Urartian Chief
Sargon II period

[Iranian allies or subjects, wearing skin cloaks, from the west Zagros Mountains]
An extract from
Armies and Enemies of Ancient Egypt and Assyria, 3200BC to 612BC
by Alan Buttery


87.    Urartian Chief

The Urartians wore their hair in closely twisted ringlets arranged in horizontal tiers. It was bound by a fillet with some of the ringlets hanging over the front. The man depicted wears his beard long as was the case in persons of high rank.

The tunic reached to the knees, or just below, and was secured at the waist by a girdle of woven ribbon from which hung a tassel. Laced boots reached either to the middle of the calf or, as shown, to above the knee. The skin worn over his shoulder was leopard or some other animal (leopards are found in Armenia) and was fastened by a cord at the right shoulder.

(a)        shows the Urartian helmet with crest which was fixed across the helmet crown but, later, was bunched together in the centre.
[Based on sculptures of Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad; 'Sargon's city'), Room 2, detail of Bas Relief 18
'The Assyrians capture Ganguhtu, Bit Bagaya, and Kiundau, and accept the surrender of Tikrakka', in 716BC.
]
[87a Helmet crests on the 'Bronze Gates at Balawat' showing the conquest of Urartu by Shalmaneser III in 859 BC



See also 84. Urartian Infantryman, in Armies and Enemies of Ancient Egypt and Assyria by Alan Buttery
Urartu: The Kingdom of Van, Opposition for the Assyrians by Clive Naseby
Next: 102. Assyrian Light Archer, New Assyrian Empire - Ashurbanipal period, in Armies and Enemies of Ancient Egypt and Assyria by Alan Buttery