Thoughts on the trident motif on Some Urartian seal impressions

Some Urartian cylinder seals bear a strange motif, namely a "trident", the precise meaning of which remains obscure. These modest and plain motives can be interpreted as stylised sacred trees, symbolised towers or temples, or some other image. However, the same sign appears in some concrete archaeological contexts and on written material. In this paper, the author speculates about some of the most possible meanings of this symbol, and then tries to associate the archaeological and written data, including pertinent and very recent finds from Ayanis, with these interpretations in order to reach an understanding of the meaning of the trident symbol in the Urartian culture