equally
certain that they are not to be traced to a Semitic origin. It is true
that they employed the Assyrian method of writing their inscriptions,
and their art differs only in minor points from that of the Assyrians,
but in both instances this similarity of culture was directly borrowed
at a time when the less civilized race, having its centre at Van, came
into direct contact with the Assyrians.

[Illustration: 417.jpg ANCIENT FLIGHT OF STEPS AND GALLERY ON THE FACE
OF THE ROCK-CITADEL OF VAN.

The exact date at which this influence began to be exerted is not
certain, but we have records of immediate relations with Assyria in the
second half of the ninth century before Christ. The district inhabited
by the Vannic people was known to the Assyrians by the name of Urartu,
and although the inscriptions of the earlier Assyrian kings do not
record expeditions against that country, they frequently make mention of
campaigns against princes and petty rulers of the land of Na'iri. They
must therefore for long have exercised an indirect, if not a direct,
influence on the peoples and tribes which lay more to the north.

The earliest evidence of direct contact between the Assyrians and the
land of Urartu which we at present possess dates from the reign of
Ashur-nasir-pal, and in the reign of his son Shalmaneser II three
expeditions were undertaken against the people of Van. The name of the
king of Urartu at this time was Arame, and his capital city, Arzasku,
probably lay to the north of Lake Van. On all three occasions the
Assyrians were victorious, forcing Arame to abandon his capital
and capturing his cities as far as the sources of the Euphrates.
Subsequently, in the year 833 B.C., Shalmaneser II made another attack
upon the country, which at that time was under the sway of Sarduris I.
Under this monarch the citadel of Van became the great stronghold of the
people of Urartu, for he added to the natural strength of the position
by the construction of walls built between the rock of Van and the
harbour. The massive blocks of stone of which his fortifications
were composed are standing at the present day, and they bear eloquent
testimony to the energy with which this monarch devoted himself to the
task of rendering his new citadel impregnable. The fortification and
strengthening of Van and its citadel was carried on during the reigns of
his direct successors and descendants, Ispui-nis, Menuas, and Argistis
I, so that when Tigl