Aluminum oxynitride spinel (ALON) was synthesized by the direct melt nitridation (DMN) process using aluminum metal and aluminium oxide. The amount of ALON increased with increasing the reaction sintering temperature. The specimen containing up to 10 wt% Al showed ALON phase only when heat-treated beyond $1750^{circ}C$. Whereas the specimen composed of more than 12 wt% Al showed unreacted AlN phase. Bulk density of reaction-sintered specimen was increased with increasing sintering temperature, except the speimen containing unreacted AlN where the density slightly decreased when heat-treated beyond $1750^{circ}C$, Transgranular fracture mode was observed predominantly in the specimen with higher Al content.