Urartian earrings found in the Van Museum

Data regarding jewelry used in the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages have been obtained from many settlements in Anatolia. During the Middle Iron Age, the Urartians, a powerful kingdom in Eastern Anatolia, utilized the metal deposits in their region to produce various jewelry, weapons, and tools. The Urartians had an extensive repertoire of jewelry, including belts, bracelets, pins, earrings, fibulae, rings, necklaces, hair spirals, pectorals, and pendants. These pieces of jewelry demonstrate the Urartians' expertise in metalwork. In the Urartian Kingdom, jewelry was worn both by bureaucrats and by the general populace. It has been observed that bronze was particularly preferred in their jewelry, alongside other metals such as iron, silver, gold, and electrum, as well as materials like glass, faience, and semi-precious stones. The Urartian earrings in the Van Museum represent only a small portion of Urartian jewelry groups. In our study, the Urartian earrings in the Van Museum were examined in terms of material, form, ornamentation, and usage. The majority of the 105 earrings analyzed were made of bronze. The earrings in the Van Museum represent fine examples of the forms and decorations used in Urartian earrings. The techniques employed in the ornamentation of the earrings include openwork, embossing, plating, repoussé, engraving, granulation, and filigree. The Neo-Hittite Principalities, Phrygia, Lydia, and Assyria were civilizations contemporary with the Urartians. The jewelry used by these civilizations was analyzed in terms of form and ornamentation. Similarities and differences between the Urartians and their contemporary civilizations were identified. It is believed that the Urartians' success in metalworking was based on the predecessors of the communities that established Urartu in the Early Iron Age. The extensive traces of metalworking observed in the region indicate that metals were used both during the Urartian period and earlier. To access all these data, the study utilized books, articles, doctoral and master's theses, excavation reports, as well as photographs, drawings, measurements, and inventory information of Urartian earrings in the Van Museum. The Urartians were influenced by contemporary civilizations in jewelry production while also developing a distinctive style of their own. The Urartian earrings in the Van Museum were examined and classified according to their form characteristics. This analysis allowed for the identification of earring types unique to Urartu; in this study, these earrings are referred to as "single flat pendant" earrings. The Urartians applied techniques such as granulation, plating, and repoussé in their earring ornamentation with great skill. The Urartians continued their distinctive jewelry production until their collapse under the Scythian and Median invasions. Keywords: Van Museum, Ancient Age Jewelry, Earring, Urartian, Mines Quantity of Page: xxvi+269 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Rafet Çavuşoğlu