Armenia from the post-Urartian to Medieval period

After the fall of the Urartan Empire, a new state was created in the territory of the Armenian Highlands, headed by the Armenian Orontid dynasty. Then Armenia becomes one of the Achaemenid satrapies. After the invasions of Alexander the Great, the process of Hellenization began in Armenia as well. In the 2nd century BCE, the state of the Armenian Artashesidndynasty was established again, which reached the peak of its power during the reign of the famous king Tigranes the Great (95-55 BCE), when Armenia became one of the most powerful states of the Old World.

Then, over the centuries, Armenia tried to maintain its identity and independence in the struggle between powers of east and west (Rome and Persia, and then Rome and Sasanian Iran etc.).

In 301, Armenia became the first state to adopt Christianity as the state religion.

The creation of the Armenian alphabet in 405 is considered to be one of the most important occasion for the future of the armenians.

Miqayel Badalyan is the director of the Erebuni History and Archaeology Museum in Yerevan. He is engaged in archaeological research on the ancient empire of Urartu and surrounding regions. He studies Urartian iconography, religion, and historical and cultural developments in the post-Urartian period. He is currently leading an Armenian archaeological expedition to the fortresses of Erebuni and Odzaberd (Tsovinar). He is also involved in conducting Armenian-French research at the fortress of Erebuni and Armenian-Austrian excavations at Karmir Blur. He has also participated in numerous archaeological excavations in Armenia, Lebanon, and Iran. He has presented the results of his research at multiple conferences and lectures in Armenia and abroad (USA, Russia, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Iran, Georgia, Lebanon, Moldova, Italy, and France). He lectures at the Armenian State Pedagogical University and Yerevan State University. He is the author or co-author of about thirty scholarly articles on the archaeology and religion of the Urartian Kingdom and its historical and cultural heritage. He is also co-author of the book Bianili-Urartu. Gods, Temples, Cults (in Armenian), published in Yerevan.