A comparison of The Urartian material cultures of Lake Van Basin and Lake Urmiye Basin in the frame of core-periphery differences

The Urartian Kingdom, which was established as a central kingdom located in mountainous Eastern Turkey in mid-9th century B.C. ruled over the region until the end of the Middle Iron Age. The policy of expansion of teh Urartian Kingdom cannot be evaluated independent from the policies of other kingdoms active in the region. The existence of population groups with a lower level of political activity in the regions to the east and west was decisive in determining the direction of their policies. The military campaigns conducted towards the eastern regions were reflected to the Urartian inscriptions at a great extent. The aims of the campaigns of Urartians can be understood from the information that were provided in these inscriptions. Their main aims were to make the Urmia Basin a part of the colonization system that they have created and to form a strong central kingdom system in this way. These colonization activities were not very different from the activities of Prehistoric populations like the Uruk cultural group based on the "World Systems Theory". The Urartian Kingdom, which saw the Urmia Basin a peripheral area based on the World Systems Analysis reflected its colonialist aims to its inscirptions clearly. These policies, especially with forced population movements and with the increased trade and military movements, resulted with a deepening of cultural interactions already existing in earlier periods. The Urartian Kingdom managed to transform the Lake Van Basin and the Urmia Basin into one cultural and political region, and managed to control it through colonial activities to a great extent. Keywords: Urartian, World Systems Theory, Colonization, Urmia Basin, Lake Van Basin, Material Culture.