Nakhchivan ( ; ) is the capital of the eponymous Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, located west of Baku. The municipality of Nakhchivan consists of the city of Nakhchivan, the settlement of Əliabad and the villages of Başbaşı, Bulqan, Haciniyyət, Qaraçuq, Qaraxanbəyli, Tumbul, Qarağalıq, and Daşduz. It is spread over the foothills of Zangezur Mountains, on the right bank of the Nakhchivan River at an altitude of above sea level. Toponymy The city's official Azerbaijani spelling is "Nakhchivan" (). The name is transliterated from Persian as Nakhjavan (). The city's name is transliterated from Russian as Nakhichevan' () and from Armenian as Nakhijevan (). The city was first mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography as Naxuana (, ). The older form of the name is Naxčawan (). According to philologist Heinrich Hübschmann, the name was originally borne by the city and later given to the surrounding region. Hübschmann believed the name to be composed of Naxič or Naxuč (probably a personal name) and awan, an Armenian word (ultimately of Iranian origin) meaning "place, town". In the Armenian tradition, the name of the city is connected with the Biblical narrative of Noah's Ark and interpreted as meaning "place of the first descent" or "first resting place" (as if deriving from and ) due to it being regarded as the site where Noah descended and settled after the landing of the Ark on nearby Mount Ararat. It was probably under the influence of this tradition that the name changed in Armenian from the older Naxčawan to Naxijewan. Although this is a folk etymology, William Whiston believed Nakhchivan/Nakhijevan to be the Apobatērion ("place of descent") mentioned by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in connection with Noah's Ark, which would make the tradition connecting the name with the Biblical figure Noah very old, predating Armenia's conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century. History Classical period In the Armenian tradition, Nakhchivan was founded by Noah after the Flood, and was the place of his death and burial. According to the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi, King Tigranes I of Armenia settled Median prisoners of war at Nakhchivan in the second century BC. Nakhchivan is first mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia as Naxuana (). Nakhchivan was destroyed by Shahanshah Shapur II in 363 and its Armenian and Jewish population was deported to Iran. Emperor Heraclius travelled through the city en route to Atropatene in 623 during the Byzantine–Sasanian