Armänum, was a city-state in the ancient Near East whose location is still unknown. It was once thought to be in the same general area as Mari and Ebla. It is known from texts of the Akkadian period, during the reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad. 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. One proposed site of Armanum is Tall Bazi in Syria. 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. In practice Armi and Armium were two different towns in the Ebla texts. Alfonso Archi disagreed with the attribution of the Akkadian Armanum to those towns of the north Syrian Ebla. Another analysis supports the view that the Ebla referred to by Naram-Sin is the Transtigridian Ebla and not the north Syrian Ebla.

Contemporary Sources

Armanum is mentioned in three contemporary sources: Year Name of Naram-Sin - Rulers of that period named the years of their reign after major events that occurred in them, in this case "The year in which Naram-Sin conquered Armanum and tore d[own its] walls". Royal Tutelary - Afterwards, Naram-Sin added "conqueror of Armanum and Ebla" to his tutelary. The phrase "Smiter of Armanum and Ebla." was found on a polychrome marble lamp and a slate plague found at Telloh and a copper bowl found in Luristan. Statue Inscription - A Old Babylonian tablet fragment (UET 1 275) was found in Ur which was a copy of an inscription on a statue of Naram-Sin which at that time stood in the Temple of Sin next to a statue of Sin-Eribam, a ruler of Larsa. It described the military campaign during which Armanum was defeated. The text begins: "'As to the fact that from immemorial time, since the creation of mankind, no king among kings had plundered Armanum and Ebla with the axes of Nergal, he (= Dagan) opened the path of Naram-Sin the mighty and gave him Armanum and Ebla. Further, he gave to him the Amanus, the Cedar Mountain, and the Upper Sea. ... Further, from the side of the Euphrates River as far as (the city of) Ulisum, he smote the people whom the god Dagan had given to him for the first time ... Thus says Naram-Sin, the mighty, king of the four quarters: 'The god Dagan gave me Armanum and Ebla and I captured Rid-Adad, king of Armanum.'" It includes a detailed description of Armanum as being on a high hill with three concentric city walls: "'From the fortification wall to the great wall: 130 cubits is the height of the hill (and) 44 cubits is the height of the wall. From the quay wall to the fortification wall: 180 cubits is the height of the hill (and) 30 cubits is the height of the wall. Total: 404 cubits in height, from ground (level) to the top of the wall. He undermined the city Armanum. ...'" Tulul al-Baqarat text - In 2009, an Akkadian Period inscription fragment (IM 221139) was found during excavations by Iraqi archaeologists at Tulul al-Baqarat which also carried part of the Naram-Sin Syrian military campaign and permitted a more complete reconstruction including the capture of 80,508 prisoners. One passage reads "'[Indeed,] with the weapon of Dagan, the one who magnifies his kingship, Naram-Sin the mighty conquered Armanum and Ebla. (120–230) Moreover, from the edge of the Euphrates as far as Ulisum, he smote the peoples whom Dagan had newly bestowed upon him so that they (now) carry the (work) basket of Ilʾaba, his god and took full control of the Amanus, the cedar mountain.'"

Later Sources

Gula-AN and the Seventeen Kings against Naram-Sin - In the much later literary composition "Gula-AN and the Seventeen Kings against Naram-Sin", among the list of rulers defeated by Naram-Sin is "Madagina, king of the Land of Armanum". The same source refers to a "Ris-Adad" as the king of Apisal while the contemporary historical record lists him as the king of Armanum that Naram-Sin defeated.

Name

It has been proposed that Hamran, Armuti(um) and Armanum are all names for the same city. Another proposal is that Armarnum was the 3rd Millenium BC name of Halpa (Aleppo).