Located on a hill by Lake Van in eastern Turkey, Ayanis Castle is one of the best preserved sites of the Urartian civilisation, which dominated the region after the Hittites. Excavations and ...
Hurrians along with Urartians are considered to be the direct ancestors of modern Armenians. According to Diakonoff, the present-day Armenians are therefore an amalgam of the Hurrians and Urartians.