Armani was an ancient kingdom mentioned by

Sargon of Akkad Sargon of Akkad (; ; died 2279 BC), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC.The date of the reign of Sargon is highly unc ...

Location

Syria: ''Armani'' was mentioned alongside ''Ibla'' in the geographical treaties of Sargon. This led some historians to identify ''Ibla'' with Syrian

Ebla Ebla (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', , modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a Tell (archaeology), tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was ...

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 (in c. 2240 BC) 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 Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

or territories adjacent to the east, in contrast to the Syrian Ebla, located in the west. The later King

Adad-Nirari I Adad-nārārī I (1305–1274 BC or 1295–1263 BC short chronology) was a king of Assyria during the Middle Assyrian Empire. He is the earliest Assyrian king whose annals survive in any detail, and achieved major military victories that further s ...

of Assyria also mentions ''Armani'' as being located east of the

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

and on the border between Assyria and Babylon. Historians who disagree with the identification of Akkadian ''Armani'' with Syrian Armi place it (along with Akkadian ''Ibla'') north of the

Hamrin Mountains The Hamrin Mountains (, ) are a small mountain ridge in northeast Iraq. The westernmost ripple of the Zagros Mountains, the Hamrin mountains extend from the Diyala Governorate bordering Iran, northwest to the Tigris river, crossing northern Sala ...

in northern Iraq.

History

First mentioned as the land of Armani by Sargon. During the Middle Assyrian and

Kassite The Kassites () were a people of the ancient Near East. They controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (short chronology). The Kassites gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 B ...

periods, the land of Armani was mentioned as located east of the Tigris. King

Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 859 BC to 824 BC. His long reign was a constant series of campaigns against the eastern tribes, the Babylonians, the nations o ...

mentions his conquest of Halman, but the identification of Halman with Akkadian Armani (Arman) is dubious according to J.A. Brinkmann.

References

{{Authority control Former kingdoms Former populated places in Iraq Former populated places in Syria Former populated places in Turkey Former populated places in Armenia Ancient Near East Sargon of Akkad