It was circa 13th century, when the Assyrians, one of the most fearsome people of Antiquity, created a strong state based on excellent military abilities of their army. The military forces of the Assyrian empire launched attacks in various directions with the aim to subjugate and plunder their neighbours. One of the directions of the Assyrian's expansion were lands of the Armenian plateau. The settled there tribes, endangered by the Assyrian actions, joint forces to withstand the common enemy. In this way, the Urartu state was born (middle of 9th century).
Urartu included areas within the orders of today's Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. The capital of the new state was Tushpa, a city located near the shores of Lake Van. The kingdom rose to the greatest power in the second half 9th and the first half of the 8th century. At that time it controlled territories as far as northern Syria.
The Kingdom of Urartu was one of the most fearsome foes of Assyrians. For a long time it was the only force able of stopping their expansion into Anatolia. Also, the Urartu army, along the Assyrian one, was the first military force armed on a large scale with iron weapons. The ambition of the Urartian rulers was to break out of the mountain ranges surrounding their kingdom and secure permanent access to the Red Sea, and thus fill up the state treasury with additional and permanent incomes (from the control of trade routes). Urartu was thus a threat to the Assyrian power. However, it was not able to throw all its forces into the fight against the Assyrians. It was because the state was under constant pressure from nomadic tribes from the other side of the Caucasus Mountains. Nevertheless, for over 300 year, Uraru had kept at bay their warlike neighbours. It was possible only thanks to a strong army. Each year, the kings of Urartu launched a military action against of one their neighbours or were forced to defend their own borders. If wars were victorious, they expanded the borders of the state and brought huge booty.
The Urartu army consisted of professional troops who garrisoned mountain fortresses, served as royal guards and and as a police force called up when needed. Theses infantry soldiers were armed with spears and bows. The infantry, mainly light-armed, was very suitable for fighting in mountainous areas.
War chariot units were also part of the Urartu army (slightly lighter than the Assyrian version) what reflected on the power and resourcefulness of the state. Military aristocracy provided the charioteers to them. A typical Urartian chariot was pulled by two horses (c. 800). This two-wheeled cart had eight spokes. The Urartu state had also as good, or even better than the Assyrians, cavalry units. Horsemen were protected by bronze armour, shields and helmets and were armed with long lances. Special horses were bred by some tribes that lived in the Armenian plateau specialized in this field.
Uraru, following the example of Assyria, adopted ladders to scale walls, siege machines, battering rams to break through walls, and sapper units to dig under fortifications. Urartu engineers and builders were as good as their Assyrian counterparts in their craftsmanship. Owing to those innovations, the country was protected by mighty mountain fortresses of cyclopean proportions. They were built in remote, steep slopes so their look caused fear and respect among enemy warriors. The Assyrians, who repeatedly attacked Urartu, were to find out how difficult it was to sack such a fortress. The garrisons were provided with fresh water from sophisticated water network. For this reason, the only option was to starve the garrison into surrender. The best soldier to combat the Urartians were Scythes who server as mercenaries or allies of the Assyrian army. But even if some fortified cities and fortresses had been sacked, further actions ended up with failure due to terrain obstacles and residence of the Urartu army. Alongside their purely military functions, the fortresses served also as seats and quarters of provincial governors, as well as storerooms to keep wine, grain, oil and other goods taken from booty and contributions. To facilitated communication among the garrisons of fortresses and passing on information about the approaching enemy a road network was constructed.
The Assyrian king Tiglatpilesar I (745-727) significantly weakened the might of Urartu although he did not manage to capture its capital, Tushpa. Nevertheless, the city was later sacked by Sargon I (722 - 705) who finally defeated the power of Uratut which never managed to came back to its previous glory. On the other hand, the Assyrians had never managed to complete conquer Urartu. What they did was to cease it to be a bastion protecting Asia Minor from peoples getting there from the other side of the Caucasian mountings. The Assyrian army therefore had to dealt with a much more powerful opponent - the Cimmerians and Scythians, who represented a very uncomfortable for the Assyrians fighting style. The Assyrian cavalry and chariot corps were unable to defeat the savage Scythian warriors. Ultimately, Urartu was conquered by the Medes and the Scythians. Knowledge of the Urartu state faded until the late 19th century, when archaeologists rediscovered the memory of this once forgotten and great kingdom.