Ariaramnes (Old Persian: ????????????????[1] Ariyaramna,[2] "He who brings peace to the Aans (i.e. Iranians)"[3]) was a great uncle of Cyrus the Great and the great-grandfather of Darius I, and perhaps the king of Parsa, the ancient core kingdom of Persia.
Ariaramnes was most likely the brother of Cyrus I of Anshan and son of Teispes, but this is not certain. In any case, he was a member of the Achaemenid House. As supported by the relief at Bisitun he was the first king of a separate Achaemenid branch that ran parallel[clarification needed] to the reigns of Cyrus I and his son Cambyses I.
Some time in the first half of the 20th Century two gold tablets relating to Ariarmnes were found in Hamadan, modern Ecbatana. These gold tablets allegedly documented the reigns of Ariaramnes and his son Arsames and were written in Old Persian in the first person. This is the only evidence we have from the time documenting his reign and thus this branch of the Achaemenid royal family. However it is now widely believed that these tablets are fakes (either modern or ancient).[4] This is because they were found on an uncontrolled dig.
Another attestation of his reign is the later Behistun Inscription, where his great grandson Darius I states that eight Achaemenid kings preceded him - and then, he must be counting Ariaramnes as a king.
His English name is derived - via Latin - from the Greek ???a??µ???. In Modern Persian, he is spelled ????????
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