The light of «royal Hvarno» shines over the sea of Vourukash, «involved in the present and future Aryan countries.»
Ancient Greek authors also wrote about the great northern mountains, who believed that these mountains, which they called the Riphean Mountains, occupied the entire north of Europe and were the northern border of Great Scythia. So they were depicted on one of the first maps of the earth – a map of the 6th century BC
Hecatea of Miletus. Herodotus wrote about the distant Northern Mountains stretching from west to east.
Doubting the incredible, fantastic size of the Riphean Mountains, Aristotle nevertheless believed in their existence, he was convinced that the earth rises to the north, since the sun is lower there than in the south, and all the largest rivers of Europe flow down from these mountains, except the Istra Danube. This belief was reinforced by the very logical conclusion that rivers always flow down from the mountains and never flow up into the mountains.
Behind the Riphean Mountains, in the north of Europe, the ancient Greek and Roman geographers placed the Great North or Scythian Ocean.
For a long time, the question of where these mountains are located has not been resolved. E.A. Grantovsky and G.M. Bongard-Levin summarizing and analyzing the materials of the Avesta, Rigveda, Mahabharata, messages of Herodotus, Pomponius Mela, Pliny, Ptolemy, medieval Arab travelers Ibn Fadlan, Ibn Battuta and others, came to the conclusion that the geographical characteristics repeated in all sources without exception are real and make it possible to associate the Riphean mountains, the Haru and Meru specifically with the Ural mountains, since only the Urals, according to the named researchers, corresponds to almost all those specific features, which were considered necessary attributes of the sacred northern mountains: high altitude, natural wealth, proximity to the northern seas, etc.
Here we should single out the following groups of information concerning the Riphean Mountains, Hara and Meru, identical among medieval Arab travelers, among ancient authors, in the Scythian, Old Indian and ancient Iranian mythical traditions, to which G. M. Bongard-Levin and E. A. Grantovsky pay attention:
1. The Riphean Mountains, Hara and Meru stretch from west to east, separating the north from the south.