Artaxata in Armenia – Archaeological research in a Hellenistic metropolis in the Ararat plain

阿尔塔萨塔是亚美尼亚王朝阿尔塔西德王朝的首都，后来从塞琉西王朝独立出来。阿尔塔萨塔于公元前2世纪19世纪由国王阿塔齐亚斯一世(公元前189-160年)建立，迅速发展成为亚美尼亚的一座重要城市。阿尔塔萨塔位于现代城镇Artashat以南约10公里处，位于Khor Virap山丘上。自2018年以来，一个亚美尼亚-德国团队一直在对这座城市进行研究。此前，发掘只在20世纪70年代和80年代在该市选定的地区进行。亚美尼亚科学院的几项实地研究活动侧重于丘陵和防御工事的测地线测量。此外，他们还集中在一号山和八号山的两个较大的城市住宅区。很大一部分结果至今仍未公布。因此，对阿尔塔萨塔的了解仍然不令人满意。这里提出的延长研究项目的目的是继续与亚美尼亚科学院成功合作，澄清有关城市规划和希腊化时期城市文化概况的核心问题。到目前为止，在“下城”开展的工作显示了澄清阿尔塔萨塔创始阶段的巨大潜力：一个新建立的阿塔西亚式居住城市是什么样子，罗马毁灭带来的城市后果是什么？亚美尼亚的“希腊化”有什么特点，这个时代的哪些文化遗产遵循土著传统，哪些创新可以确定，哪些形式的文化适应或转变(“希腊化”/“罗马化”)可以在物质文化中把握？这些问题的答案与第一个筹资阶段取得的成果有关，这些成果包括一条未完工的罗马渡槽、走廊房屋和一个假定为神圣的建筑群以及一个纪念性大厅。它还与可确定年代的陶器年表的编制有关，由于收集了基础时期(2美分)的14C数据，该年表在项目第一阶段之后已经提前。公元前，第一阶段)。对于随后的第二阶段和第三阶段(第一美分。公元前1世纪)，这样的细纹陶器类型学也是针对。已经表明，传统的陶器年代测定和以前的城市历史分期，几乎完全基于文献资料，必须通过新的考古特征和发现来重新评估。只有通过这种方式，并纳入进一步的考古研究方法，才有可能对这座城市进行理想的文化历史分类。田野调查集中在十三号山以南的地貌上。勘察和挖掘的结果是在山的南面，也就是第二山的斜坡附近，发现了一个大型大厅建筑群，勘测工作将需要两次进一步的挖掘工作。这个建筑群对于理解重新奠基是至关重要的，因为它是在乌尔雅建造的，但在阿尔西亚德时期被重复使用。

Artaxata was the capital of the Armenian kingdom of the Artaxid dynasty, which had become independent from the Seleucids. Founded in the 180s of the 2nd cent, BC by King Artaxias I (189-160 BC), Artaxata rapidly developed into an important city of Armenia. Artaxata is located about 10 km south of the modern town of Artashat on the hills of Khor Virap. Since 2018, an Armenian-German team is researching the city. Previously, excavations were carried out only in selected areas of the city in the 1970s and 80s. Several field research campaigns by the Armenian Academy of Sciences focused on geodesic survey of the hills and the fortifications. In addition, they concentrated on two larger urban quarters on Hills I and VIII. A large part of the results remains unpublished to this day. Knowledge of Artaxata thus remains unsatisfactory. The research project proposed here for extension is intended to continue the successful cooperation with the Armenian Academy of Sciences to clarify central questions concerning urbanistics and the cultural profile of the city in the Hellenistic period. The work carried out so far in the 'Lower City' shows enormous potential for clarifying the founding phase of Artaxata: what does a newly founded Artaxian residential city look like and what are the urbanistic consequences of the Roman destruction? How is Armenian 'Hellenism' characterized, which cultural legacies of this epoch follow an indigenous tradition, which innovations can be identified, and which forms of cultural adaptation or transformation ('Hellenization' / 'Romanization') can be grasped in material culture? The answers to these questions are linked to the results achieved in the first funding phase, an unfinished Roman aqueduct, corridor houses and a presumed sacred complex as well as a monumental hall. It is also linked to the development of a firmly datable pottery chronology, which is already advanced after the first phase of the project thanks to the collection of 14C data for the foundation period (2nd cent. BC, phase I). For the subsequent phases II and III (1st cent. BC / 1st century AD), such a fine-grained pottery typology is also aimed at. It has been shown that the traditional dating of pottery and the previous phasing of the city's history, based almost exclusively on literary sources, must be re-evaluated by the new archaeological features and finds. Only in this way and with the inclusion of further archaeometric research methods is the desired cultural-historical classification of the city possible. The fieldwork concentrates on the features south of Hill XIII. The results of the prospection and excavation to the south of the hill and thus in the immediate vicinity of the slopes of Hill II have brought to light a large hall complex, the investigation of which will take two further excavation campaigns. This complex is crucial for the understanding of the refoundation as it was constructed in the Urartian but reused in the Artaxiad period.