ORIENTAL STUDIES IN ARMENIA VOLUME 3 Արևելագիտությունը Հայաստանում, հատոր 3 | Page 212

INTEGRATIONAL PROCESSES IN THE EUPHRATIAN CONTACTING ZONE IN THE II-I MILLENNIUMS B.C. Kosyan Aram (Institute of Oriental Studies, NAS RA) The article discusses the historical and geopolitical role of one of the most important regions of the Armenian Highland – the Euphratian contacting zone, situated on the close neighborhood of two main areas of the ancient Near-Eastern civilization – Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. The study focuses on the western segment of this contacting zone which during the III-I millenniums B.C. had gone through significant transformations – from small tribal units to centralized statehood. The study of the above-mentioned processes could be useful for the understanding of several key problems of the ancient and medieval Armenian statehood, a significant portion of Hittite-Luwian lexics in Classical Armenian and western cultural realities in Armenian pre-Christian and later religion. 212