The Legacy of Armenia: Trade, Metallurgy, and Forging of Precious Metals of the Ancient World
By LilitMkhitaryan
Ancient Origins - 6/3/2016
Since ancient times, demand for metals has been a big part of
commercial exchange between countries separated by great distance. The
Armenian Highland is situated between the Anatolian and Iranian
plateau, and has played a significant role in ancient times in metal
casting and processing.
In the second to first millennium BC, the exchange of metals was
characterized by very specific features: Iran was exporting lazurite;
Armenia, copper, tin, gold, silver, iron; Middle Asia, turquoise;
Sinai, copper and onyx; and Egypt was known for the export of lead,
silver, and glass.
Since the fifth to fourth millennium BC, the Armenian Plateau
territory has processed and exported almost all types of minerals.
Among them are: copper, tin, gold, silver, iron, lead, zinc,
magnesium, antimony, arsenic, quartz, salt, and more. This is
evidenced by findings from different corners of the region. Those
findings are also evidence that our ancestors knew how to use minerals
and how establish trade relations, including the exchange of valuable
minerals.
The Role of Metals
The earliest evidence of use of metals in Armenian Highland can be
found in ancient records of Hittites (second millennium BC).
Tin was the rarest metal in ancient world. Tin has been the cause of
some long term invasions as far reaching as the British Isles and
Iberian Mountains. In ancient Armenia tin was discovered in several
places, such as Aghdznik, Syunik.
Silver Mines Within an Ancient Town Shed New Light on the Rich History of Greece
Bronze Age Mining in Europe Dates Back Earlier than Previously Thought
Miners in Iberia 5,300 years ago had high social status and rich burials
Having rich minerals, Armenia played an important role in ancient
world in relation to processing and exporting metals. Initially,
Armenia exported tin, copper, gold, and large amounts of iron into
Egypt, India, Greece and Scythia.
Mountain of Iron and Lead
Armenian historians Faustus the Byzantine, Moses Khorenatsi, and
Lazarus Pharpensis have written about various minerals processed in
the region. According to Faustus, the Byzantine part of Armenian
Taurus and part of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia from 189 BC to 387
AD, the region of Turuberan, was called `the mountain of iron and
lead' by the ancients.
According to ancient Greek writers Homer, Hesiod, Euripides and
others, `copper, silver and iron were first invented in Armenian
Highland and then exported to other countries.'
World renowned archaeologists such as Henri Frankfort, Jacques de
Morgan, Leonard Woollay and others, studying Aegean islands, Asia
Minor, and metallurgical samples of North Eastern regions of Northern
Persia, came to the conclusion that the Armenian Highland was one of
the cradles of metallurgy, and for the first time in history iron was
casted in Armenian Highland in the second millennium BC.
In Lchashen, in the basin of Sevan, iron casting furnaces were found
dating back to the second millennium BC.
Sevanavank Monastery on the northwestern shore of Lake Sevan, Armenia.
Iron casting furnaces dating back to the second millennium BC have
been found regionally. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
According to the British scientist Gordon Child and Indian
archaeologist KashinathNarayanDikshit, the first discoverers of iron
foundries were Armenian highlanders, and the `epicenter of the Iron
Age revolution was the mountains of Armenia'.
All abovementioned scientists emphasized that Armenia constantly
supplied metals to Assyria and Babylonia, Egypt, India and Media. The
necessary prerequisite for the development of ancient civilizations
was a supply from a country with necessary minerals or metal products.
Ores and Goods from Armenia
The Assyro-Babylonian ancient protocols regarding Armenian metals are
dated to the 13th century BC.
In Assyrian King's Salmanassar I and Tukulti-Ninurta I protocols,
there is evidence regarding "mountains' heaviest tax," and "mountains
of wealth," which were exported from Armenia to Assyria every year.
Tiglath-Pileser I chronicled evidence that Assyrians were considering
copper, bronze, gold, silver, as well as magnesium ore to be the best
resources of Armenian Plateau. Those materials were produced by
Malatya residents.
Part of a rock relief depicting Tiglath-Pileser I (c. 1114 -1079 BC).
(Public Domain)
According to the Tukulti-Ninurta II chronicles, processing and export
of gold, silver, lead and iron had already been widespread in the
ninth century BC. They were taken to Assyria either as castings or in
form of pots, sculptures or statues.
King Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria, (ninth century BC) during one of his
invasions of Tigranakert region, is said to have taken "67 kg silver,
67 kg of gold, 3 tons of lead and 6 tons of bronze, 9 tons of iron,
1000 bronze receptacle, 2000 bronze cup, wheelchairs made of ivory and
gold." From the metal-rich Mountains of Sasun, great amounts of
silver, gold, lead and iron were delivered to the king.
Nimrud Relief: King Ashurnasirpal II Hunting Lions, (883-859 BCE) (Fair Use)
Shamshi-Adad V (ninth century BC) chronicled that `the great amount of
silver, red gold and bronze items' were exported from Armenia.
Assyrian and Babylonian sources pointed to "countries" in the region
of Armenian Taurus, and in the basins of Van and Urmia lakes (The
three largest lakes in Armenian Highland are Lake Sevan, Lake Van and
Lake Urmia).
In their trade and conquests, Assyrians rarely reached far North or
West. According to Salmanassar III, (ninth century BC) silver, gold,
lead, and bronze pots were taken to Assyria from the provinces of the
western shore of Urmia lake.
During the invasion into Lesser Armenia, Tiglath-Pileser III (eighth
century BC) appropriated three tons of gold and 300 kilograms silver.
>From the Armenian Highland, he also took got gold, silver, tin, iron
and magnesium ore on yearly basis.
Interesting data on the export of metals by Sargon II (end of the
eighth century BC) was found in his chronicles and his address to the
god Ashur.
Sargon II, from the royal palace of ArdiniMusasir (The Musasir
temple, built in 825 B.C., Musasir was the holy city of Kingdom of
Urartu, and the temple was dedicated to the Supreme God of Haldi) is
written to have stolen more than one ton of gold, about five tons of
silver, "white copper" (bronze), lead, carnelian, various kinds of
precious stones, "countless numbers" of copper and metal items, golden
swords, daggers, precious stones, silver spears, cups and other items,
copper boilers, fire-places, ladles, lamps, iron furnaces, and more.
Accordingly, this shows that in the Armenian Highlands from the end of
the second millennium BC until the beginning of the first millennium
BC, metal casting was widespread.
Metsamor: Metal Casting and Ancient Observatory
Talking about metal casting, it is also important to mention the
archaeological site of Metsamor, Armenia, where archeologists have
found a large mineral and metallurgical complex dated to between the
third and first millennium BC. Until recently, Palestinian metal
casting furnaces were considered to be the oldest in the Middle East
(13th century BC), but the big and small smelters found at Metsamor
site are older.
Mining and metallurgical complex at Metsamor, Armenia. (Photo courtesy author)
An ancient observatory was also discovered at the Metsamor site,
thought to be established between the third and second millennium BC.
The general location of observatory coincides with the Zodiacal belt
direction, in which the average line of length stretches along the
sun's annual path. The tracks of the moon and planets are also lying
along the belt.
The Metsamor Observatory (Photo courtesy author)
Standing stones at the ruins of the Metsamor site. (CC BY SA 3.0)
Weapons and Wealth
So during the middle of the second millennium BC, gold items, and the
moldings of gold, silver, copper and bronze were exported from Armenia
to many other countries. Since the 17th century BC great amounts of
iron from Armenia was exported to the Hittites Kingdom, Egypt,
Assyria, North Caucasus and Central Russia in the form of weapons and
decorations designed for daily use.
During that time period Armenia was supplying almost all neighboring
countries with ferrous (or iron) chariots and horses. In addition to
this, according to Manetho, who was priest in Egypt, horse
domestication first occurred in the Armenian Highland.
Mountains of Silver: Tiny Bolivian village of Potosi was once the
largest industrial mining complex in the world
Researchers discover vast ancient gold mines in Spain, the largest of
the Roman Empire
Paleolithic weapons factory was a rich source of obsidian tools from
1.4 million years ago
So Armenia's natural resources contributed significantly to the
development of neighboring countries' economies and military
preparedness. Because of this, ancient countries of the Middle East
sought to control Armenia, or establish permanent trade relations.
These trade relations with distant countries contributed to the
development of the geological and geographical knowledge of Armenians.
Mineral and metallurgical traces at Metsamor site, Armenia. (Photo
courtesy author)
Is it possible that the development of metal ore and metallurgical
production of metals'primarily, the production and export of iron'was
the basis of the development of astronomical knowledge in the Armenian
Highland? Perhaps the simultaneous existence of a metallurgical
complex and observatory at ancient site of Metsamor is not accidental,
but has a very clear and reasonable explanation.
Featured image: Metal belt from Metsamor site, Armenia. Second century
BC. Photo courtesy author, LilitMkhitaryan