THE SOUTH-WESTERN REGION OF THE ARMENIAN HIGHLAND WITHIN THE HITTITE STATE
One of the important Hittite eastern region was Tegarama. The first information about Tegarama appeared in the “Cappadocian tablets” of Kanes (Nesa) (20th-18th centuries BC). The city had trade relations with a lot of settlements of the region. In the sources of Kanes Tegarama is mentioned as a settlement, but in the Hittite sources it is mentioned both as a country and as a city. Tegarama was also one of the important religious centers of Hatti. Thus, by comparing the “Cappadocian”, Hittite and Assyrian sources the majority of researchers located Tegarama in the territory of the present settlement Gürün. Tegarama also occupied a strategically important position. From here routes led to the western districts of the Armenian Highland, Northern Syria and Northern Mesopotamia. Later in most of the territory of the Land of Tegarama the kingdom of Melid emerged (one of the so-called Neo-Hittite states). The city-state of Melid formed part of the Land of Tegarama in the 2nd millennium BC and was one of the most important eastern keypoints of the Hittite Kingdom. This city acquired larger importance after the fall of the Hittite Kingdom. It was near the Melas River, a tributary of the Upper Euphrates.
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