Ancient Near East continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa), including apart from its core in modern-day Iran, the territories of modern Iraq, the Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Abkhazia), Asia Minor (Turkey), Thrace, Bulgaria, Greece, many of the Black Sea coastal regions, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Central Asia, parts of Pakistan, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. It is noted in western history as the foe of the Greek city states in the Greco-Persian Wars, for freeing the Israelites from their Babylonian captivity, and for instituting Aramaic as the empire's official language. Ancient
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