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The scientific name prunus armeniaca refers to Armenia, but this is a historical misattribution
Apricots originated further east but are cultivated there.

Wild apricots are native to a broad zone. There are probable wild ancestors
In NE China; Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; Xinjiang region of w China; and, parts of Tibet and Central Asia.

Genetic and linguistic evidence suggest two main centers of apricot domestication:
China, where apricots were used for food and medicine as early as 2000 BCE; and,

Central Asia (especially around the Tien Shan Mountains), where wild apricots are still found growing.

Like many fruit trees, apricots don’t breed true from seed, so once desirable traits were found, farmers used grafting; or cutting and replanting techniques to clone

Early humans likely selected trees with larger, sweeter, less fibrous fruits and freestone pits (where flesh separates easier from the stone)

Wild apricots are different. They are typically small, sour, and often astringent, with variable textures

Apricots moved westward along the Silk Road, reaching: Persia, or Iran by 3000–2000 BCE, and Armenia, where Greeks and Romans later encountered them

Neolithic apricot seeds have been found in: China (Yanghai tombs, ~2000 BCE), Central Asia; Armenia and Mesopotamia (early textual references)

Check it out with some more neolithic architecture today!

Bibliography: “VII Symposium on Apricot Culture and Decline” (http://www.actahort.org/books/121/121_36.ht

Bourguiba, Hedia; Scotti, Ivan; Sauvage, Christopher; Zhebentyayeva, Tetyana; Ledbetter, Craig; Krška, Boris; Remay, Arnaud; D’Onofrio, Claudio; Iketani, Hiroyuki; Christen, Danilo; Krichen, Lamia (2020). “Genetic structure of a worldwide germplasm collection of Prunus armeniaca L. reveals three major diffusion routes for varieties coming from the species’ center of origin” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7261834). Frontiers in Plant Science. 11: 638. Bibcode:2020FrPS…11..638B (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020FrPS…11..638B). doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.00638 (https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpls.2020.00638). ISSN 1664-462X (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1664-462X). PMC 7261834 (https://www.ncb
i.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7261834). PMID 32523597 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32523597)m). International Society for Horticultural Science. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20030521122201/http://www.actahort.org/books/121/121_36.htm) from the original on 2003-05-21

Denker, Joel (14 June 2016). ” ‘Moon Of The Faith:’ A History Of The Apricot And Its Many Pleasures” (https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/14/481932829/moon-of-the-faith-a-history-of-the-apricot-and-its-many-pleasures). npr.org. National Public Radio. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20190808231633/https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/14/481932829/moon-of-the-faith-a-history-of-the-apricot-and-its-many-pleasures) from the original on 8 August 2019