Page:The History of Armenia - Avdall - Volume 1.djvu/86

 the hand of Tigranes, who killed him by a thrust of his spear. A vast number of Medes fell in the action, and 10,000 were made prisoners, among whom were the whole of the women belonging to the king. The country then submitted to the victors, and Cyrus added it, by the consent of Tigranes, to his own dominions. The latter returned to Armenia loaded with booty, and attended by a vast number of captives. In gratitude to his sister, he gave her the city of Tigranakert, which he had lately built, with a large extent of country in its environs. The women of Ahasuerus, with the remainder of the captives, he settled near Nackjuan and along the banks of the rivet Arax.

The descendants of these women, proceeding from the king of Media, were thenceforward called the offspring of Ajdahak or the Dragon, in allusion to the name of Ahasuerus, which, in the Armenian language, signifies a dragon. At this period, Cyrus, accompanied by Tigranes, effected the conquest of Lydia, which was then in the possession of Croesus, but was now added to the large empire of the former. Shortly after, the two monarchs besieged and took the city of Babylon, which was given to Darius, the uncle of Cyrus, who thenceforward governed it under the title of king. All the christian nations are in possession of authentic accounts of Tigranes