Arioch (Hebrew: אַרְיוֹךְ’Aryōḵ) appears in the Book of Genesis[2] as the name of the "King of Ellasar", who participated in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim. The battle is described in Genesis as consisting of four kings, led by Chedorlaomer of Elam (Amraphel, Arioch, Chedorlaomer, and Tidal), engaging in a punitive expedition against five kings of Canaan who rebelled against Chedorlaomer (Bera, Birsha, Shinab, Shemeber, and the king of Bela). The same story is also mentioned in the Book of Jubilees, where Arioch is called "king of Sellasar".[3][4] According to Genesis Apocryphon (col. 21), Arioh was king of Cappadocia.
Arioch and Ellasar
Some historians have placed the area where Arioch ruled in Asia Minor, but theories as to its specific locations differ, with some claiming it was in Pontus while others cite Cappadocia and Antioch.[5] There are also sources which associated Ellasar with the kingdom of Larsa and suggested that Arioch could be one of its kings called Eri-Aku, an epithet of either Warad-Sin or Rim-Sin thus identifying Arioch as Warad-Sin or Rim-Sin since both Eri-Aku and Rim-Sin(or Warad sin) are described as son of Kudur-mabuk.[6]
To Nannara
his king,
Kudur-mabuk,
father of Amoria
son of Simti-šiḫak.
When Nannara
his prayer
received,
ne-zila-maḫa
for Nannara
for his life,
and the life
of Eri-Aku, his son, king of Larsa,
he made
Tablet of Eri-Aku mentioning Kudur-mabuk, his father:[6]
Eri-Aku
powerful hero
everlasting shepherd
installed by Bêl
nourisher of Uriwa
king of Larsa
king of Šumer
(and) Akkad
son of Kudur-mabhuk
father of Uamutbālu am I.
In Uriwa broad,
possessing an exalted name,
to the peerless(?)
supplication I have made. Nannara my king
I have obeyed(>):
A great wall, high ligh like a
mountain impregnable,
inspiring (?) its fear,
have I made,
its city may it protect.
That wall
"Nannara the consolidator of
the foundation of the land" is
its name.
By the 20th century, this theory became popular so that it was common to identify Arioch with Eriaku—through the alternative reading of either Rim-Sin or his brother Warad-Sin, who were both believed to be contemporary with Hammurabi.[7] Others identify Ellasar with Ilan-Sura which is a city known from second millennium BC Mari archives in the vicinity of north of Mari, and Arioch with Arriwuk who appears in Mari archives as a subordinate of Zimri-Lim.[8][9]
^Paula M. McNutt (1999). Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 41. ISBN978-0-664-22265-9. hd28MdGNyTYC&pg=PA41.
^Fitzmyer, Joseph (2004). The Genesis Apocryphon of Qumran Cave 1 (1Q20): A Commentary. Rome: Editrice Pontifico Istituto Biblico. p. 232. ISBN8876533184.
