The settlement at Yukarı Işıklı
Zernaki Tepe lies in Yukarı Işıklı, north of central Erciş. The district’s description records streets meeting at right angles across a broad area, forming rectangular blocks with similar house plans.
This is what a grid plan means: roads and building blocks arranged together in a regular pattern. Understanding Zernaki involves looking at the relationships between walls, not only at individual remains.
An open question of date
The settlement is frequently discussed in studies of Urartu, but its dating remains debated. Archaeological discussions consider later possibilities alongside a Urartian connection. A definitive foundation year or founder would therefore overstate what is established.
The appeal lies in reading the ancient surroundings of Erciş through town planning. Published plans can help make sense of traces that are difficult to distinguish on the ground.
A tower, a jar and two small fragments
In 2022, excavations revealed a tower foundation and a storage jar. The tower projected from the defensive wall; its upper part had collapsed, leaving the base. The jar was taken to Van Museum for examination. Finding an everyday vessel alongside massive walls makes it easier to imagine the settlement as more than a line of defences.
Two mudbrick fragments found in 2023 raised another question. The excavation’s scientific adviser, Professor Rafet Çavuşoğlu, interpreted their markings as a small diagram of the town’s grid. Looking for the layout of a whole town on a tiny surviving fragment is one of Zernaki’s most intriguing details.
From inscriptions to water channels
Reporting on the 2025 excavations describes further inscriptions and drainage arrangements in the walls. The inscriptions offer clues to people and languages; the drainage traces invite questions about how rainwater was removed. These discoveries help explain how a settlement worked as well as how it was built. They are findings reported in different years, not evidence that the whole town has been uncovered.
Read it alongside the castle
Erciş Castle tells the story of the old lakeside centre; Zernaki describes a different settlement to the north. Keeping them distinct reveals several layers of settlement around the modern town. Together they make a more interesting historical picture than a single, uninterrupted origin story.
