Arame or Aramu ((Ruled 858–844 BC) was the first known king of Urartu.[1]
Living at the time of King Shalmaneser III of Assyria (ruled 859–824 BC), Arame fought against the threat of the Assyrian Empire. His capital at Arzashkun was captured by Shalmaneser.[2] Sagunia, a previous capital, which was also captured by Shalamaneser, seems to have been located in the vicinity of Lake Van[3][4][5] or Lake Urmia.[6][7]
Arame has been suggested as the prototype of both Aram (and, correspondingly the popular given name Aram)[8] and Ara the Beautiful, two of the legendary forefathers of the Armenian people.[9] Khorenatsi's History (1.5) puts them six and seven generations after Haik,[10] in the chronology of historian Mikayel Chamchian dated to the 19th to 18th century BC.
According to Armen Petrosyan, the name Arame is likely an Armenian name originally derived from Proto-Indo-European*rēmo-, meaning "black".[11] The name is likely etymologically related to Hindu Rama.[12]
He is not to be confused with another king Aramu (also known as Adramu and Atarsamek) who ruled at the same time in Bit Agusi and also fought Shalemaneser III.
^History in Africa, Volume 2, p. 93. African Studies Association., 1975.
^Авдиев В. И. «История Древнего Востока», М.: «Высшая школа», 1970, с. 419 420.
^Petrosyan, Armen The Indo-European and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic[1] (2002) pp. 73.
^Petrosyan, Armen. Toward the Origins of the Armenian People: The Problem of the Identification of the Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review[2] (2007). pp. 31.