One of the most misunderstood name in biblical and classical literature is ‘East’, which is yet to be looked into seriously by scholars. Not a single biblical or classical scholar has ever taken the name of ‘India’ when ancient ‘East’, ‘Near East’ and ‘Far East’ ’s wide participation in biblical and classical history comes into question. While they consider ancient ‘Near East’ as the regions of Mesopotamia, Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and the plains of the Indus and Oxus, and the regions of the people of Urartu, the Phoenicians, Phrygians, and Lydians, they do not relate river Indus plain with ancient India.

Many books have been written on it like ; Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture by Prof William H. Stiebing, and Prof Susan N. Helft(BMCR, 2018.02.29) reviewed by Prof Rients de Boer, Free University of Amsterdam; Ancient Near East textbooks in English by : Prof M. van de Mieroop (2017, 3rd ed., Chichester) ;  A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC by Prof M. Liverani (2014, London; New York); The Ancient Near East, History, Society and Economy by Prof L. De Blois and Prof R.B. van der Spek (2008, 2nd ed., London; New York); An Introduction to the Ancient World by Prof A. Kuhrt (1995, London; New York) ; The Ancient Near East c. 3000-330 BC by Prof J.N. Postgate (1992, London; New York) Early Mesopotamia, Society and Economy at the Dawn of History ; and a dozen more other books are there which Indian scholars never read and refer to even though they contain Alexander’s India invasion accounts.

Though Alexander’s own historians write that Alexander invaded India(means ancient India, not the present political India), Indian historians never look at them for sake of reference also.

William H. Stiebing, Susan N. Helft’s book, Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture,  makes a comprehensive introductory remark on the history of both the Ancient Near East and Ancient Egypt from the end of the Last Ice Age (ca. 12,500 BCE) until the conquests of Alexander the Great (333-323 BCE) which directly relates to ancient India.

Ptolemy’s maps depicts Gangetic plain geographically contiguous with ancient Babylon, ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia and the land of the Phoenicians and the Phrygians; But historical treatment of these ancient land and its people by present day classical and biblical scholars distort the ancient history and make unscholarly use of the ancient records.

Indus river which they think has disappeared is a blunder; and Oxus river marks the ancient region where Alexander raised a town in the name of his horse Baccaphalus.  It was in this region that he built victory pillars which exist even today on the banks of the river Indus, same as the river Daya. History is most unfair to Phrygian region; this region holds the historical accounts on ancient Kapilavastu, and the House of Achilles. Phrygians is same as Bagha(means Tiger) region on the plains of the river Bagha, or the river Tigris.

Akkadian state, Kassite king , Amorites , Kings of Ur , the Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanian, and Byzantine empires, king of Babylon, Mari’s city, Isin’s royal house, Rim-Sin of Larsa, and Marduk are a greater part to the ancient history of the Near East, The statement that the creation stories from Genesis ultimately derive from Mesopotamia may not be shared by Assyriologists or Biblical scholars, but ancient Mesopotamia where King Mesh was the King was a part of the ancient history of ancient India; present Mesopotamia has no role in this era of world history.

Writing a synthesis of Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture cannot exclude the name of ancient India; in this period of human history, Persians were as same as the Indians. Persians were then known as Barsians meaning the ‘Elders’ . To know the details of the history of this period requires a scholars’ attention to Pali texts as they preserve some realistic accounts of the 6^th c B.C. world.

East always refers to the place where the ‘sun rises’; and historically, it identifies the City of Sun, the Eastern Se at the junction of seas, Jerusalem, and the Arabian region as the name of Arab refers to ‘Rabi’ . It has many names in ancient texts like : Cape of Prasum, same as ‘Parsuram kshetra’, or ‘Arka kshetra’ that is identified with Akkadian of the Bible; there is another name in the Bible like Acco which also goes with the name of Arca; Indian ocean does not clarify the exact position of ancient India because of wrong conception this ‘name’ occupies with writings of some eminent historians. Some research scholars who have presented their papers in the international conferences are not aware of the term ‘junction of the seas’ which can only be visualised when a scholar looks at the peripheral map of the ‘inhabited world’ of Ptolemy that presents an egg-shaped landmass for the ancient world.

Pliny’s NH describes eastern coast of Arabia and Romans expedition to it as this was very close to their homeland. Periplus gives a beautiful account of the ancient ports from which geographical positions of the lands locked on the biblical ‘east’, ‘near east’, and ‘far east’ can be determined.