The
Èr people, also known as
Èrsh or (in Georgian works) the
Hers, are a little-known ancient people inhabiting northern modern
Armenia, and to an extent, small areas of northeast
Turkey, southern
Georgia, and northwest
Azerbaijan. Most of their history is constructed based on archaeological and linguistic (primarily based on placenames, with some elements) data, compared to historical trends in the region and historical writings, such as the
Georgian Chronicles or the Armenian Chronicles, as well as a couple notes made by Strabo. They were a constituent of the state of
Urartu, which either incorporated or conquered them during the 8th century BCE. Their relation to
the main Urartians (who were probably ethnically separate from them, judging from place names) is unknown. Linguistically, based on placenames, they are thought to have been a
Nakh people.