Erebuni Fortress - Excavations

Excavations

Early excavations began during the nineteenth century while more systematic excavations were carried out at Erebuni in 1952, under the joint sponsorship of the Armenian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography and the Pushkin Museum's Board for the Preservation and Restoration of Architectural Monuments. The team was led by Konstantine Hovhannisyan and Boris Piotrovsky, who served as an on-site adviser. In the course of the early stage of the excavations (1950–1968), Argishti's palace, the royal assembly hall, temples and over a hundred rooms were excavated. Dozens of Urartian and Achaemenian artifacts, such as pottery, earthenware, belt-buckles, bracelets, beads, drinking vessels, helmets, arrows and silver coins, were also uncovered. The fragments of murals that were uncovered were found to be decorated with important religious themes, including "processions of gods, sacred animals, and trees of life", as well as scenes of everyday life, displaying scenes of "hunting, cattle breeding, and agriculture."

Storage areas for grain, oil, and wine were also uncovered. On the doors of the storage areas inscriptions were placed at the entry doors telling the who built the storage area and the quantity of the items placed in them. One such inscription reads:

The enormous ceramic jars that held the wine and oil had markings upon them. Smaller ceramic vessels were also found in excavations and are known to have been used in brewing beer made from barley. Other much larger vessels were used for storing foods and wine. Small circular markings on the sides of these containers near the top indicated the amount that could be stored inside. The larger of the vessels were usually buried half-way into the soil which naturally kept the contents cool.

Numerous cuneiform inscriptions carved on basalt have been found around the complex. Some of which are currently displayed in the museum, while others can still be found displayed on the walls.

In 1968 the Erebuni Museum of History was established. Its opening was timed to coincide with the 2750th anniversary of Yerevan. The museum houses items uncovered during the excavations at Arin Berd and Karmir Blur and gives a history of the site.