The Martuni region is estimated to have been settled in the 2nd millennium BC by the Hayasa-Azzi confederation. The Iron Age kingdom of Urartu (Ararat) then flourished from 900 BC until its collapse in 590 BC, and was succeeded by the Orontid dynasty, also known by their native name Eruandid or Yervanduni, which was a hereditary Armenian dynasty. Some territorial boundaries were found in Martuni, and in the surrounding areas, with Aramian language inscriptions which date back to Artaxias I (200-160 BC), the founder of the Artaxiad Dynasty whose members ruled the Kingdom of Armenia after the Orontid dynasty from 200 BC-14 AD.

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From 12 to 428 AD, the Arsacid dynasty (or Arshakuni in Armenian), ruled this region of Armenia. The dynasty came from the Arsacid Empire, better known as the Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD), which was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran. However, as Parthia expanded westward, they came into conflict with the Kingdom of Armenia, and eventually the late Roman Republic. Rome and Parthia competed with each other to establish the kings of Armenia as their subordinate clients, resulting in centuries of battles and wars. Eventually the Sasanian Empire, the last pre-Islamic Persian empire, would defeat and replace the Parthian Empire, invading the Kingdom of Armenia in 252 AD. Shortly thereafter Rome successfully expelled Persian garrisons and restored Armenia to the Roman Empire, via victorious campaigns led by Odaenathus, King of Palmyra, from 262-266. After Roman Emperor Diocletian reunifies the Kingdom of Armenia in 298, two of Armenia's most notable historical events occurred: The conversion of Armenia to Christianity by Gregory the Illuminator in 301 and the creation of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots in 405.

 

After the fall of the Arshakuni kingdom in 428, Persia ruled one half of Armenia (including the Martuni region) as the Marzpanate, that is with marzpan viceroys, until 652. After Muhammad's death in 632, his successors started a military campaign in order to increase the territory of the new Caliphate, resulting in the Muslim conquest of Armenia from 638-650 and the eventual annexation of Armenia as a formal province of the Umayyad Caliphate in 701.

 

Armenia remained under Arab rule for approximately 200 years, formally starting in 645, when the invaders first tried to force the Armenians to accept Islam, prompting many citizens to flee to Byzantine-held Armenia, which the Muslims had largely left alone due to its rugged and mountainous terrain. The cross stones found in Martuni, in the territory called ”Gomer,” explain the harsh life they endured in the region after the invasions, and how some inhabitants managed to escape and find shelter in the mountains and the forests. Relations eventually improved and through many years of Umayyad and Abbasid rule, the Armenian Christians benefited from political autonomy and relative religious freedom, but were still considered second-class citizens.

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At the end of this period, in 885, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was established with Ashot I, a Christian king, as the first monarch. The Byzantine Empire and the Abbassid Caliphate's willingness to recognize the existence of the kingdom stemmed from the need to maintain a buffer state between them. Ashot's regime and those who succeeded him ushered in a period of peace, artistic growth, and literary activity. This era is referred to as the second Armenian Golden Age and is manifested in the magnificent churches built and the illustrated manuscripts created during the period.

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During the medieval period, the area of present-day Martuni was known as Mets Kznut, but between 1830 and 1922 it was called Nerkin Gharanlugh. Following the Soviet occupation of Armenia in 1920, the city was eventually renamed "Martuni" in honor of the bolshevik leader and Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Armenia Aleksandr Myasnikyan, whose nom-de-guerre was Martuni.

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