Urartu most effective rival of Assyria

From a book titled “Forgotten Scripts” by Cyrus H. Gordon: “Armenia nurtured an ancient civilization. Its iron and copper mines were important in a world that needed metals for its technology and daily life. The biblical flood story has Noah’s Ark landing on the Mountains of Ararat (=Urartu, as Armenia is called in the cuneiform records). This can only mean that Armenia was considered an important centre when the Genesis Deluge account was formulated. Located in the mountains where Turkey, the Soviet Union and Iran meet or come near each other, Armenia was in a position to resist the onslaught of the Assyrian armies more successfully than many of the other targets of Assyrian imperialism. Indeed, from the ninth through the seventh century B.C., Urartu was the most effective rival of Assyria, and until 714 B.C., when Sargon of Assyria invaded and weakened Urartu, the Urarteans were the rivals of the Assyrians in claiming to be the world’s leading power.”

From a book titled “Forgotten Scripts” by Cyrus H. Gordon: “Armenia nurtured an ancient civilization. Its iron and copper mines were important in a world that needed metals for its technology and daily life. The biblical flood story has Noah’s Ark landing on the Mountains of Ararat (=Urartu, as Armenia is called in the cuneiform records). This can only mean that Armenia was considered an important centre when the Genesis Deluge account was formulated. Located in the mountains where Turkey, the Soviet Union and Iran meet or come near each other, Armenia was in a position to resist the onslaught of the Assyrian armies more successfully than many of the other targets of Assyrian imperialism. Indeed, from the ninth through the seventh century B.C., Urartu was the most effective rival of Assyria, and until 714 B.C., when Sargon of Assyria invaded and weakened Urartu, the Urarteans were the rivals of the Assyrians in claiming to be the world’s leading power.”