View source for Arioch

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{{distinguish|text=Arioch, the king's chief executioner briefly mentioned in the [[Daniel 2|second chapter]] of the Book of Daniel}}
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| name = Arioch
| title = King of Ellasar<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bible.cc/genesis/14-1.htm|title = Genesis 14:1 in those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim}}</ref>(Sellasar)
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{{judaism}}
'''Arioch''' ({{Langx|he|אַרְיוֹךְ|’Aryōḵ}}) appears in [[Lech-Lecha#Fourth reading—Genesis 14:1–20|Genesis 14]] as the name of the King of Ellassr ({{langx|he|אֶלָּסָר}}) who participated in the [[Battle of Siddim]]. Led by [[Chedorlaomer]], the four kings Amraphel, Arioch, Chedorlaomer, and Tidal engaged in a punitive expedition against five kings of [[Canaan]] who rebelled against Chedorlaomer, Bera of [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]], Birsha of [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Gomorrah]], Shinab of [[Admah]], Shemeber of [[Zeboim (Hebrew Bible)|Zeboim]], and [[Zoara|Zoar of Bela]]. The same story is also mentioned in the [[Book of Jubilees]], where Arioch is called "king of Sellasar".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/jub/jub32.htm |title=Book of Jubilees: The Book of Jubilees: The Campaign of Chedorlaomer (xiii. 22–29) |publisher=www.sacred-texts.com|access-date=2016-05-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel|author=Paula M. McNutt|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-664-22265-9|location=Louisville, KY|page=41}}</ref> According to [[Genesis Apocryphon]] (col. 21), Arioh was king of [[Cappadocia]].

== Arioch and Ellasar ==
Some historians have placed the area where Arioch ruled in [[Anatolia]], but theories as to its specific locations differ, with some claiming it was in [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]] while others cite [[Cappadocia]] and [[Antioch]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Genesis Apocryphon of Qumran Cave 1 (1Q20): A Commentary|last=Fitzmyer|first=Joseph|publisher=Editrice Pontifico Istituto Biblico|year=2004|isbn=8876533184|location=Rome|pages=232}}</ref> 

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-Sîn I]], since both are described as son of [[Kudur-Mabuk]].<ref name=":1">Pinches, Theophilus (1908). [https://archive.org/details/cu31924005788256/page/218/mode/1up?view=theater The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia] (third ed.). London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. pp. 218–220.</ref> 

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-Sîn or his brother Warad-Sin, who were both believed to be contemporary with [[Hammurabi]].<ref>Price, Ira, 1904. ''Some Literary Remains of Rim-Sin (Arioch), King of Larsa, about 2285 B.C.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 3–4.</ref> 

Others identify Ellasar with [[Ilānṣurā]], which is a city known from the second millennium BC [[Mari archives]] in the vicinity of the north of [[Mari, Syria]], and Arioch with Arriuk, who appears in the Mari archives as a subordinate of [[Zimri-Lim]].<ref>Walton, John H., and Craig S. Keener. ''NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture''. Zondervan, 2019. p. 39.</ref><ref>K.A. Kitchen, ''On the Reliability of the Old Testament'' [OROT], William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2003. p. 320.</ref> The identification of Arioch with the ruler Arriuk mentioned in the Mari archives has been recently supported by the [[Assyrologist]]s [[Jean-Marie Durand]] and [[Stephanie Dalley]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Memoriae Igor M. Diakonoff |last=Durand |first=Jean-Marie |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-57506-123-8 |pages=59–69 |language=fr |editor-last=Kogan |editor-first=Leonid Efimovich |series=Babel und Bibel |volume=2 |chapter=De l’époque amorrite à la Bible: le cas d’Arriyuk |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQKCcOTftfwC&pg=PA59}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The City of Babylon: A History, c. 2000 BC – AD 116 |last=Dalley |first=Stephanie |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2021 |isbn=9781107136274 |pages=319–320 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMsvEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA319}}</ref>

Some modern scholars consider Arioch as a literary figure, not a historical figure, but in the case of Ellasar, they connect it to the name [[Alashiya]], not Larsa or Cappadocia. Ellasar is related to the name of Elishah in Genesis 10:4, which is why it is presumed to have referred to [[Alashiya]], an ancient kingdom on [[Cyprus]].<ref name="G">Gard Granerød (26 March 2010). Abraham and Melchizedek: Scribal Activity of Second Temple Times in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 118–121. ISBN 978-3-11-022346-0.</ref> The name Arioch could be originated from the foreigner or foreign story that Jewish people learnt from the foreign diaspora community, which included Elamites and many other foreigners, as mentioned in Ezra 4.<ref name="G"/>

==Adaptations by later writers==
Arioch was a name for a fictional [[demon]], and also appears as the name of a demon in many [[grimoire]]s. Arioch is also named in [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' (vi. 371.) as one of the [[fallen angel]]s under [[Satan]]'s command.

Arioch is one of the principal lords of Chaos in several of [[Michael Moorcock]]'s fantasy series.

Arioch is one of the seventeen megatherians mentioned in [[Gene Wolfe]]'s Briah Cycle.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Book of Jubilees]]
[[Category:Fictional demons]]
[[Category:Lech-Lecha]]
[[Category:Monarchs in the Torah]]
[[Category:Ancient Antioch]]
[[Category:Larsa]]
[[Category:Kings of Cappadocia]]