Ancient Inscriptions Reveal Warrior King's Lost Victory

A warrior king is speaking again after nearly three millennia of silence, and his message is remarkable.

During excavations at Körzüt Fortress in eastern Turkey's Lake Van Basin, archaeologists discovered three beautifully preserved stone inscriptions dating back 2,800 years. The carvings were embedded in the walls of an ancient temple dedicated to Haldi, the chief god of the Kingdom of Urartu.

The inscriptions tell the story of King Minua, who ruled from 810 to 786 BCE. Written in cuneiform script on basalt slabs, the texts describe his military campaign against a tribal union called Erkua and his conquest of their royal city, Luḫiuni.

What makes this discovery special is what the king carved about his victory. The inscription boldly declares: "I conquered Luḫiuni, a city which no one else had conquered before."

Dr. Sabahattin Erdoğan from Van Yüzüncü Yıl University and Anastasiia Süğlüm from Istanbul University carefully translated the ancient texts. Because the inscriptions were so well preserved, the researchers could read them clearly and even fill in missing sections by comparing them with similar texts from other Urartian sites.

The texts open with King Minua invoking divine authority: "With the power of Haldi, Minua, son of Išpuini, says..." This wasn't just poetic language. The researchers explain that Urartians genuinely believed their military success and right to rule came directly from the gods.

The inscriptions describe the spoils of Minua's victory in vivid detail. Men, women, horses, cattle, and sheep were captured and brought back to the Urartian capital at Ṭušpa, which is modern-day Van.

The Ripple Effect

This discovery is transforming what scholars understand about ancient Urartu, a powerful Iron Age kingdom that once controlled much of eastern Anatolia. The Körzüt Fortress wasn't just a military outpost but a major religious and administrative center, showing how deeply intertwined warfare, worship, and governance were in this ancient civilization.

The temple itself follows the characteristic square design of Urartian religious architecture, with a narrow entrance leading to a central chamber built directly on bedrock. Finding royal inscriptions on temple walls suggests King Minua intended this site to serve as a permanent monument to both divine favor and royal power.

The translations are giving modern readers direct access to how an ancient ruler wanted to be remembered. These aren't secondhand accounts or interpretations written by others. They're Minua's own words, carved in stone to last forever.

Now, thanks to painstaking archaeological work and careful translation, a king who lived nearly three thousand years ago is finally getting his message across.