Urartian sewage system unearthed in Van

An ancient Urartian sewage system, which was first discovered during excavations in 2004 in the Çavuştepe Castle in the eastern province of Van, has been unearthed, Hurriyet reports.

This year’s works in the castle in the Gürpınar district of Van recently came to an end, after unearthing ancient vineyards, walls, cisterns, temples and palace structures. 

The 2800-year-old sewage system, which was discovered in the castle in 2004, was finally unearthed under the structures in the western part of the castle. The sewage is one meter in width and 30 meters in length and covered with fine stones. 

The head of the Culture and Tourism Ministry-supported excavations, Rafet Çavuşoğlu, an associate professor in the Archaeology Department of Yüzüncü Yıl University, said the Çavustepe Castle was particularly important in history because it was once located on a major trading route. 

“The Urartians thought carefully about what to build and where. They did everything in line with a project. When establishing this city 2800 years ago, the Urartians made an urban plan and built structures according to infrastructure. This is very important to us. We found an engineering marvel here,” Çavuşoğlu said.