Armanum (Armänum) was a city-state in the ancient Near East whose location is still not clear, but it is believed to be in the same general area as Mari and Ebla. It is mentioned in the texts from the Akkadian period, specifically by Naram-Sin of Akkad. But the Akkadians were active in this region even earlier.
There is a question of whether or not Armanum should be identified with Armi (Syria), that is also mentioned in many texts of this period. According to Adelheid Otto, it was "... generally accepted that Armanum should be identified with Armi/Armium of the Ebla texts ...", as opposed to the site of Aleppo.[1]
Thus, some scholars believe that Armarnum was the 3rd Millenium BC name of Halpa (Aleppo).[2]
Others also proposed that Hamran, Armuti(um) and Armanum are all names for the same city.[3]
Other than Aleppo, another proposed site of Armanum is Tall Bazi in Syria.
Other scholars hold that Armi and Armium were two different towns in Ebla texts. Alfonso Archi disagreed with the identification of the Akkadian Armanum as a town that is known to be closely associated with Ebla, and often mentioned in Ebla texts.[4][5]
Another analysis even supports the view that the Ebla referred to by Naram-Sin is not the same as the north Syrian Ebla, but another Transtigridian Ebla.[6]
Armani (kingdom) may be yet another relevant area in this regard.
According to Matthiae (2020), the general historical overview of this area is as follows. First, Mari was defeated, still leaving Nagar (modern Tell Brak) as the main town in this area. Then Nagar was defeated by Akkad even before the time of Naram-Sin. After this, only Ebla and Armanum remained as significant centres, with Armanum being the more powerful. Matthiae thinks that Armanum was “almost certainly an alternative name” for Armi, at least during the period in question.[7]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Otto2006was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Foster1982was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Bonechi, Marco, and Ryan Winters, "Ebla through Huwawa’s Gaze: Inner and Outer Perspectives on Early Syria, between Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Anatolia", in Bramanti, Armando / Kraus, Nicholas L. / Notizia, Palmiro (Hg.): Current Research in Early Mesopotamian Studies. Workshop Organized at the 65th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Paris 2019. Münster: Zaphon, pp. 171–190, 2021
- ^ Archi, Alfonso, "In Search of Armi", Ebla and Its Archives: Texts, History, and Society, Berlin, München, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 435-477, 2015
- ^ Alfonso Archi, "In Search of Armi", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 63, pp. 5–34, 2011
- ^ Astour, Michael C., "A Reconstruction of the History of Ebla (Part 2)", Eblaitica: Essays on the Ebla Archives and Eblaite Language, Volume 4, edited by Cyrus H. Gordon and Gary A. Rendsburg, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 57-196, 2002
- ^ Paolo Matthiae 2020, Ebla: Archaeology and History. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317531449, 1317531442. p.103