ARZANE´NE(Ἀρζανηνή, also Ἀρξάνη, Procop. de Aedif. 3.2), a province in the S. of Armenia, situated on the left bank of the Tigris, extending to the E. as far as the valley of Bitlís, and bounded on the S. and W. by Mesopotamia. It derived its name from the lake Arsene, or the town Arzen, situated on this lake. Its name frequently occurs in the writers of the Lower Empire. (Eutrop. 6.7; Ammian. 25.7, 9; Procop. B. Pers. 1.8.) Ptolemy calls the district Thospitis (Θωσπῖτις, 5.13.18), a name which he also gives to the lake Arsene (5.13.7). The district Arrhene in Pliny (Plin. Nat. 6.31) is probably the same as Arzanene.
This province was the subject and the theatre of continual wars between the emperors of Constantinople and the kings of Persia. It is now comprehended in the Pashalik of Dyár Bekr.
[E.B.J]