The name of Mannaea was first mentioned in an Assyrian chronicle in 843 BC. The Mannaeans strove to maintain their independence on the background of persistent struggle between Assyria and Urartu for seizing the lands around Lake Urmia. The Mannaean kingdom flourished during the reign of Iranzu. Having turned into a superpower in the ancient East at the end of VIII and in the beginning of VII centuries BC, Mannaea covered the lands around Lake Urmia and most of the basin of and southern areas from the River Giziluzen. In the mid of the 7th century BC Mannaea declined and was conquered by the Medes in 590 BC. Its capital was Izirtu.

«Azerbaijani states in history», Baku, 2012, p.33.