Daranali

Daranali or Daranaghi (Armenian: Դարանաղի) was a district (gavar) of the province of Upper Armenia of Greater Armenia. It was located in the basin of the Western Euphrates (Karasu), near modern-day Kemah (Kamakh, Kamacha, Camachus), Turkey.[1] 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.[1][2]

It likely fell into the region of Acilisene (later Ekegheatsʻ) mentioned in Strabo's Geography.[1] It is first mentioned in Armenian sources by Faustus of Byzantium, 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 Armenian kings at Ani.[3][4] It was also a major religious center in pagan times, as it was home to a temple to Aramazd at Ani and a temple to Mihr at Bagayarichʻ built by Tigranes the Great.[5] 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.[5][6]

## See also[edit]

* List of regions of old Armenia

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Hakobyan, T. Kh.; Melik-Bakhshyan, St. T.; Barseghyan, H. Kh. (1988). Hayastani ev harakitsʻ shrjanneri teghanunneri baṛaran [Dictionary of toponymy of Armenian and adjacent territories] (in Armenian). Vol. 2\. Yerevan: Yerevan State University. p. 52.
2. ^ "Daranaghi". Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia (in Armenian). Vol. 3\. 1983. p. 311.
3. ^ Bryce, compiled & illustrated by Zabelle C. Boyajian ; with an introduction by Viscount (2009). Armenian poetry & legends. London: Abela Pub. ISBN 1907256180.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. ^ Ananikian, Mardiros H. (2010). Armenian mythology : stories of Armenian gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, hells & heavens, folklore & fairy tales. Los Angeles: IndoEuropean Publishing.com. ISBN 1604441720.
5. ^ a b Hewsen, R. H. (1988). "BAGAYAṞIČ". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume III/4: Bačča(-ye) Saqqā–Bahai Faith III. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 408\. ISBN 978-0-71009-116-1.
6. ^ Canepa, Matthew P. (2018). The Iranian Expanse: Transforming Royal Identity through Architecture, Landscape, and the Built Environment, 550 BCE–642 CE. University of California Press. pp. 200–201. ISBN 978-0520964365.

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