What is "arioch"

Arioch ( ’Aryōḵ) is a Hebrew name that means "fierce lion". It originally appears in the Book of Genesis chapter 14 as the name of the "King of Ellasar", part of the confederation of kings who did battle with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and with Abraham in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim. The same story is also mentioned in the Book of Jubilees which mentions "Arioch king of Sellasar".

Earlier in the 20th century, it was common to identify him with "Eriaku" - an alternative reading of either Rim-Sin or his brother Warad-Sin, who were Elamite rulers over Larsa, contemporary with Hammurabi, although this identification has come under attack from scholars in more recent years, and is now largely abandoned, in part due to Nuzu inscriptions referring to a Hurrian king named Ariukki.

Alternatively Ellasar could have been the site referred to as Alashiya, now thought to be near Alassa in Cyprus, where there was a Late Bronze Age palace, destroyed by the Peoples of the Sea.

Arioch is a Duke of Hell in the service of Dispater, in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.