Ariaramnes (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎡𐎹𐎠𐎼𐎶𐎴Ariyāramna, "He who brings peace to the Aryans (i.e. Iranians)") 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). This is because they were found on an uncontrolled dig.

Cyrus II of Persia (Old Persian: Kuruš (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, parts of Europe and the Caucasus. From the Mediterranean sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen. He also pronounced one of the first historically important declarations of human rights via the Cyrus Cylinder sometime between 539-530 BCE.

The reign of Cyrus the Great lasted between 29 and 31 years. Cyrus built his empire by conquering first the Median Empire, then the Lydian Empire and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Either before or after Babylon, he led an expedition into central Asia, which resulted in major campaigns that were described as having brought "into subjection every nation without exception". Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Massagetae along the Syr Darya in December 530 BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.