HURRIANS COMING WITH MASS TRIBAL IMMIGRATION

Major migrations in the region took place between 1000 BC and 100–200 AD. Initially these movements did not lead to invasions, but population growth led to the creation of states and these began to invade and occupy territory with their armies.

The English historian George Rawlinson writes that in the pre-feudal period in the east, the major groups migrated because their land could no longer satisfy their needs or they were driven away after losing battles against other groups.

The main migration routes were from east to west, and two of them passed through Anatolia. One such migration brought the Hurrians to settle around Ani and Kars. The Hurrians are considered to be the forefathers of Semitic culture in Mesopotamia, and they settled across a very large territory from the northeast of Iran to Caucasus, and from north Anatolia to Mesopotamia.

The Hurrians established states in the places where they settled; they also understood agriculture and used a writing style of which rare examples remain to the present day. They brought many agricultural innovations to the Kars region, and introduced the vines that were used in the vineyards of Ani, whose ruins can still be visited. The production of high-quality red wine began in the region in their time. In the Hurrian era, Ani was not yet surrounded by high city walls; instead there were low protective walls, while in the barns outside them cows were milked and the milk then carried by channels to the cheese mills.

The current centre of Kars was at that time a location for workshops that made use of iron, bronze and copper, as well as weavers and other handicrafts. The dominant religion was close to Zoroastrianism– Mazdaism, with a strain of Shaman culture from Caucasus. This gok-tengri (sky god) culture considered fire to be holy. Kars and Ani were ruled by two different kings, with Ani having a superior status; the people of Kars were known to use the bronze coins minted in Ani.

The Hurrian settlement finally began to collapse because of the harsh winter conditions, growing population and administrative disputes. The Kars Hurrians eventually moved south towards Mesopotamia and settled there.

According to Rawlinson, the Hurrians broke apart because of a conflict over the share of land between Ani and Kars. They were replaced by the Urartians who destroyed the whole of Hurrian culture. The real evidence for this culture is the handiwork they left around Van following their migration from Kars.