Armani (kingdom)


Armani, was an ancient kingdom mentioned by Sargon of Akkad and his grandson Naram-Sin of Akkad as stretching from Ibla to Bit-Nanib; its location is heavily debated, and it continued to be mentioned in later Assyrian inscriptions.

Location

Syria: Armani was mentioned alongside Ibla in the geographical treaties of Sargon. This led some historians to identify Ibla with Syrian Ebla and Armani with Syrian Armi.
Mesopotamia: Michael C. Astour refused to identify Armani with Armi, as Naram-Sin makes it clear that the Ibla he sacked was a border town of the land of Armani, while the Armi in the Eblaite tablets is a vassal to Ebla. Armani was attested in the treaties of Sargon in a section that mentions regions located in Assyria and Babylonia or territories adjacent to the east, in contrast to the Syrian Ebla, located in the west. The later King Adad-Nirari I of Assyria also mentions Armani as being located east of the Tigris and on the border between Assyria and Babylon. Historians who disagree with the identification of Akkadian Armani with Syrian Armi place it north of the Hamrin Mountains in northern Iraq.
The site of Tall Bazi has also been suggested as the location of Armanum.

History

First mentioned as the land of Armani by Sargon, Naram-Sin boasted about his victory and destruction of the city. He gives a detailed account of the siege and the capture of Armani's king in one of his inscriptions.
Armani was later mentioned amongst the cities that rebelled against Naram-Sin. During the Middle Assyrian and Kassite periods, the land of Armani was mentioned as located east of the Tigris. King Shalmaneser III mentions his conquest of Halman, but the identification of Halman with Akkadian Armani is dubious according to J.A. Brinkmann.

Theorized connection with the name of Armenia

It was suggested by early 20th century Armenologists that Armani is the earliest form of the name Armenia.

Citations