Founded 210 BC | Abandoned 360 | |
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Location 1 km east of the current village of Yervandashat, Armenia, on the right bank of Aras River in modern-day Turkey Builder King Orontes IV of Armenia | ||
Yervandashat (Armenian: Երվանդաշատ), was an Armenian city and one of the 13 historic capitals of Armenia, serving as a capital city between 210 and 176 BC during the Orontid rule over Armenia and the beginning of their successors; the Artaxiad dynasty.
History
Yervandashat was built around 210 BC by the last Orontid king Orontes IV of Armenia. It was at a height on the right bank of Aras River, in the Arsharunik canton of Ayrarat province of Armenia Major. Its site is 1 km east of the modern Armenian village of Yervandashat, in the current Turkish Province of Iğdır.
According to Movses Khorenatsi, Orontes founded Yervandashat to replace Armavir as his capital after Armavir had been left dry by a shift of the Arax River.
Ancient Yervandashat was destroyed by the army of the Persian King Shapur II in the 360s AD.
The archaeological site has not been subject of major research, but preliminarily, the fortifications and some remains of palaces have been uncovered.