Van’s Çavuştepe castle unveils Urartian rulers

AT ÇAVUŞTEPE Castle in the Gürpınar district of Van Province, eastern Türkiye, excavations are focusing on the traces of the Urartian ruling class.

Eight years ago, a necropolis was identified during surface surveys at Çavuştepe Castle, which was constructed by Urartian King II Sarduri between 764-734 B.C. This year, excavation work has resumed in the necropolis area, located in the northern part of the castle, with permission from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Under the leadership of professor Rafet Çavuşoğlu from Van Yüzüncü Yıl University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and involving anthropologists, archaeologists, urban planners, art historians and restorers, the team has concentrated their excavations on a site where a noble Urartian woman, buried with jewelry, was previously discovered.

The aim is to uncover new findings about the social and economic life of Urartian nobility and their burial customs in the area thought to be where the Çavuştepe Castle’s ruling class was buried.

Çavuşoğlu told Anadolu Agency (AA) that artifacts uncovered during 63 years of excavations at the castle are displayed at the Van Museum.

He recalled that they had previously encountered two burial traditions: burning the dead and placing the ashes in a jar or directly burying the body in the ground.

Çavuşoğlu mentioned that excavations in the necropolis have always revealed “firsts,” noting that they have found over 60 urns (containers for the ashes of the dead).

“This is the first time we have encountered an urn burial here. This site is an area where high-ranking administrators of Çavuştepe Castle were buried. We have previously discovered significant archaeological finds related to this,” he said.

He also added: “In the past years, we found skeletons of horses and dogs buried with bodies. We expect new surprises this year as well. We continue our excavations in this direction and hope to uncover new finds that will shed light on archaeological history.”