, either
embossed or engraved, and decorated with concentric bands of animals
or men, treated in the Assyrian manner, but displaying great beauty of
style and remarkable finish of execution.

[Illustration: 084.jpg SITE OF AN URARTIAN TOWN AT TOPRAH-KALEH]