Teysheba

Odzaberd was an ancient settlement in modern Armenia on the shore of Lake Sevan [1]. It was founded in the 8th century BCE by a ruler of Urartu, an Iron Age kingdom centered in the Armenian Highlands, and continuously occupied into the Middle Ages [1]. The site is organized into three distinct zones: a central citadel, a fortress, and an extensive outer town [1]. A stele on the site bears an Urartian-language cuneiform inscription which states that Odzaberd was established by the Urartian king Rusa I (r. 735–714 BCE) in honor of the weather god Theispas to "demonstrate the power of Biaina [the Urartian capital, modern Van] and to cow her enemies." Some sources refer to the site as "Teisheba" or other variations of the Urartian god's name [1]. In the post-Urartian period Odzaberd was a regional center, as evidenced by recovered pottery styles and the use of mudbricks [1]. The Odzaberd site is on the southern shore of Lake Sevan near the town of Tsovinar [1].