to be settled by Noah's descendants. According to a 5th-century CE Armenian tradition, a local chieftain named Aran () was appointed by the Parthian King (Vagharsh I) as the first governor of this province. Ancient Armenian authors Movses Khorenatsi and Movses Kaghankatvatsi name Aran as the ancestor of the inhabitants of Artsakh and the neighboring province of Utik, the descendant of Sisak (the ancestor and eponym of the neighboring province of Sisakan, also transliterated Siunik). Through Sisak, Aran descended from Haik, the ancestor and eponym of all Armenians. Artsakh as province of the Kingdom of Armenia Strabo characterizes "Orchistenê" (Artsakh) as "the area of Armenia with the greatest number of horsemen". It is unclear when Orchistenê became part of Armenia. Strabo, carefully listing all territorial gains of Armenian kings since 189 BC, does not mention Orchistenê, which indirectly shows that it probably was transferred to the Armenian empire from the Persian satrapy of Eastern Armenia. Ruins of the city of Tigranakert lie near the modern city of Aghdam. It is one of four cities with this name built in the beginning of 1 BC by the king of Armenia, Tigranes the Great. Recently Armenian archaeologists have conducted excavations at the site of this city. Fragments of a fortress, and also hundreds of artifacts, similar to those found in excavations in Armenia proper, have been unearthed. The outlines of a citadel and a basilica dating to the 5th–6th centuries AD have been revealed. Excavations have shown that the city existed from the 1st century BC to the 13th or 14th century AD. Ancient inhabitants of Artsakh spoke a dialect of the Armenian language; this is attested by the author of an Armenian grammar, Stepanos Siunetsi, who lived around AD 700. Strabo, Pliny the Elder, and Claudius Ptolemaeus all state that the border between Greater Armenia and Caucasian Albania was the river Cyrus (Kura). Authoritative encyclopedias on antiquity also name Kura as the southern border of Albania. Artsakh lies significantly to the south of this river. No contemporary evidence of its inclusion into Caucasian Albania or any other country exists until at least the end of the 4th century. Armenian historian Faustus of Byzantium wrote that during the epoch of upheaval that followed the Persian invasion of Armenia around 370AD, Artsakh was one of the provinces that rose in revolt, while Utik was seized by the Caucasus Albanians. Armenian military commander Mushegh