ALEMANNIA(Region)Ancient RomanLatin name for the lands where the Alemanni lived. The Alemanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes who lived around the upper Rhine river in the time of the Roman Empire.
ARMENIA(Country)English, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Greek, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek, Ancient PersianFrom Greek
Αρμενια (Armenia), which was from Old Persian
Armina, which is itself probably of Armenia origin. This is the name of a country in the Caucasus region, called
Hayastan in Armenian.
ASHUR(Settlement & Region)English, Arabic, Persian, AkkadianFrom Akkadian
𒀸𒋩 (Assur), meaning unknown. This was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire, supposedly named for the god
Ashur, though the god was in fact probably named for the city. The empire, Assyria, was also named for it. The city was destroyed in the 14th century by the forces of Tamerlane.
... [more] BABYLON(Settlement)English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical GreekGreek form of Akkadian
𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Babili), which appears to mean "gateway of God", from Akkadian
𒆍 (babu) meaning "gate" and
𒀭 (ilu) meaning "God", though it may in fact derive from a non-Semitic language. This was the name of a major city in ancient Mesopotamia, the capital of the Babylonian Empire. It was located in present-day Iraq.
CALE(Settlement)Ancient RomanPossibly from Celtic
gall meaning "Gaul, Celt". This was the name of an ancient town in what is now Portugal, near the modern city of
Porto.
ESHARRA(Other)Ancient AssyrianFrom Sumerian
𒂍 (e) meaning "temple, house" and
𒊹 (shar) meaning "totality, world". This was the name of the main temple dedicated to the god Ashur in the city of
Ashur.
INDUS(River)English, Ancient RomanFrom Persian
Hindu, which was from Sanskrit
सिन्धु (Sindhu) meaning "body of trembling water, river". This is the name of a river in Pakistan and India.
NEPAL(Country)Nepali, Indian, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, SanskritFrom Sanskrit
नेपाल (Nepal), of unknown meaning. This is the name of a landlocked country in south Asia.
OLYMPOS(Mountain)Ancient Greek, GreekMeaning unknown. This is the name of the highest mountain in Greece. According to legend is the home of the Greek gods.
PERSIA(Country)Ancient Roman, English, Spanish, ItalianLatin form of Greek
Περσις (Persis), from Old Persian
Parsa. This is the name used in the West for a region in western Asia, as well as several empires which were based there, including the Achaemenid Empire, Parthian Empire, and Sasanian Empire. This was also the Western name for the country of Iran until 1935, when the king requested that the native name
Iran be used instead.
ROMANIA(Country & Region)English, Italian, Ancient RomanFrom Latin meaning "land of the Romans" (see
ROME). This is the name of a country in eastern Europe, so named in the 16th century because of its historic and linguistic connections to the Roman Empire.
... [more] SYRIA(Country & Region)English, Polish, Ancient Roman, Ancient GreekFrom Greek
Συρια (Syria), which was probably a variant of
ASSYRIA, used in an expanded sense to refer to the northern Levant. This was the name of a province of the Roman Empire. It is now the name of a country in western Asia, having gained independence from the Ottoman Empire early in the 20th century.
VENKATA(Mountain)Indian, Hindi, SanskritPossibly means "self-born" in Sanskrit. This is the name of a sacred hill in southern India.