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CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF ARMENIA 231
they even threatened to wrest the "world empire" from
Assyria, and the Assyrian kings had to work hard to defend
themselves. One of the most notable kings of the Khaldians
was Menuas. He extended his dominion northwards and
conquered a large part of the valley of the Araxes north of
the Ararat Mountains, and later, after the petty kings in this
fertile region had been expelled, his son Argistis I founded,
in the first half of the eighth century 8.C., the city of Armavir
on a site near the present village of Tapa Dibi, on the plain
north of the Araxes (cf. p. 137). His son, Sardur II (7/1),
enlarged the city and increased its power—presumably by
extending and improving the irrigation system, and construct
ing larger canals from the Araxes.
The Khaldians were experts in constructing watercourses
and irrigating, an art which they may have inherited from the
earlier long-skulled people. They dammed lakes, regulated
the amount of water carried by the rivers, and conducted the
water across the plains by canals to irrigate cornfields and
vineyards; and by this means they were able to cultivate
the land. Many of their irrigation systems are still in use,
and are vital to the very existence of the population. King
Menuas constructed a large canal 70 kilometres in length to
carry water from a mountain stream to the plain near Van,
which was thus irrigated, enabling a flourishing " garden
city "to grow up there. This canal, which is now, curiously
enough, called Shamyram-su (Semiramis’s river), is still, after
more than 2,730 years, indispensable for the existence of the
people living in that fertile region. King Rusas I cultivated
another part of the Van plain by damming an artificial lake
and distributing the water by means of a canal ; this irrigation
system is still in use, and there are many others. The Khal
dians also made roads and bridges ; moreover, they were
elever builders, and especially efficient as stone-masons and
stone-workers. They were skilful in preparing iron and other
metals, and elever metal-workers and smiths. Possibly they
were identical with the later Khalybi,1 who played such an
1 The Khalybi in Little Armenia were conquered by Zariadres (after 189 b.c. ;
cf. Strabo, XI, 14, 5), and driven away to the coast of the Black Sea west of
Trebizond, where they lived in Strabo’s time.
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