Aratta was a city, city-state, or country with which Sumerians
had close trade and religious ties in the third millennium B.C. Its
location is not known. Of four general sites suggested for Aratta, two are
located in eastern Asia Minor: the Van-Urmia area and the Ayrarat district
of historical Armenia. The Anshan-Hamadan area of western Iran was the
choice of S. Cohen who translated one of four sources to mention Aratta,
Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta. However, since the publication of that
work (1973), several of the criteria he used for locating Aratta have been
challenged. Aratta, apparently, was under the special protection of the Sun
god's daughter, Inanna, the goddess of love and war. In "Enmerkar and the
Lord of Aratta", the goddess and/or her statue were taken from Aratta to
the Sumerian city of Uruk by the ruler of Uruk, Enmerkar.
Now believing himself to have the goddess' protection, the
Sumerian king challenged the lord of Aratta. Enmerkar ordered him to send
to Sumer precious metals, precious stones, building materials and the
craftsmen to transform them into shrines. The lord of Aratta is willing to
provide the materials if Enmerkar will send him large amounts of barley.
When the barley arrives in Aratta, its lord unexpectedly refuses to
fulfill his part of the agreement. After ten years, Enmerkar again sends
his herald to Aratta. This time, the lord of Aratta challenges Enmerkar to
select one of his champions to fight in single combat with one of Aratta's
champions. Enmerkar accepts. Because his response was lengthy and his
herald was "heavy of mouth", Enmerkar inscribed his message on clay
tablets and sent them to Aratta with his herald. The poet implies that
this was the beginning of writing. However, at this point the famine,
which apparently had been plaguing Aratta, lifts and Aratta's ruler takes
courage, believing Inanna had not really abandoned him. Although the
ending is fragmentary, Aratta eventually seems to provide the materials
and craftsmen. In a second Sumerian myth, "Enmerkar and Ensuhkeshdana", the
lord of Aratta demands the submission of Enmerkar, king of Uruk and the
return of the goddess Inanna to her home in Aratta. Enmerkar refuses and
demands Aratta's submission. The lord of Aratta consults with his advisors
who urge him to capitulate, which he angrily refuses to do. Then his
priest comes forward and boasts that he will subdue Uruk and other
territories through magic. The lord of Aratta delightedly rewards the priest and sends him
to Uruk. But the priest is assassinated there; and the lord of Aratta
submits to Uruk. Aratta is mentioned again in a third, briefer story known as
"Lugulbanda and Enmerkar". In this myth, Enmerkar of Uruk is under
military attack from the Martu people. Enmerkar desperately sends his
messenger, Lugulbanda, to Aratta to the goddess Inanna, here called his
sister. Inanna's response is unclear. However, it appears that Aratta
again supplied Enmerkar with metals, precious stones, and craftsmen; and
there is a suggestion that the materials were transported to Uruk by
river. Finally, Aratta appears in a fourth myth, "Lugulbanda and Mount
Hurum". Enmerkar and his army are traveling to Aratta to make it a vassal
state. En
route they stop at Mount Hurum where Lugulbanda becomes ill and "dies".
His comrades place his body on Mount Hurum, intending to retrieve it after
their war in Aratta. However, Lugulbanda was not really dead. After
praying to the sun, moon, and the star Venus, he emerges from his trance
and wanders the highlands. Unfortunately, the ending of this story is
lost. The myths outlined above portray Aratta as a wealthy and
militarily powerful state with which Sumer had relations from very early
times. It was located some distance from Sumer and protected by its
forbidding mountains, but it was not so distant as to prevent trade
relations. Aratta had building materials, precious stones, metals and
craftsmen skilled in their transformation. Aratta also had primacy with
regard to the religion of the mother goddess, Inanna, who resided in
Aratta, was the patron of that state, and was taken or lured south to
Sumerian cities. Uruk and Aratta also were in contest for military
superiority--each demanding the submission of the other. The method of
transporting the "stones of the mountain" from Aratta to Uruk and of
transporting grain from Uruk to Aratta seems consistent with such trade
historically between the Armenian highlands and areas to its south,
namely, by boat from Aratta south, and by pack animal from Uruk north.