We know that the Assyrians sprang out of the ancient Babylonian people; they were of the same blood and race. Assyria was colonized from Babylonia.[26] Thus, their early acquaintance with the highlands of Armenia, by the name of Urardhu, accounts for their calling the Kings of Armenia the kings of Urardhu or Ararat.
There has been a great deal of discussion among the scholars as to whether these Vaunic kings and people belong to the Aryan race or not, and whether their language belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. The question may be considered still a debatable one, though the consensus of opinion of the modern writers is in the negative. Yet a man like the late Dr. Hincks, who was the first to begin the decipherment of the Vaunic inscriptions, has recorded his opinion in the following words: “I flatter myself, that those who read this paper will admit that I have made a beginning, and gone a considerable way in the decipherment and interpretation of a set of inscriptions, which, however slight may be their value in a historical point of view, are invaluable to the philologer, as being beyond all comparison the oldest specimens of the Asiatic branch of the Indo-Germanic family; nay, for aught we know to the contrary, they are more ancient than any Greek which has come down to us.”[27]
The name Armenia was differently spelled by the ancients. In the old Persian it is written Armina, and in the Armondian, Kharminya. It first appears in the cuneiform inscriptions of Darius Hystospis (522-486 B.C.), which supplanted the earlier name Arardu, or Ararat. According to the Armenian historians it is called after King Armenag, but according to others its origin is unknown. “It may be connected with the Vaunic word armeini-lio ‘a stele’ (monument), or with Arman, an Aramaean district south of Lake Van.”[28]
It must have been during the reign of Rusas II, the King of Ararat, that the sons of Sennacherib, Adrammelech and Shareser, after their assassination of their father, escaped into the land of Ararat or Armenia (see Isaiah 37:37-38). For we know that Rusas II was contemporary of Esar-haddon, Sennacherib’s son, who succeeded him (681-668 B.C.). The Armenian history makes Sgaiordi the king who welcomed the Assyrian princes in to his realm: probably it is a mistake.
Ashurbanipal was the last king of Assyria who had anything to do with the Kings of Ararat. As we have seen he made the treaty of peace with Sarduris III or IV, but his long reign (from 668-626 B.C.) was a period of gradual waning of the power of the vast empire. Babylon, hitherto a tributary of Assyria, became independent under Nabopolassar about 625 B.C., and by the aid of the King of Ararat and their ally, Nabopalassar succeeded in overthrowing the Assyrian empire, and about 607 B.C. Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, fell before Nabopolassar and his allies. The supremacy of the East was thus transferred to Babylon.
According to our history, Prince Baruir was an ally of Nabopalassar. It is not said that he was an ally when the latter established the independence of Babylon (though he might have been), but he was an ally when Nabopalassar finished the work of overthrowing the Assyrian empire. Thirty-seven years before the latter event Sarduris was the King of Ararat. There is a great probability that Baruir of the Armenian history and Sarduris of the cuneiform inscription are either the same person, or Baruir is a successor of Sarduris, by the same name; and that the name Baruir is a misspelled form of Sarduris.[29] Again, the son and successor of Baruir (or Sarduris V) is called H’rasha or H’racha. It is surely more than probable that this is the name of Rusas of the inscriptions. I would not insist that he is Rusas III, who lived before Sarduis IV, but if Baruir is identical with Sarduris IV, or he is his successor, then is H’rasha his son and successor Rusas IV. He was a contemporary and an ally of Nebuchadnezzar, who succeeded his father Nabopolassar about 606 B.C.
H’racha, as the ally of Nebuchadnezzar, marched at the head of his forces with the Babylonian monarch against Syria and Palestine. On his return, he brought with him a small colony from Judea, mostly nobles,[30] among whom was a prince by the name of Shambat, whose posterity in the middle ages furnished the kings of Pagradit dynasty in Armenia.
Among the successors of H’racha, as the rulers of Armenia, Tigranes I is spoken of, by our historians, as really royal; wise in his administration of the affairs of the State and just in his dealings with the high and low. In the revolt of the Persians, and consequent defeat of Astyages (the Median King) and the Medes; which resulted in the accession of Cyrus to the throne of the united Medo-Persian empire; Tigranes must have rendered some valuable service to the son of Cambyses. This may account for the great friendship that existed between these two worthy champions of human liberty.[31] And according to the summons of Prophet Jeremiah (51:27-28), the forces of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz joined the Medo-Persian army and accomplished the overthrow of the wicked empire of Babylonia (538 B.C.).
The descendants of Tigranes I maintained some sort of a tributary rule over the northeastern part of the country, but the major part of the country was ruled by the governors appointed by the Medo-Persian kings. Yet little as this tributary state was, judging by the references found in the Behistan inscriptions, revolts were not infrequent. The following is from Darius Hystaspis’ inscriptions (521-486 B.C.).
“... Afterwards I sent Dadarshesh the Armenian, he is my servant, I said to him, ‘go and crush that rebellious army, which revolts against.’ Dadarshesh went to subdue Armenia. The rebels fought against him, Ormazd came to my help. My army destroyed many of the enemy’s army.”