The Urumu (often transliterated as Urumeans) were a tribe attested in cuneiform sources in the Bronze Age. They are often considered to be one of the ancestors of the

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

being one of the tribes which were part of the Armenian

Hayasa-Azzi Hayasa-Azzi or Azzi-Hayasa ( hit, URUḪaiaša-, hy, Հայասա) was a Late Bronze Age confederation in the Armenian Highlands and/or Pontic region of Asia Minor. The Hayasa-Azzi confederation was in conflict with the Hittite Empire in t ...

confederation.

History

The

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

n first mentioned the Urumu in the early 12th century BC. The Urumu, with their allies the

Mushki The Mushki (sometimes transliterated as Muški) were an Iron Age people of Anatolia who appear in sources from Assyria but not from the Hittites. Several authors have connected them with the Moschoi (Μόσχοι) of Greek sources and the Georg ...

and Kaska (Apishlu), conquered the lands of Alzi and Purukuzzi (near the source of the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost 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 and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

, west of

Lake Van Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...

), inciting the locals not to pay taxes. Ignace Jay Gelb suggested the Urumeans might have been mentioned much earlier, as the "Urumum" of the

Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin The Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin is one of the few literary works whose versions are attested in both Old Babylonian, Middle Babylonian and the Standard Babylonian of the late Neo-Babylonian period, a literary life of around 1,500 years. It seems to ...

, which dates to the 3rd millennium BC.

Igor Diakonoff Igor Mikhailovich Diakonoff (occasionally spelled Diakonov, russian: link=no, И́горь Миха́йлович Дья́конов; 12 January 1915 – 2 May 1999) was a Russian historian, linguist, and translator and a renowned expert on th ...

, however, placed Urumum in

Elam Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...

. Vyacheslav Ivanov connected them to the "Urameans" in a separate Assyrian text also dated to around 2000 BC.

Location

The Urumu are believed to have originally come from the north (

) or northwest ( Hatti). However, the Urumu are often associated with the lands of Arme and Urume (Inner Urumu), located to the west of Lake Van in the territory of

Shupria Shupria or Shubria ( hy, Շուպրիա) was an Hurrian kingdom known from Assyrian sources from the 13th century BC onward, in the Armenian Highlands, to the south-west of Lake Van, bordering Urartu. The capital was Ubbumu. The name Shupria is of ...

(modern

Sason Sason ( hy, Սասուն, translit=Sasun, ku, Qabilcewz, ar, قبل جوز; formerly known as Sasun or Sassoun) is a district and town in the Batman Province of Turkey. It was formerly part of the sanjak of Siirt, which was in Diyarbakır vi ...

). These lands are known from 8th century BC

Urartian Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushpa, ...

and Assyrian records. In Urartian texts it is mentioned as Urme.

Ethno-linguistic makeup

Little is known about the language of the Urumu, however, their name, and the presence of Armenian toponyms in the region, led

and other scholars to suggest the Urumu (along with their allies the Mushki) may have been speakers of

Proto-Armenian Proto-Armenian is the earlier, unattested stage of the Armenian language which has been reconstructed by linguists. As Armenian is the only known language of its branch of the Indo-European languages, the comparative method cannot be used to re ...

, the direct ancestor of the modern

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

language. The exonyms "Armenia" and "Armenians" may originate in the Urartian "Armini," or "inhabitant of Arme." Petrosyan suggested the name "Urumu" was probably pronounced "Oromu" and was perhaps a dialectal form of "Aram" and/or "Arme," which he etymologized as deriving from Proto-Indo-European "*rē-mo-" (black). According to Armenian tradition, the legendary Armenian patriarch

Aram Aram may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Aram'' (film), 2002 French action drama * Aram, a fictional character in Japanese manga series '' MeruPuri'' * Aram Quartet, an Italian music group * ''Aram'' (Kural book), the first of the three ...

had a cousin and general named Mishak (Misak, Moshok). Scholars have proposed a connection between the names Aram and Urumu and Mishak and Mushki.Armen Petrosyan.''The Indo-European and Ancient Near Eastern Sources of the Armenian Epic''. Institute for the Study of Man. 2002. p.140

/ref>

References

{{Reflist Ancient Armenia Western Armenia Ancient peoples of the Near East Armenian Highlands

History

Location

Ethno-linguistic makeup

See also

References