Editing Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (section)

== Etymology ==
Variations of the name Nakhchivan include '''Nakhichevan''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9054715/Nakhichevan|title=Naxcivan – republic, Azerbaijan|access-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref> '''Naxcivan''',<ref>"[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Naxcivan]." ''[[Merriam-Webster|Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]]'', 11th ed. 2003. ({{ISBN|0-87779-809-5}}) New York: Merriam-Webster, Inc.</ref> '''Naxçivan''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/46781/Azerbaijan|title=Azerbaijan – history – geography|access-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref> '''Nakhijevan''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cac-biodiversity.org/arm/arm_history.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228232515/http://www.cac-biodiversity.org/arm/arm_history.htm|url-status=dead|title=Plant Genetic Resources in Central Asia and Caucasus: History of Armenia|archivedate=February 28, 2007}}</ref> '''Nakhchawan''',<ref name="Hewsen">{{cite book| last=Hewsen| first=Robert H| author-link=Robert H. Hewsen| title=Armenia: A Historical Atlas| publisher=University of Chicago Press| location=Chicago| year=2001| page=266| isbn=0-226-33228-4}}</ref> '''Nakhitchevan''',<ref name="Bauer">Elisabeth Bauer, ''Armenia: Past and Present'', p.99 (ISBN B0006EXQ9C).</ref> '''Nakhjavan''',<ref>[[Firuz Kazemzadeh|Kazemzadeh, Firuz]]. ''The Struggle For Transcaucasia: 1917–1921''. p. 255 ({{ISBN|0-8305-0076-6}}).</ref> and '''Nakhdjevan'''.<ref>''Ibid.'' p.267.</ref> Nakhchivan is mentioned in [[Ptolemy]]'s ''Geography'' and by other classical writers as "Naxuana".<ref name="Brockhaus">{{in lang|ru}} [https://archive.today/20130703211539/http://brockhaus-efron-encyclopedia.info/Энциклопедия_Брокгауза_и_Ефрона/138612/Нахичевань "Nakhichevan"] in the ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary'', St. Petersburg, Russia: 1890–1907.</ref><ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Nakhichevan |volume=19 |page=156}}</ref>

The older form of the name is ''Naxčawan'' ({{Langx|hy|Նախճաւան}}).<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Hiwbshman |first=H. |url=https://archive.org/details/HinHayotsTeghwoyAnnunnere |title=Hin Hayotsʻ Teghwoy Anunnerě |publisher=Mkhitʻarean Tparan |year=1907 |location=Vienna |pages=222–223, 385 |language=hy |translator-last=Pilējikchean |translator-first=H. B. |trans-title=Ancient Armenian Place Names |author-link=Heinrich Hübschmann}}</ref> According to philologist [[Heinrich Hübschmann]], the name was originally borne by the namesake city (modern Nakhchivan) and later given to the region.<ref name=":3" /> 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".<ref name=":3" />

In the Armenian tradition, the name of the region and its namesake 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 {{Langx|hy|[[wiktionary:նախ|նախ]]|lit=first|translit=nax|label=none}} and {{Langx|hy|[[wiktionary:իջեւան|իջեւան]]|lit=abode, resting place|translit=ijewan|label=none}}) due to it being regarded as the site where [[Noah]] descended and settled after the landing of the Ark on nearby [[Mount Ararat]].<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last1=Hakobyan |first1=T. Kh. |title=Hayastani ev harakitsʻ shrjanneri teghanunneri baṛaran |last2=Melik-Bakhshyan |first2=St. T. |last3=Barseghyan |first3=H. Kh. |publisher=Yerevan State University |year=1991 |volume=3 |pages=951–953 |language=hy |trans-title=Dictionary of toponymy of Armenia and adjacent territories |chapter=Nakhijevan |chapter-url=http://nayiri.com/imagedDictionaryBrowser.jsp?dictionaryId=61&dt=HY_HY&pageNumber=3015}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Hewsen |first=Robert H. |url=https://archive.org/details/TheGeographyOfAnaniasOfSirak |title=The Geography of Ananias of Širak (Ašxarhacʻoycʻ): The Long and the Short Recensions |publisher=Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag |year=1992 |isbn=3-88226-485-3 |location=Wiesbaden |pages=189 |author-link=Robert H. Hewsen}}</ref> It was probably under the influence of this tradition that the name changed in Armenian from the older ''Naxčawan'' to ''Naxijewan''.<ref name=":4" /> 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 [[Josephus|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.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Josephus">{{cite web |title=Chapter 3 |url=http://library.untraveledroad.com/Ch/Josephus/Antiquities-Jews/Book1/3.htm |access-date=June 12, 2016}}</ref><ref name=":12">[http://www.fni.com/cim/technicals/noah.txt ''Noah's Ark: Its Final Berth''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312030734/http://www.fni.com/cim/technicals/noah.txt|date=March 12, 2008}} by Bill Crouse</ref>