Urartu, corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van, is an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highlands.Strictly speaking, Urartu is the Assyrian term for a geographical region, while "kingdom of Urartu" or "Biainili lands" are terms used in modern historiography for the Iron Age state that arose in that region.
The landscape corresponds to the mountainous plateau between Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and the Caucasus mountains, later known as the Armenian Highlands.
The kingdom rises to power in the mid 9th century BCE, but is conquered by Media in the early 6th century BCE.
