During the excavation of a grave in the district of Hatsarat of Gavar, a tomb was discovered from the times of the Kingdom of Van (Urartu). Details of the excavations were presented by Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Deputy Director for Scientific activities of “Service for the Protection of the Historical Environment and Historical and Cultural Reservations” SNCO, Ashot Piliposyan. According to his research, the tomb and all the properties found inside of it belong to the last phase of the military and political history of the Kingdom of Van, i.e. the 7th century BC. The finds discovered during the excavations will complement the Metsamor exhibition.

Ashot Piliposian noted that the tomb belongs to the 7th century BC. It was probably the funeral of a high-ranked person. Despite the fact that the skeletons were mixed, the archaeologists managed to find out that there were four men and one woman. “Seemingly, the man had a high social status. Ceremonial pottery was also found there. It means that Lake Sevan played an important role in the economic and political life of the Kingdom of Van from the 7th century BC”, - noted A. Piliposyan. 

He noted about an iron spear and fragments of a dagger, a bronze stream, agate beads, gold incrustations with ornaments. According to Piliposyan, this tomb and the nearby fortress "Berdi Glukh" were built at the same time. Urartians settled in this fortress and also organized funerals. The work on the restoration of skeletons has already started: first long bones are connected to calculate the height of people, and then the skulls will be restored, which is very difficult, since the bones of the skulls are fragmented. 

 “In fact, the whole historical-cultural life of Urartu is based on natural science materials, the study of the tomb showed that Sevan basin played a great role in the Kingdom of Van during the reign of Argishti II and Husa II. It controlled the road leading to Artsakh and as well as the roads to Sotk, Spahan, as there were gold mines and the government was interested in controlling them”, -he said.

It should be noted that the excavations will resume in March.