The Urartians were the historical ancestors of the Armenians.
They created an advanced civilization in the area extending from Lake Van to Moun Ararat.
Urartu was the name of the region in which the Armenians, then divided into
two groups came to settle.These two groups, the Haia and the Armen,
started to intermingle with the local population.
In the 7th centuy BC,
Urartu was overrun by the neighboring Medes from the East,
and its name was replaced by the Armens and Haisa, both the name
of the people and the regions in Urartu.When the Medes were in turn run by
the Persians under Cyrus the Great, both people joined to form
the center of the empire,while Armenia became quasi-autonomous.
By the 3rd century BC,
the Armenians had risen to prominence in the area between
lake Van and Mount Ararat, had forged close ties with the Medes
and the Persians to the East and had strong affilinities with the Phrygians as well.