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Biography
Argishti I (Armenian: Արգիշտի Ա), was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 786 BC to 764 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan.
A son and the successor of Menua, he continued the series of conquests initiated by his predecessors. He was involved in a number of inconclusive conflicts with the Assyrian king Shalmaneser IV. He conquered the northern part of Syria and made Urartu the most powerful state in post-Hittite Asia Minor. He also expanded his kingdom north to Lake Sevan, conquering much of Diauehi and the Ararat Valley. Argishti built the Erebuni Fortress in 782 BC, and the fortress of Argishtikhinili in 776 BC.
He was succeeded by his son Sarduri II.
Some linguists believe that the name Argištiše has Indo-European etymology (Armenian). Compare Armenian արեգ (translit. areg) – “sun deity”, “sun”, Phrygian ΑΡΕJΑΣΤΙΝ (translit. Areyastin) - “epithet of the great mother” and Greek αργεστής (translit. argestes) - “shining”, “brilliant”, “white”, “bright”.