Erebuni (Irpuni, Irepuni, Erevuni, Erevan Urartian. URUer-bu-ú-ni, Armenian Էրեբունի) is an ancient city of the state of Urartu, the ruins of which are located on the Arin-Berd hill in Yerevan, Armenia. Erebuni was founded by the king of Urartu Argishti I in 782 BC. e. as a stronghold for securing the Urartians in the Ararat valley. Due to the fact that Erebuni was located inside Yerevan, as well as linguistic evidence that, when translated from Armenian, Erebuni and Yerevan have a very close semantic meaning, namely “the place of residence of the father”, Erebuni is identified with Yerevan, considering 782 BC. e. year of foundation of Yerevan. After the decline of the city in the IV century BC. e., вплоть до III века н. e. there is no data indicating the existence of a significant settlement on the site of Yerevan. The city begins to be built up again only from the 3rd century AD. e. 2 kilometers north of Erebuni, but already with the "Erevan" uniform.
The settlement was included in the list of "9 most ancient fortresses in the world" by Forbes magazine.

Study History
For the first time, the Arin-Berd hill attracted the attention of scientists in 1894, when the Russian scientist A. A. Ivanovsky purchased a stone with Urartian cuneiform writing from a resident of the nearby village of Cholmakchi (now the Old Nork district of Yerevan). A local resident, Papak Ter-Avetisov, claimed to have found it in 1879 on the Arin-Berd hill. The drawing and an approximate translation of the inscription were soon published by M. V. Nikolsky. The inscription on the stone reported that the Urartian king Argishti I built a granary "with a capacity of 10100 capi" at this place. However, for a long period of time, the hill was ignored by archaeologists, and only in 1947, an archaeological expedition led by B. B. Piotrovsky, who was excavating Karmir Blur in Yerevan, carried out reconnaissance work on the hill. In 1950, the same archaeological expedition began systematic archaeological excavations on the hill.

Identification of the Urartian Erebuni with the ruins at Arin-Berda
On October 25, 1950, during reconnaissance work, the Armenian scientist K. L. Oganesyan discovered two basalt stones covered with cuneiform writing. One of these stones reported on the construction of a granary by the Urartian king Sarduri II, and the second attributed the construction of the Erebuni fortress to King Argishti I. After this discovery, a hypothesis arose that the Arin-Berd hill hides the ruins of ancient Erebuni, and since 1952, archaeological excavations continued on the hill, carried out jointly by two archaeological expeditions: the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR and the State Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin under the general scientific guidance of B. B. Piotrovsky. Due to the fact that many objects with the inscription "Erebuni" were discovered during the excavations of the neighboring Teishebaini, for some time there were doubts whether Erebuni was really located on the Arin-Berd hill: there was a possibility that the tablet discovered by Oganesyan in 1950 fell on hill by accident. After 8 years, in 1958, doubts were finally resolved, and the hypothesis was finally confirmed: during archaeological excavations, another inscription by Argishti I about the foundation of Erebuni was found untouched, on a stone laid in an ancient wall. Thus, since 1958, Erebuni was finally localized on the Arin-Berd hill.

The issue of interconnection between Erebuni and Yerevan
The reading of the name also raised doubts among researchers for a long time. Initially, the name of the Urartian city was read by Irpuni, Irepuni, Irbuni and even Sabuni. Only after it was finally established that a number of items from Erebuni were transported to Teishebaini, and also after the discovery in Teishebaini of the shield of King Argishti I with the spelling of the word "Erebuni", causing much less doubt about the correctness of the reading, the reading of "Erebuni" was finally settled, and also received a scientific basis for the assumption about the etymological connection between the words “Erebuni” and “Yerevan”, first expressed by G. R. Gapantsyan in the popular press. In a 1959 work, Academician Piotrovsky cautiously stated: “It is possible that even in the name of the capital of the Armenian SSR, the city of Yerevan, the Urartian name of the city of Erebuni continues to live ... It should be noted that comparisons of ancient Urartian names with medieval and modern ones, carried out without sufficient justification, can lead researchers delusion." Modern historians take a more definite position, believing that the etymological connection between Erebuni and Yerevan is generally accepted today.

Other archaeological finds
Archaeological excavations in the fortress, which have been ongoing since 1950, have brought many valuable finds and made a great contribution to the study of the state of Urartu. A total of 23 cuneiform tablets of kings Argishti I, Sarduri II and Rusa III were found on the hill. Few objects of material culture were found on the Erebuni hill, which is mainly associated with the fact that in the middle of the 6th century BC. e. the Urartians left Erebuni without a fight and took everything of value to the neighboring Teishebaini. In addition, the urban buildings of Erebuni were located mainly to the east of the hill, and most of these buildings were destroyed during the intensive construction of the settlements of Nor-Aresh and Vardashen on the outskirts of Yerevan. This zone was declared a reserve only in 1952. The excavations of the fortress continued until 1958, the excavations of the city blocks began in 1968. At present, both settlements and Arin-Berd hill have already become part of the expanded Yerevan. On the Arin-Berd hill itself, the Erebuni Museum is arranged, which, in turn, is filled mainly with objects of material culture brought “back” from the excavations of the neighboring Teishebaini. Excavations of the city quarters lying near the hill are gradually continuing to this day with the participation of Armenian and Western archaeologists.

History of Erebuni
Основание города (782 год до н. e.)
As is known from the cuneiform tablets of Argishti I and his chronicle, preserved in the capital of Urartu - Tushpa, Erebuni was founded in 782 BC. e. During this period, Urartu experienced its heyday and was the most powerful state of Western Asia. Argishti I was concerned about expanding the borders of his state and strengthening economic prosperity. The Ararat valley, with artificial irrigation, which the Urartians mastered to perfection, had extremely favorable conditions for agriculture, and therefore was an attractive territory for the Urartian expansion. The local population (according to the chronicles - the country of Aza) resisted the Urartians, and as a stronghold for further expansion, Argishti I founded the new fortress city of Erebuni.
Ethnic composition and religion of Erebuni
The chronicle of Argishti I tells about the settlement of Erebuni by captives from the country of Hati, namely 6600 soldiers taken prisoner in Melitene and on the upper Euphrates, in all likelihood, proto-Armenians by ethnicity, as well as other tribes. In addition, one of the temples located in the fortress (so называемый храм «Суси») был снабжён необычной надписью Аргишти I, которая упоминала божество «Иварша», никогда больше в урартских текстах не встречавшееся.
На основании этих данных учёные высказали предположение, что бог «Иварша» — это хетто-лувийское божество Иммаршиа, упоминающееся в хеттских клинописных надписях Богазкёйского архива, а храм «Суси» был построен для воинов-переселенцев из стран Хатии Цупани. Недостаточность данных для этой аргументации породило альтернативную теорию о том, что храм «Суси» был построен ради божества местного населения Араратской долины, так называемых в урартских текстах жителей страны Аза. Хотя вопрос о божестве Иварша остаётся открытым, учёные сходятся во мнении, что состав населения Эребуни с момента основания был многонациональный.

В крепости также, вероятно с самого основания Эребуни, существовал храм бога Халди, главного бога Урарту. Этот храм занимал значительно большую площадь, чем храм «Суси», и являлся главным храмом Эребуни. В заключительный ахеменидский период жизни Эребуни оба храма были расширены и перестроены в персидские святилища. Храм «Суси» был переделан в «Храм огня», а храм бога Халди в персидскую ападану.

Расцвет Эребуни (782—735 годы до н. e.)
Основание города Эребуни достигло своей цели: урарты успешно обосновались в Араратской долине. Первые шесть лет Эребуни оставался единственным урартским городом в Араратской долине, но в 776 году до н. e. Аргишти I основывает Аргиштихинили — ещё один крупный город недалеко от современного Армавира. Устройство Аргиштихинили демонстрирует, что этот город решал преимущественно хозяйственные, а не военные задачи. Таким образом, уже через шесть лет после основания Эребуни урарты прочно закрепились в Араратской долине и пожинали плоды своих хозяйственных деяний. Каналы, проложенные Аргишти I обеспечили землям необходимое орошение, и плодородные земли долины стали приносить богатые урожаи. В период с 782 по 735 годы до н. e. во времена царствования Аргишти I и его сына Сардури II было построено несколько крупных зернохранилищ в Эребуни. Подобное строительство в соседнем Аргиштихинили было ещё масштабней, а за Эребуни сохранялась военная власть и сила в регионе.

Упадок Эребуни (735—600 год до н. e.)
Безоблачный период существования Эребуни закончился с началом заката Урарту. В 735 году до н. e. Сардури II на противоположном от Эребуни западном конце страны потерпел поражение от ассирийского царя Тиглатпаласара III. Это поражение оказалось переломным в истории Урарту. Приблизительно с 735 года до н. e. Урарту постепенно утрачивало своё могущество и свои владения. Хотя армии Ассирии, вечного соперника Урарту, никогда не проникали в урартские владения в Закавказье, последующие годы противостояния с Ассирией сильно ослабили урартскую армию. С другой стороны уже со времени царствования сына Сардури II, Русы I, участились нападения киммерийцев с северо-востока урартских владений на Араратскую долину. В результате хозяйственная деятельность в Араратской долине прекратила своё спокойное и мирное развитие, и были проведены административные реформы, затормозившие развитие и изменившие статус