In the first volume of the multivolume work "History of the East" (the second - "East in the Middle Ages" - was published in 1995, the third - "East at the turn of the Middle Ages and modern times. XVI-XVIII centuries." - is preparing for publication) shows the reasons and ways of the emergence of the first civilizations and their interaction with each other, as well as with peripheral societies. Serious attention is paid to the problems of ethnogenesis, the relationship between languages ​ ​ and cultures. The presentation of the history of specific countries and regions is given taking into account the division of antiquity into two subperiods: early and late antiquity. The upper chronological boundary of the first volume is the boundary of the Christian era. The volume is equipped with maps and pointers.