Acilisene
{{Short description|Region in ancient Armenia}}
Acilisene ({{Langx|grc|Ἀκιλισηνή|translit=Akilisēnḗ}}), known as Ekegheats or Yekeghyats ({{Langx|xcl|Եկեղեաց|translit=Ekełeac’}}) in Armenian, was a region of the Upper Armenia province of historical Armenia. It was a strip of land along the Upper Euphrates or Arsanias roughly corresponding to today's Erzincan Province of Turkey. Its main cities were Erznka (today's Erzincan, Turkey) and Ani-Kamakh (today's Kemah, Turkey) near the ancient necropolis of the Arsacid kings of Armenia.{{cite web|title=Akilisene (region): a Pleiades place resource|work= Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places|year=2022|display-authors=1|last=Roaf|first=M.|last2=Sinclair|first2=T.|last3=Kroll|first3=S.E.|last4=Simpson|first4=St John|last5=Talbert|first5=R.|last6=Gillies|first6=Sean|last7=Horne|first7=Ryan|last8=Becker|first8=Jeffrey|last9=Talbert|first9=Richard|last10=Elliott|first10=Tom|url=https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/874310|access-date=2024-09-08}}
The Erznka valley, crossed by the Upper Euphrates, was the location of the most important pre-Christian shrine in Armenia, dedicated to the Armenian goddess Anahit. The temple, whose site has not yet been identified, was in a settlement called Erez. Because of its association with the goddess, the region was also called {{lang|xcl-Latn|Anahtakan}} ('of Anahit', corresponding to the Latin {{lang|la|Anaetica}}, itself from {{lang|grc-Latn|Anaïtis}}, the name of the goddess in Latin and Greek classical sources).{{cite book |last=Garsoïan |first=Nina |author-link=Nina Garsoïan |title=The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-312-10169-5 |editor-last=Hovannisian |editor-first=Richard G. |volume=I |location=New York |pages=43 |chapter=The Emergence of Armenia |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/armenianpeoplefr00rich_0/page/n7/mode/2up}}
Under the Arsacid dynasty, it was one of the properties of the house of Gregory the Illuminator (the Gregorids) and was sometimes called {{lang|xcl-Latn|Gavar Lusavorchi}} ('district of the Illuminator').{{Cite book |last=Matevosian |first=R. |title=Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran |title-link=Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia |year=1977 |editor-last=Simonian |editor-first=Abel |volume=3 |location=Yerevan |page=[https://hy.wikisource.org/wiki/%D4%B7%D5%BB:%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%8D%D5%B8%D5%BE%D5%A5%D5%BF%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%A3%D5%AB%D5%BF%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6_(Soviet_Armenian_Encyclopedia)_3.djvu/497 497]-498 |language=hy |script-title=hy:Հայկական սովետական հանրագիտարան |trans-title=Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia |chapter=Ekeghyatsʻ |script-chapter=hy:Եկեղյաց|publisher=Armenian Encyclopedia Publishing House}}