Excavation at Ayanis Castle: Recent Excavations

Ayanis castle, one of the most significant castles of urartu kingdom which is mainly comprised of van lake district between 9-6 b.c, is situated at 35 km north of van, which is now called ağartı village.the last great king of urartian kingdom, the son of arghishti ii, built this castle, the one of five castles which were built by the same king. according to both the inscribed evidence and dendrochronology analyses from ayanis, the castle was estimated to be built in 677-673 bc. the excavations in the fortresses,which is important for urartian archaeology, was launched in 1989 by prof.altan çilingiroğlu. the excavations which have been carried out under the auspicious of assoc. prof. dr. mehmet işıklı since 2013 continue till now. the twenty-six years of ongoing excavations have uncovered a unique collection of thousands of artefacts for urartian archaeology.this article is about the results of protection, repair and restoration works which is simultaneously carried out with the field work at ayanis castle excavations that have been included in the process undergoing since 2013.