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Mehmed Kusman, the last Urartian in Çavuştepe Castle

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Mehmed Kusman, the last Urartian in Çavuştepe Castle

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The history of Çavuştepe Castle dates back to the Urartu period and was built by Sarduri II between 764-734 BC. In honor of its founder, the castle was called Sardurihinili, which means the City of Sadur.

This historic castle was designed by Istanbul University Faculty of Arts professor Dr. Arif Erzen. It was discovered during excavations conducted between 1961 and 1986.

Mehmet Kuşman retired in 2005 after 43 years as a permanent guard at Çavuştepe Castle and has been working here on a voluntary basis for the past 19 years.

Kusman explains the Urartian alphabet and his work to visitors to the area, and he is one of the few people in the world who knows the Urartian alphabet.

He also made a living by selling Urartu slabs and necklaces that he made in his hut in the Cavustepe castle.

“I learned 650 words in 22 years”

Kusman said that after writing down the inscriptions of Van Castle in a notebook, he went to Iran and Syria, recorded the inscriptions written in Urartian one by one and studied them, adding: “Then I created the alphabet. Then I learned 650 words that took me 22 years to learn. “At that time, I educated 11 children with the salary of a guard. After retirement, I wrote Urartian on stone tablets and sold them as decorations. I have been working here as a volunteer for 19 years, and currently, I am one of 7 people in Turkey and 12 people in the world who know Urartian,” he said.

“No one comes to me to learn”

Kusman said he would do the work as long as his health allowed. “An excavation house is being built here. When the excavation house is put into use, I don’t know if they will destroy the hut where I work or use. If this place is destroyed, I will not be able to continue this work. “We need to read Urartu books. For me, the Urartu language will die here,” he said.

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