Agarum

Agarum
Agarum is located in Kuwait
Agarum
Shown within Kuwait
Agarum is located in Near East
Agarum
Agarum (Near East)
LocationKuwait
RegionPersian Gulf
Coordinates29°29′20″N 48°20′00″E / 29.48889°N 48.33333°E / 29.48889; 48.33333 (approximate)

Agarum (also transliterated as Agaru or Akarum, cuneiform: a-kà-rum or a-ga-rum) is a bronze-age Near Eastern proper name, probably a toponym for a region or island in the Eastern Arabia and Persian Gulf. Agarum has been generally identified with Kuwait's Failaka Island, known as ´KR to the Arameans and as Ikaros during the Hellenistic times.[1] Failaka's Ekara temple is another probable location.[2] Agarum is sometimes identified with the mediaeval city of Haǧar, in the general region of Al-Ahsa Oasis in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain Island in Bahrain.[3][4]

The name Agarum is attested in the earlier half of the 2nd millennium BCE, mentioned in inscriptions of the ancient Dilmun civilization. Agarum was associated with Inzak, the chief deity of Dilmunite pantheon. Several Dilmunite kings styled themselves as "servants of the Inzak of Agarum"; such kings included Rimum (c. 18th century BCE), Yagli-El (c. 18th and 17th centuries BCE), and Sumu-lêl (16th century BCE). "Inzak of Agarum" is also attested on several inscriptions from Failaka, which was an important cultic center of Inzak during the first half of 2nd millennium.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Laursen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Glassner 1988, pp. 240-243.
  3. ^ Nashef 1986, pp. 340–343, 346, 349; Laursen 2017, pp. 430-433.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bahrain was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Laursen 2017, pp. 386, 340–343; Nashef 1986, pp. 340–342, 346, 349.