Nairi Explained

Nairi (also Na-'i-ru)^[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.

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, 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]

Geography and history

According to Trevor Bryce, the Nairi lands were inhabited by "fierce tribal groups" divided into a number of small principalities. They are first mentioned in the inscriptions of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (r. 1243–1207 BCE), who claimed to have defeated and exacted tribute from forty Nairi kings. An early documented reference to Nairi from the 13th century BCE is a tablet which describes the purchase of 128 horses from the Nairi region.^[8] According to Bryce, parts of Urartu, a state of Nairi, corresponded to the Azzi of Hittite texts from the same period.^[9]

The names of twenty-three Nairi lands were recorded by Tiglath-Pileser I (r. 1114–1076 BCE). Their southernmost point was Tumme, known to have been south-west of Lake Urmia, and their northernmost point was Daiaeni. These lands are known from the list of defeated kings: "the king of Tumme, the king of Tunube, the king of Tuali, the king of Kindari, the king of Uzula, the king of Unzamuni, the king of Andiabe, the king of Pilakinni, the king of Aturgini, the king of Kulibarzini, the king of Shinibirni, the king of Himua, the king of Paiteri, the king of Uiram, the king of Shururia, the king of Albaia, the king of Ugina, the king of Nazabia, the king of Abarsiuni, and the king of Daiaeni."^[10] Other inscriptions describing Tiglath-Pileser's campaign number the defeated kings at thirty or sixty. It is believed that Nairi extended from the Tur Abdin mountains in the south to the mountainous area southeast of Lake Van in the north.^[11]

In 882 BCE, Assurnasirbal II invaded Nairi, which at the time comprised four polities: Bit-Zamani, Shubru, Nirdun, and Urumu/Nirbu.^[12] These regions all had their own kings. In particular, Assurnasirbal conquered the fortified city of Madara, along with sixty other "cities" ruled by a certain Lapturi.

Assurnasirbal's successor Shalmaneser III campaigned in the region in the fifteenth year of his reign (844 BCE), erecting a statue at the source of the Tigris. Shalmaneser had earlier campaigned against the land of Hubushkia in 858 BCE; his inscriptions report him washing his weapons in the "Sea of Nairi," which refers to either Lake Van or Lake Urmia.^[13] Bryce states that some of his "royal inscriptions indicate that the term [Nairi] now also denoted a specific region to the southwest of Lake Urmia, centred on the land of Hubushkia." The exact location of Hubushkia is uncertain. Shalmaneser pursued Kakia, king of Nairi and Hubushkia, into the mountains, subsequently slaughtering his army and forcing him to surrender.^[14] He then marched on and destroyed Sugunia, the first capital of Arame, the first known king of Urartu (Shalmaneser campaigned against Urartu several more times throughout his reign).

Shalmaneser's successor Shamshi-Adad V (r. 823–811 BCE) campaigned in Nairi at least three times; on the third campaign, he is said to have received tributes of horses from the rulers of Hubushkia, Sunbu, Mannaea, Parsua, and Taurla. His successor Adad-nirari III claimed to have conquered the whole of Nairi. Sargon II's (r. 722–705 BCE) inscriptions describe him receiving tribute from Yanzu, king of Nairi, in his fortified city of Hubushkia.^[15]

In Mirjo Salvini's view, despite their identification in some sources, Urartu and Nairi referred to separate entities until the expansion of the former in the late 9th century BCE. By that time, Urartu had probably conquered so much of the Nairi lands that the "early Urartian kings felt Nairi was a suitable name for the kingdom they ruled." Caught between expanding Urartu and Assyria, Nairi's existence as an independent entity ended in the early 8th-century BCE. In the mid-8th century BCE, part of Nairi is mentioned as an Assyrian province, while in the 7th century BCE, the term is occasionally used in Assyrian sources to refer to the province of Amedi (modern Diyabakır).

Populations

Albrecht Goetze suggested that what he refers to as the Hurriland dissolved into a number of small states that the Assyrians called Nairi.^[16] Others regard this hypothesis skeptically; for example, Warren C. Benedict points out that there is no evidence of the presence of Hurrians in the vicinity of Lake Van.

Linguistic evidence suggests that speakers of Proto-Armenian were present in the Armenian Highlands at least as early as the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE.^{[17] [18]}

According to Lorenzo D'Alfonso, the Nairi tribe Tuali may have moved west and founded the Iron Age neo-Hittite kingdom of Tabal.^[19]

In Armenian culture

Nairi (Armenian: Նայիրի, Nayiri or Armenian: Նաիրի|translit=Nairi|label=none) is a poetic name of Armenia.^[20] It was notably used by the poets Vahan Terian and Yeghishe Charents as a synonym for Armenia.^[21] Yerkir Nairi (Land of Nairi) was the title of both Terian's collection of 18 poems written in the mid-1910s and a satirical novel by Charents, published in a complete volume in 1926.^[22] Terian wrote the poems while he was a student at the Saint Petersburg University's Department of Oriental Studies under Nicholas Marr, where he delved into ancient history. Terian successfully revived Nairi as an old name of Armenia.^{[23] [24]} For Charents, Nairi is a national illusion.^[25] Critic Suren Aghababian described the novel as the cornerstone of Soviet Armenian prose.^[22]

Another poet, born Hayastan Yeghiazarian, adopted Nairi Zarian as his pen name in the 1920s.^[26] It has since become a unisex name among Armenians. It is sometimes spelled as Nayiri or Nyree, while Nairuhi (Nayiruhi) and Naira are exclusively female names.

It has also been used for various things, including institutions, localities, and products:

• Nairi Cinema, established in the 1920s, is Yerevan's oldest movie theater.^[27]
• (Land of Nairi) is a 1930 feature-length documentary directed by Hamo Beknazarian (Armenkino).^{[28] [29]}
• Nayiri (Նայիրի) was a literary periodical, established by the writer Antranig Dzarugian in 1941. It was published in Aleppo, Syria until 1949 and in Beirut, Lebanon from 1951 to 1983.^[30]
• In Soviet Armenia, a village and a district were named Nairi in 1963 and 1972, respectively.^[31] The village was renamed in 1991,^[32] while the district, centered around Yeghvard, was merged into the newly formed Kotayk Province in 1995.^[33] The Nairi municipality (community), with its center in Yeghvard, came into existence as part of administrative reforms in 2021.^[34]
• The Alashkert Stadium in Yerevan, built in the 1960s, was known as Nairi Stadium until it was acquired by FC Alashkert in 2013/2014.^{[35] [36]}
• The Nairi computer series were developed by the Yerevan Scientific Research Institute of Mathematical Machines (YerNIIMM) in the 1960s.^{[37] [38]}
• The Nairit was a major industrial enterprise in Yerevan, established in 1976 by the merger of the Yerevan Chemical Plant and the Polymers Research and Engineering Institute.^{[39] [40]} Nairit was also the name of around 30 types of chloroprene synthetic rubber.^[41] They were named for Nairi.^[42]
• The Nairi brandy is produced by the Yerevan Brandy Company since 1967.^[43]
• Nairi Medical Center, founded in 2005, in Yerevan is one of Armenia's leading medical institutions.^[44]
• The website Nayiri.com, founded in 2005, is a digital library and online dictionary that contains major dictionaries and several books in Classical, Western and Eastern Armenian.^{[45] [46]} It also released Nayiriboard, a keyboard-spellchecker in 2020.^[47]

See also

• Hayasa
• Bronze Age collapse
• Armenian Highlands
• Detail of map showing Nairi between Lakes Urmia and Van, and also between Lake Van and the Tigris
• Detailed map with Lake Urmia as 'Lower Sea of Nairi', and lake Van as 'Upper Sea of Nairi'

References

Notes

References

Further reading

• Benedict . Warren C. . 1960 . Urartians and Hurrians . Journal of the American Oriental Society . 80 . 2 . 100–104 . 10.2307/595584 . 595584 . 0003-0279.
• Götze, Albrecht. Hethiter, Churriter und Assyrer, Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, Serie A: Forelesninger XVII (Oslo, 1936).
• Sagona, A. G.; McConchie, Matasha; Hopkins, Liza (2004). Archaeology at the North-east Anatolian Frontier.
• Book: Wartke, Ralf-Bernhard . Urartu, das Reich am Ararat . Verlag Philipp von Zabern . 1993 . 978-3-8053-1483-1 . Mainz/Rhein . 246745879.

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: Nairi, Na'iri . Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie . Walter de Gruyter . Salvini . M. . 1998 . Frantz-Szabó . Gabriella . Berlin, New York . 9 . 87–90 . de . 3-11-0158809.
2. Book: Redgate, Anne Elizabeth. The Armenians. 2000. Wiley-Blackwell. 978-0631220374. 27. Elizabeth Redgate.
3. Book: Bryce, Trevor . The World of The Neo-Hittite Kingdoms: A Political and Military History . Oxford University Press . 2012 . 978-0199218721 . 199.
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 . 10.2307/1357348 . 1357348 . 164079327 . 0003-097X.
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 . 10.2307/600663 . 0003-0279 . 600663.
7. Book: Zimansky, Paul . Ecology and Empire: The Structure of the Urartian State . Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago . 1985 . 0-918986-41-9 . 49–50 . 469553313.
8. Web site: Schriftfunde . de. "Inscribed objects" (English translation)
9. Book: Bryce, Trevor . The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia . 2009 . Routledge . 9780415394857 . 310 .
10. Book: Luckenbill, Daniel David . Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia . University of Chicago Press . 1926 . Breasted . James Henry . I . 81.
11. Sevin . Veli . 1999 . The Origins of the Urartians in the Light of the Van/Karagündüz Excavations . Anatolian Studies . 49 . 159–164 . 10.2307/3643071 . 3643071 . 192967672 . 0066-1546.
12. K. Lawson Younger Jr. Political History of the Arameans: From Their Origins To the End of Their Polities. (2016). p. 200. https://books.google.com/books?id=vpgsDQAAQBAJ&dq=nirdun+nairi&pg=PA302
13. Book: Boardman . John . Hammond . N. G. L. . Edwards . I. E. S. . Sollberger . E. . Cambridge University Press . 1982 . 2nd . III . 334 .
14. Smith, George (1976). Ancient History from the Monuments: Assyria. (1876). p. 46.
15. Robert William Rogers (1901). History of Babylonia and Assyria. p. 163.
16. Book: Götze, Albrecht. Kulturgeschichte Kleinasiens. 1974. C H Beck. 978-3-406-01351-5. 190.
17. Book: Armen Petrosyan . The Armenian Elements In The Language And Onomastics Of Urartu . September 1, 2010 . Association For Near Eastern And Caucasian Studies . 137 . 9 October 2019.
18. Hrach Martirosyan (2014). "Origins and Historical Development of the Armenian Language". Leiden University: 9. Retrieved 9 October 2019.https://ling.hse.ru/data/2014/09/01/1313574129/Hrach%20Martirosyan%20-%20Handout.pdf "We have seen that the presence of the Armenian language in the Armenian Highlands in the beginning of the 1st millennium is undeniable. It is also possible that it was also present in the 2nd millennium BC, albeit much harder to prove. Even more difficult is the situation with the 3rd millennium BC."
19. Lorenzo D'Alfonso. "Tabal, an 'out-group' definition in the first Millennium BCE." 2012. p. 177.
20. originally published in "The Bells: From Poe to Sardarapat," Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies 21 (2012), pp. 127-168; Book: Russell . James R. . James R. Russell . Poets, Heroes, and their Dragons: Armenian and Iranian Studies II . 2020 . . 978-1-949743-24-1 . 519 . The Bells: From Poe to Sardarapat.
21. Book: Jaloyan . Vardan . A. Harutyunyana . Harutyunyan . Angela . Hörschelmann . Kathrin . Miles . Malcolm . Public Spheres After Socialism . 2009 . Intellect Books . 9781841502120 . 65 . Public Space: The City in Armenian Literature.
22. Book: Aghababian . Suren . Suren Aghababyan . Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia Volume 8 . 1982 . Yerevan . 671 . hy . Չարենց Եղիշե [Charents Yeghishe] . 1926-ին լույս է տեսել Չ–ի «Երկիր Նայիրի» վեպը, որի երեք մասերը («Քաղաքը և բնակիչները», «Դեպի Նայիրի», «Երկիր Նայիրի») նախապես 1922–25-ին հաջորդաբար լույս են տեսել «Նորք» հանդեսում։.
23. Book: Terian . Vahan . Vahan Terian . Jrbashian . Edvard .

    hy:Էդվարդ Ջրբաշյան

    . Բանաստեղծություններ. Լիակատար ժողովածու [Poems. Complete collection] ]. 1985 . Sovetakan grogh . Yerevan . 16–17, 505–506 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220721114541/http://tert.nla.am/archive/HAY%20GIRQ/Ardy/1981-2000/teryan_1985.pdf . 2022-07-21 . hy.
24. Book: Jrbashian . Edvard .

    hy:Էդվարդ Ջրբաշյան

    . Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia Volume 11 . 1985 . 681-682 . Տերյան Վահան [Terian Vahan].
25. Book: de Waal . Thomas . Thomas de Waal . Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide . 2015 . . 9780199350698 . 109.
26. Book: What is, Who is (Ինչ է, ով է) Encyclopedia Volume II . 1985 . . Yerevan . 41 . hy . Այդ բանաստեղծների մեջ էր նաև պատանի Հայաստանը, որն արդեն դարձել էր Նաիրի Զարյան։.
27. Web site: Կինո "Նաիրի"' կենդանի պատմություն [Nairi Cinema: Living History] ]. mediamax.am . https://web.archive.org/web/20220909181553/https://mediamax.am/am/news/yerevan-XX-century/7059/ . 9 September 2022 . hy . March 14, 2013.
28. Bakhchinyan . A. H. . Hamo Beknazaryan's Pepo in the United States . Fundamental Armenology . 2016 . 2 . 4 . 303 . 1829-4618.
29. Book: Drew . William M. . The Last Silent Picture Show: Silent Films on American Screens in the 1930s . 2010 . . 9780810876811 . 127.
30. Book: Հայ սփյուռք հանրագիտարան [Armenian Diaspora Encyclopedia] . 2003 . . 325–326 . hy . Լիբանան [Lebanon].
31. Book: Hakobian . T. Kh. . Melik-Bakhshian . St. T. . Barseghian . H. Kh. . Tadevos Hakobyan .

    hy:Ստեփան Մելիք-Բախշյան

    .

    hy:Հովհաննես Բարսեղյան

    . Հայաստանի և հարակից շրջանների տեղանունների բառարան [Dictionary of Toponyms of Armenia and Surrounding Regions] Volume III . 1991 . Yerevan University Press . 947-948 . hy . Նաիրի [Nairi] and Նաիրիի շրջան [Nairi district] . 1963 թ.-ից-՝ Նաիրի [...] Նաիրիի շրջան - Կազմվել է 1972 թ. .
32. Book: Հայաստանի Հանրապետության բնակավայրերի բառարան [Dictionary of Settlements of the Republic of Armenia] ]. 2008 . Centre of Geodesy and Cartography, Cadastre Committee of the Republic of Armenia . Yerevan . https://web.archive.org/web/20180311232523/https://www.cadastre.am/storage/files/pages/pg_907871769_HH_bnak._bar..pdf . 2018-03-11 . hy . 120. Հ. է վերանվանվել 1991թ.:.
33. Web site: Հայաստանի Հանրապետության վարչատարածքային բաժանման մասին օրենք[Republic of Armenia Law on Administrative-Territorial Division] ]. parliament.am . https://web.archive.org/web/20220726072914/http://www.parliament.am/legislation.php?sel=show&ID=2243&lang=arm . 26 July 2022 . hy . 7 November 1995 . Կոտայքի մարզն ընդգրկում է Կոտայքի, Հրազդանի եւ Նաիրիի նախկին վարչական շրջանների տարածքները:.
34. News: Musheghyan . Trdat . Նոր ձևավորվող Նաիրիում համայնքային իշխանության համար կպայքարի 6 կուսակցություն . . 19 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220904201247/https://hetq.am/hy/article/138030 . 4 September 2022 . hy . 2021թ․ դեկտեմբերի 5-ին Կոտայքի մարզի Նաիրի խոշորացվող համայնքում տեղի են ունենալու ավագանու ընտրություններ։ Այս համայնքը ձևավորվում է 2021թ․ ընթացքում՝ համայնքների խոշորացման գործընթացի շրջանակում։.
35. Web site: Ենթակառուցվածք [Infrastructure] ]. fcalashkert.am . . https://web.archive.org/web/20131024032306/http://fcalashkert.am:80/entakarucvacq . 24 October 2013 . hy . Նշենք, որ «Նաիրի» մարզադաշտն անվանափոխվել է և կոչվում է «Ալաշկերտ»։.
36. Web site: Alashkert Stadion . stadiumdb.com . StadiumDB.com – Database of Football Stadiums . https://web.archive.org/web/20220904202556/http://stadiumdb.com/stadiums/arm/alashkert_stadion . 4 September 2022.
37. Book: Oganjanyan . Sergey . Silantiev . Sergey . 2017 Fourth International Conference on Computer Technology in Russia and in the Former Soviet Union (SORUCOM) . "Nairi Computer Series" – Harbingers of the Personal Computer . 2017 . 44–48 . 10.1109/SoRuCom.2017.00012 . https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8400346 . Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 978-1-5386-4741-7 . 49649210 .
38. Web site: Mathematical Machines of Armenia . mergelyan.com . Yerevan Computer Research Development Institute . https://web.archive.org/web/20220904204425/https://www.mergelyan.com/en/page/123 . 4 September 2022.
39. Book: Հայաստան հանրագիտարան [Armenia Encyclopedia] . 2012 . . 275-276 . hy . Քիմիական և քիմիադեղագործական արդյունաբերություն [Chemical and pharmaceutical industry] .
40. Book: Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia Volume 3 . 1977 . 576 . hy . Երևանի «Նաիրիտ» արտադրական միավորում [Nairit Industrial Enterprise of Yerevan] . Մինչև 1976-ը կոչվել է Երևաևի Ս․ Մ․ Կիրովի անվ. քիմիական կոմբինատ.
41. Book: Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia Volume 8 . 1982 . 148-149 . hy . Նաիրիտ [Nairit] . ՍՍՀՄ–ում արտադրվող քլորոպրենային կաուչուկների և լատեքսների առևտրական անվանումը։ [...] Ն–ի առաջին արտադրությունը ՍՍՀՄ–ում կազմակերպվել է ՀՍՍՀ–ում (այդտեղից էլ՝ անվանումը [...] Թողարկվում են մոտ 30 տեսակ Ն–ներ....
42. Book: Sagers . Matthew J. . Shabad . Theodore .

    ru:Шабад, Теодор

    . The Chemical Industry in the USSR: An Economic Geography . 1990 . . 9780841217607 . 262 . ...neoprene ... The Soviet plant for this particular polymer was opened in 1940 in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and the Soviet product is also known as nairit, for Nairi, an ancient name of Armenia..
43. Book: Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia Volume 8 . 1982 . 147 . hy . Նաիրի [Nairi].
44. Web site: Nairi Medical Center: About Us . nairimed.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20220123151504/https://www.nairimed.com/en/about-us . 23 January 2022.
45. Web site: Nayiri Library of Electronic Armenian Dictionaries . nayiri.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20220204044403/http://nayiri.com/about?l=en . 4 February 2022.
46. News: Armenian Academy's 4 Volume Dictionary & Donigian's 2 Volume Western Armenian Dictionary Now Online . . 22 January 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210610032757/https://hetq.am/en/article/22554 . 10 June 2021.
47. News: Nayiriboard releases Armenian spellchecker for iOS . . September 25, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220905191857/https://armenianweekly.com/2020/09/25/nayiriboard-releases-armenian-spellchecker-for-ios/ . 5 September 2022.