Daranali or Daranaghi () was a district (''gavar'') of the province of

Upper Armenia Upper Armenia ( hy, Բարձր Հայք ''Bardzr Hayq'') was the first province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, located in present-day Turkey, roughly corresponding to the modern province of Erzincan, to the west of the Kura River. Within th ...

Greater Armenia Greater Armenia ( hy, Մեծ Հայք, translit=Mets Hayk) is the name given to the Armenian state that emerged on the Armenian Highlands during the reign of King Artaxias I at the turn of the 2nd century BC. The term was used to refer princ ...

. It was located in the basin of the Western Euphrates (Karasu), near modern-day Kemah (Kamakh, Kamacha,

Camachus Camachus was a town in the Roman province of Armenia III. The true primitive name seems to have been Camacha. Camachus, Camachum and Camache are later forms. It is today Kemah in eastern Turkey. History The town enclosed a celebrated temple o ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. Its center was the fortified settlement of Ani (not to be confused with the medieval Armenian capital), which was located on the right bank of the Western Euphrates, across from Kemah. It was famous for its fertile lands, plentiful waters and salt mines. It likely fell into the region of

Acilisene Acilisene from Greek and Latin works, ეკლეცი ḳlecifrom Georgian sources and also known as Hachdeanq, was a region and family in Armenia c. 400–800. It was a strip of land along the Upper Euphrates or Arsanias (Armenian: Արածա� ...

(later Ekegheatsʻ) mentioned in Strabo's ''Geography''. It is first mentioned in Armenian sources by

Faustus of Byzantium Faustus of Byzantium (also Faustus the Byzantine, hy, Փաւստոս Բուզանդ, translit=P'awstos Buzand) was an Armenian historian of the 5th century. Faustus' ''History of the Armenians'' (also known as '' Buzandaran Patmut'iwnk) exists ...

, who describes it and the district of Ekegheatsʻ as the property of Gregory the Illuminator's family. Daranali is most famous for having contained the burial-place of the

Arsacid The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquer ...

Armenian kings at Ani. It was also a major religious center in pagan times, as it was home to a temple to

Aramazd Aramazd ( arm, Արամազդ) was the chief and creator god in the Armenian version of Zoroastrianism.; ; ; ; ; The deity and his name were derived from the deity Ahura Mazda after the Median conquest of Armenia in the 6th century BC. Aramazd wa ...

at Ani and a temple to Mihr at Bagayarichʻ built by

Tigranes the Great Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great ( hy, Տիգրան Մեծ, ''Tigran Mets''; grc, Τιγράνης ὁ Μέγας ''Tigránes ho Mégas''; la, Tigranes Magnus) (140 – 55 BC) was King of Armenia under whom the ...

. The entire district may have belonged to the temple of Mihr. Following the adoption of Christianity as the state religion of Armenia in the 4th century, the temple at Bagayarichʻ was destroyed by Gregory the Illuminator and Daranali became the property of the Armenian church.

References

Early medieval Armenian regions {{MEast-hist-stub

See also

References