Typology of Urartian Official of Aṣuli’s Seal-Impression in Bastam

The Urartians lived about 9th to 7th centuries B.C around the shores of four Lake Urmia, Lake Sevan, Çildir Lake and Van Lake. The production of the sealed bullae started from Rusa II’s reign about 713 B.C. The stamp and cylinder seal impressions on these pieces of evidence could provide us with the wide range of data about the Urartians. There are some recognized cylinder seal impressions on some bullae and tablets belong to the Urartian official called aṣuli. This official is mentioned in the seal impressions from several Urartian sites including Bastam, Ayanis, Anzaf and Toprakkale. Some studies and contributions have been taken place on who these aṣulis could be the crowned princes or the officials. The question of who were aṣulis and from which sites their seal impressions are discovered aer significant issue as there are several pieces of evidence discovered. Also, there was the question of the possible difference between the seals and their inscriptions and motifs. Also, the difference between their seal impressions and the variety of their seals were significant questions. It is the aim of this paper to put the different seal impressions of aṣulis in different groups and subgroups according to the detail of the illustrated mythical scenes of the griffins or genies in two sides of a sacred tree and the position of the inscription above and below this scene and the difference in the inscriptions. Additionally, the author provides the readers with the reasons she thinks aṣuli is not the crowned prince but a trusted official who had the permission to deliver commands and massages. The research has been fulfilled by both library and field work.