Uruatri ( other proposed variants Uruarti ) is mentioned for the first time circa 1275bc during the Shalmaneser's campaign toward lake Van.

 Uruatri ( other proposed variants Uruarti ) is mentioned for the first time circa 1275bc during the Shalmaneser's campaign toward lake Van.

According the Bryce's Routledge handbook Uruatri was a geographic term denoting eight lands in lake Van bassein with dozens of cities.

In this list, two of terms were probably mentioned in Hittite texts as lands being part of Azzi. It is Himua and Uatgun. If true that is quite remarkable. [link in the comments]

Another term Zingun has been proposed to be linked with Urartian Ziuquni. Which was in lake Van bassein also. And another land called Luha looks intriguingly close to city Luhiuni that was in land Erkua around mount Ararat.

Another interesting thing is that at last four lands end with -gun. Was this a real suffix or just a corrupted form of Urartian -kuni/-quni like in Ziuquni?

Unfortunately no personal names are mentioned.

The most interesting thing is that three centuries later Urartians themselves never used the term Urartu even when they were writing about their country in Assyrian. They were using terms Biaina, Nairi and at two occasion they used KUR URI to mention their land.

Here an important question emerges. If Urartian never used the term Uruatri/Urartu who was using them? Who coined it? 

And why Assyrians decided to differentiate Uruatri/Urartu from other Nairi lands despite the fact that Urartian themselves were feeling themselves as part of Nairi.

 Maybe Assyrians noticed an ethnic difference from Nairians. Or maybe not.

 Any idea?

#Urartu