The traditional Armenian name is Masis (Մասիս ; sometimes "Massis"). However, nowadays, the terms Masis and Ararat are both widely, often interchangeably, used in Armenian. The folk etymology expressed in Movses Khorenatsi's "History of Armenia" derives the name from king Amasya, the great-grandson of the legendary Armenian patriarch Hayk, who is said to have called the mountain "Masis" after himself. According to Russian orientalist Anatoly Novoseltsev the word "Masis" derives from Middle Persian "masist", "the largest." According to Armenian historian Sargis Petrosyan the "mas" root in Masis means "mountain", cf. Proto-Indo-European *mņs-. According to archaeologist Armen Petrosyan it originates from the Māšu (Mashu) mountain mentioned in the "Epic of Gilgamesh", which sounded like "Māsu" in Assyrian.