620 
RUINS OF ARTAXATA, 
ward ramparts do not extend in any direction beyond a mile 
and a half; the towers, indeed, stand so close together as to be 
hardly twenty feet separate ; and the remains of all are found to 
be constructed of large squares of sun-dried clay. 
The city of Ardashir, or Artaxata, is described by all ancient 
authors who wrote of it, and particularly Strabo, as having been 
built close to the waters of the Araxes. Its founder was the 
Armenian king Artaxes, or Artases, about ninety-five years 
before the Christian era; and its origin is dated from the great 
Hannibal of Carthage, who at that time had sought refuge with 
the Armenian prince. Riding together, we may suppose, along 
the banks of the Araxes, he there pointed out to his protector a 
particularly eligible spot for the erection of a new city. A 
natural hill presented itself for its acropolis; and the rapid 
stream of the great river afforded facility for the floating down 
of necessary timber, from the abundant forests which then, it 
is said, stretched from a vast distance to its banks higher up 
towards its source. The same authorities place the site of the 
city “ near the junction of the great river, with a smaller one 
flowing immediately from the lake above,” meaning the Sevan 
or Gauche. 
On this plan, Artaxata, receiving its name from the royal 
founder, soon rose above the plain, with fortress, palaces, and 
temples ; and one more splendid than the rest, amongst the 
latter erections, was a temple dedicated to Anaites and Arta- 
matea; while without the gates, a magnificent structure of the 
same kind was inscribed to Apollo. Statues were raised in all. 
And when the whole was finished, the king not only placed 
many of his native subjects in the new city, but brought many 
industrious Jewish families from Amavera, to complete the 
inhabitants. 
