THE IMPORTANCE OF MANNA COUNTRY IN FOREIGN POLITICS OF THE URARTU STATE

Abstract

The Manna State was established in the south of Lake Urmia in the 9th century BC. The name of
this state is mentioned in Urartian and Assyrian cuneiform sources from the 1st millennium BC.
The region where the land of Manna located is particularly important as it is on trade routes when a
great drought and thus a wave of migration from Central Asia began during the Iron Age. Urmia
Lake Basin, which has attracted the attention of the Urartian Kingdom from the early period, is one
of the regions that could not be dominated and therefore almost all Urartian kings organized
expeditions. The attempt to subdue Manna increased during the reign of the Urartian King Menua
and the Assyrian threat was faced during the intense campaigns during the reign of Menua’s
successor, Argišti I. During the Sarduri II period, expeditions continued and tribute was taken from
the Manna principalities. Manna King Iranzu, who was an Assyrian vassal, took advantage of
Assyrians’ successful war against Urartu, followed a policy of centralization and created a
principality system dependent on the central authority in the country. Although Manna became a
powerful state around the Urmia Lake Basin during Iranzu’s reign, some rulers and princes who did
not like Iranzu’s centralization policy gave Urartu the opportunity to interfere in Manna’s internal
affairs. Urartian King Rusa I used the internal political crisis among the Mannas for his own
purposes, provoked some principalities against the central authority, and a pro-Urartian group
emerged in the country. Thus, the Lake Urmia Basin became the subject of an intense struggle for
dominance between the Urartu and Assyrian States during the reign of Rusa I. With the Assyrian
King Sargon II, the pressure of the Urartians in the region decreased. After the defeat of Urartian
Kingdom by Sargon II, the balance of power in the region changed, and Manna was not mentioned
in Urartian written sources after that. In this study, the importance of the Manna State, which has an
important place in the history of Azerbaijan, in terms of the foreign policy of the Urartian State is
discussed.