Asia Aswia appears to have been a remnant of a region known to the Hittites as Assuwa, centered on Lydia, or "Roman Asia". This name, "Assuwa", has been suggested as the origin for the name of the continent "Asia". The Assuwa league was a confederation of states in western Anatolia, defeated by the Hittites under Tudhaliya I around 1400 BCE. Alternatively, the etymology of the term may be from the Akkadian word "(w)aṣû(m)", which means 'to go outside' or 'to ascend', referring to the direction of the sun at sunrise in the Middle East and also likely connected with the Phoenician
Economy of East Asia known today as China, Japan, and Korea. These three ancient states traded an abundance of raw materials and high-quality manufactured goods, exchanged cultural ideas and practices, and had military conflicts with each other throughout the centuries. For much of East Asia's history, China was the largest and most advanced economy in the region and globally as a whole. During the first half of the Middle Ages, China was the most developed state in East Asia. The history of trade in East Asia was largely shaped by the history of trade within Ancient China. Ancient China had economic contacts with Persia