Headscarves over Kingdom of Van hats mirror Armenian traditional dress, study finds

– Ms. Poghosyan, when describing the clothing of people from the Urartian period, which sources did you rely on, considering that you are referring to such an early historical era? 

– The research is primarily based on Urartian archaeological findings, including sculptures, metalwork such as belts, ritual objects, and samples from murals. I combined the analysis of these artifacts with surviving written sources and the results of the few previous studies conducted in this area.

Important sources for the research also included written records from neighboring cultures. For example, the Assyrian King Sargon II recorded that when his army plundered the temple of the god Khaldi in the city of Musasir (Van), they seized various items, including jewelry and textiles.

– The book presents male, female, and deity attire. What were the distinctive features of Urartian clothing?

– Research shows that blue-purple was the primary color of royal clothing. This likely corresponds to "apricot" in medieval sources, where the term referred to a reddish-blue or reddish-purple royal color. In the monograph, I have tried to correlate this blue-purple with the apricot hue, which later became a key color in the vestments of Christian clergy. 

The Kingdom of Van was a theocratic state, where religion and the divine played central roles. People often sought to align their own lives with this divine order. In art, gods and goddesses were frequently depicted wearing attire characteristic of the elite: male deities in royal-style clothing, female deities in garments similar to queens and priestesses. 

The monograph covers not only the external appearance of clothing, but also patterns, structural features, and fabric characteristics.

– What types of threads and colors were common in Urartian clothing aside from blue-purple?

– Information about fabrics also comes from various archaeological samples. Excavations at Red Hill and other sites of the Kingdom of Van have uncovered traces of burnt textiles. During Soviet years, specialists studied these materials, and the results indicate that wool processing and woolen textiles were highly developed and widely used in clothing. Linen was also common and considered a valuable fabric both in Assyria and in the Kingdom of Van. 

Silk was used as well. While it is difficult to say definitively whether silk was produced locally or imported from places like China, it is possible that local silk production existed, as medieval Christian Armenia was known for silk weaving. This suggests that the origins of silk production in the Armenian Highlands may go back to pre-Christian times.

Urartian clothing was multicolored, but the most common fabrics were wool and linen in red and purple hues. It is also believed that cotton may have been used.

– How did royal palace clothing differ from that of ordinary people? What did women wear, and how did male and female attire correspond to each other?

– Both men's and women's clothing were typically tunic-shaped. Garments were made from rectangular fabric pieces of varying widths and lengths, with neck and sleeve openings tailored to the wearer’s body. 

Members of the elite wore garments made from luxurious textiles, often adorned with embellishments, coats, jewelry, belts, and accessories, while lower classes wore simpler materials with modest decoration.

Women's dresses were long, tunic-shaped, and fitted to the body. While some might assume ancient clothing was very loose, for example, the statuette of the goddess Arubani, held at the History Museum of Armenia (and pictured in my book), shows a garment closely fitted to the body. This can be described as a two-part dress, with a decorative cut around the knees indicating a longer garment underneath. Similar clothing is seen in other Urartian monuments.

In the Kingdom of Van, both men's and women's clothing often featured fringe decoration, adding aesthetic value. Such fringe-adorned garments were common across the ancient Near East.

The book also discusses jewelry: notably, both men and women in the Kingdom of Van wore ornaments such as rings and bracelets.

– While studying Urartian clothing, you drew parallels with traditional Armenian dress. Could you give a few examples on this topic?

– In the Kingdom of Van, young girls are depicted with uncovered heads, unlike the goddess Arubani, wife of the god Khaldi, who is shown wearing a headscarf. This can be seen as a social indicator, distinguishing married women from young girls. For example, in traditional Armenian dress, a married woman is identified by wearing a headscarf, whereas girls either wear hats or leave their heads uncovered. The same pattern appears in the Kingdom of Van. 

Another example comes from an Urartian depiction in which a woman wears a headscarf over her hat. This approach is also found in Armenian traditional dress, where headscarves were worn over hats.

Urartian textiles also feature decorative patterns. Research shows that fabrics included impressed designs, as well as elements of embroidery and appliqué embroidery.

– Are there any decorative motifs that we have inherited — that is, which continued to be used after the Urartian period?

– Yes. For example, the rosette was the most widespread motif in the Kingdom of Van. It was used not only in Van but also in neighboring Assyria and Mesopotamia. The rosette, as a symbol of fertility and the sun, continued to be widely used in the culture of the Kingdom of Ani.

The square motif, often combined with the rosette, also had a place in traditional Armenian dress. Many plant-based designs in Armenian textiles, such as floral and cocoon motifs, reflect these patterns seen in the murals of Ani.

In the Kingdom of Van, the most common motif found in both male and female garments was a square with a rosette at its center. 

– What new hypotheses does your study contribute to the body of existing research?

– I have two specializations — art history and clothing design — and combining these has allowed me to propose some new and interesting hypotheses not found in previous studies. For example, the use of trousers in the Kingdom of Van. The type of trousers worn by men can be seen on a bronze belt discovered at Red Hill. Some researchers believe it depicts the god Shivini, but I consider this interpretation debatable. While soldiers in Assyria did wear trousers, comparing the evidence suggests that trousers appeared earlier in the Kingdom of Van.

Compared to earlier studies, I examine textile decoration and color patterns, types of hats, and jewelry more extensively. The book also concludes that in the Kingdom of Van, belts, medallions, and other luxury ornaments depicting rituals involving women were likely worn by women, while items associated primarily with male figures belonged to men. 

Additionally, the book includes original sketches of Urartian clothing, generated with the help of artificial intelligence.