India did not remain entirely isolated from the rest of Asia, The Punjab was twice conquered by invaders from the West; by the Persians in the sixth century B.C., [3] and about two hundred years later by the Greeks. [4] After the end of foreign rule India continued to be of importance through its commerce, which introduced such luxuries as precious stones, spices, and ivory among the western peoples. NEARER ASIA Nearer, or Western Asia, the smaller of the two grand divisions of the Asiatic continent, is bounded by the Black and Caspian seas on the north, by the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean on the south, eastward by the Indus River, and westward by the Mediterranean and the Nile. Almost all the countries within this area played a part in the ancient history of the Orient. COUNTRIES OF NEARER ASIA The lofty plateaus of central Asia decline on the west into the lower but still elevated region of Iran. The western part of Iran was occupied in antiquity by the kindred people known as Medes and Persians. Armenia, a wild and mountainous region, is an extension to the northwest of the Iranian table-land. Beyond Armenia we cross into the peninsula of Asia Minor, a natural link between Asia and Europe. Southward from Asia Minor we pass along the Mediterranean coast through Syria to Arabia. The Arabian peninsula may be regarded as the link between Asia and Africa. INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS These five countries of Nearer Asia were not well fitted to become centers of early civilization. They possessed no great rivers which help to bring people together, and no broad, fertile plains which support a large population. Armenia, Asia Minor, and Syria were broken up into small districts by chains of mountains. Iran and Arabia were chiefly barren deserts. But two other divisions of Nearer Asia resembled distant India and China in the possession of a warm climate, a fruitful soil, and an extensive river system. These lands were Babylonia and Egypt, the first homes of civilized man. 8. BABYLONIA AND EGYPT THE TIGRIS AND THE EUPHRATES Two famous rivers rise in the remote fastnesses of Armenia--the Tigris and the Euphrates. As they flow southward, the twin streams approach each other to form a common valley, and then proceed in parallel channels for the greater part of their course. In antiquity each river emptied into the Persian Gulf by a separate mouth. This Tigris-Euphrates valley was called by the Greeks Mesopotamia, "the land between the rivers." PRODUCTIONS OF BABYLONIA