Ariaramnes (

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...

: 𐎠𐎼𐎡𐎹𐎠𐎼𐎶𐎴 ''Ariyāramna''; "peace of the

Arya Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

") was a great-uncle of

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

and the great-grandfather of

Darius I Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...

, and perhaps the king of Parsa, the ancient core kingdom of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. __NOTOC__ Ariaramnes was most likely the brother of

Cyrus I of Anshan Cyrus I (Old Persian: ''Kuruš'') or Cyrus I of Anshan or Cyrus I of Persia, was King of Anshan in Persia from to 580 BC or, according to others, from to 600 BC. Cyrus I of Anshan is the grandfather of Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus II. ...

and son of

Teispes Teïspes (from Greek ; in peo, 𐎨𐎡𐏁𐎱𐎡𐏁 ''Cišpiš''; Akkadian: 𒅆𒅖𒉿𒅖 ''Šîšpîš'',Kent (1384 AP), page 394 Elamite: Zi-iš-pi-iš) ruled Anshan in 675–640 BC. He was the son of Achaemenes of Persis and an ancest ...

, but this is not certain. In any case, he was a member of the Achaemenid House. As supported by the relief at Behistun he was the first king of a separate Achaemenid branch that ran parallel to the reigns of Cyrus I and his son Cambyses I. As the great-grandfather of Darius the Great, this line ultimately absorbs the Dynasty and dominates the Persian Empire.

Hamadan Tablet

Sometime in the first half of the 20th century, two gold tablets relating to Ariaramnes were found in Ecbatana, modern

Hamadan Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') ( Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ha ...

. These gold tablets allegedly documented the reigns of Ariaramnes and his son

Arsames Arsames ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠𐎶 Aršāma, modern Persian:،آرسام، آرشام‎ Arshām, Greek: ) was the son of Ariaramnes and the grandfather of Darius I. He was traditionally claimed to have briefly been king of Persia during the ...

and were written in

in the first person. This is the only evidence from the time documenting his reign and thus this branch of the

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

royal family. Another attestation of his reign is the later Behistun Inscription, where his great-grandson

states that eight Achaemenid kings preceded him - and then, he must be counting Ariaramnes as a king. His

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

name is derived - via

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

- from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. In Modern

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, his name is spelled اریارمنه.‎

References

Citations

Works cited

* *

External links

livius.org article on Ariamnes
Monarchs of Persia Achaemenid dynasty 6th-century BC rulers 6th-century BC Iranian people {{noble-stub