Satrapy of Armenia

Satrapy of Armenia
Սատրապական Հայաստան Satrapakan Hayastan
Satrapy
522 BC–331 BC
Territory of the Orontid Dynasty in IV-II BC
Capital		Tushpa Erebuni
Languages		Armenian
Religion		Paganism, Zoroastrianism
Government		Monarchy
King		Orontes I (first) Hydarnes (last)
Historical era		Ancient
•	Established	522 BC
•	Disestablished	331 BC
Preceded by Succeeded by Urartu Medes Kingdom of Armenia (Antiquity) Lesser Armenia Sophene Commagene
Today part of		Armenia  Nagorno-Karabakh  Georgia  Iran  Turkey
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The Satrapy of Armenia (Armenian: Սատրապական Հայաստան Satrapakan Hayastan; Old Persian: Armina or Arminiya), a region controlled by the Orontid Dynasty (570-201 BC) (Armenian: Երվանդունիներ Yervanduniner) was one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC, which later became an independent kingdom. Its capitals were Tushpa and later Erebuni.

After the collapse of the Kingdom of Urartu (Ararat), the region was placed under the administration of the Median Empire and the Scythians. Later the territory was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire, which incorporated it as a satrapy, and thus named it the land of "Armina" (in Old Persian; "Harminuya" in Elamite; "Urashtu" in Babylonian)).

The Orontid Dynasty, or known by their native name, Eruandid or Yervanduni, was a hereditary dynasty of ancient Armenia, and the rulers of the successor state to the Iron Age kingdom of Urartu (Ararat). Historians state that the dynasty was of Iranian origin, and suggest, albeit not clearly, that it held dynastic familial linkages to the ruling Achaemenid dynasty. Throughout their existence, the Orontids stressed their lineage from the Achaemenids in order to strengthen their political legitimacy.