Urartu Krallığı'nda harem

The Urartian Kingdom was a dominant power throughout the 9th and 6th centuries BC in Eastern Turkey, Transcaucasia and North West Iran. Despite the harsh geographical conditions of the region, Urartian Kings built spectacular fortresses, and these archaeological remains are investigated today by archaeologists. There is a growing corpus of written materials and artefacts that illustrate the social and political life of the Urartian society. It is known that the Urartians, during the lifetime of their kingdom, constructed fortresses with elaborate features such as palaces with associated courtyards. The available data indicates that the ruling class and their retainers also constructed palaces which had harems attached. For example, Urartian written sources mention that a Harem existed at the Van and Toprakkale fortresses. Further archaeological evidence for harems comes from the sites of Çavuştepe and Giriktepe. There are also some Urartian cuneiform inscriptions that mention the numbers of eunuchs in Urartian palaces. It is also known that after each military campaign the Urartian king Minua brought back some women to Tuspa and divided the rest of the captive women among his troops.