I Have Made a Highway of Biainili

After emerging in the Lake Van Basin of Turkey, the Urartian kingdom expanded its territory across Eastern Anatolia, Northwestern Iran, and Armenia between the late 9 and early 7 century BC. The high altitude of these regions and the climatic conditions, especially long and harsh winters with heavy snowfall, likely forced the Urartian monarchy to establish a reliable network of communication: new roads and new settlements along these roads were established between the capital city Tušpa and other parts of its territory. This study presents a reassessment of the archaeological and textual evidence on Urartian routes used for military campaigns, settlements located along these routes, ancient road remains and means of transportation.