Arame or Aramu (
Armenian: Արամե) (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.
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.
^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.