Sasun

a historical region of ancient Armenia, southwest of Lake Van. The inhabitants of Sasun engaged in livestock raising, grain farming, and hunting. Their ninth-century struggle against Arab domination was the basis for the Armenian heroic epic David of Sasun. In the tenth century Sasun united with its eastern neighbor, the canton of Khut, to form a principality that preserved its independence until the raids of Timur (Tamerlane) in the last quarter of the 14th century.