CAVUSTEPE, Turkiye: Mehmet Kusman did not spend very long at school, but he traced the ancient inscriptions chiselled into the black basalt rock and read: “Before me there was nothing. But by the power of the god Haldi I founded this city.” Kusman, 86, has dedicated his life to the fortress of Cavustepe in eastern Turkiye, and to learning the language of the vanished kingdom of Urartu, to honor its forgotten deities and rulers.