ABSTRACT
Argishti, son of Menua, continued his father’s policy of expansion for political, economic or military reasons. He recorded 14 campaigns on Sarduri’s Rock at Van, including those which confirmed his sovereignty over the vast territories from the northern province of Etius, towards the River Kura, down to the principality of Mannai in the south. His inscription testifies:
I prayed to the powers mighty who have given me the land of Etius and the land of the Minni. On approaching the land of Minni, the populations I carried away, the cities I burnt; their plunder for a spoil I acquired; the men and women, the boys and girls I carried off. I slew and took prisoner many thousands of men. I carried off horses, camels, oxen, sheep. On departing out of the lands of Assyria, the land of Algas, 1 6471 of its men partly I slew, partly alive I took; also, 286 horses, 2251 oxen, and 8205 sheep I took. To Khaldi and to the powers mighty I prayed, who have given the land of Minni and other lands towards Minni, as a gift to the family of Argishti, son of Menua. The land of Minni as the satrapy of the son of Argishti I established. 2
