According to Jain Dharma, Neminath Bhagwan lived very, very long ago – tens of thousands of years before Mahavir Bhagwan, not just a few thousand years.

From Jain scriptural tradition (not modern history):

• Lord Mahavir (24th Tirthankar) lived about 2,500+ years ago (historical time).
• Jain granths say:

- After Neminath Bhagwan’s moksha, - There was a gap of about 84,000 years till Parshvanath Bhagwan (23rd Tirthankar), - And then about 250 years from Parshvanath’s nirvana to Mahavir Bhagwan.

So, in Jain traditional time-calculation, Neminath Bhagwan was present on earth roughly:

> about 84,000–85,000 years before Mahavir Bhagwan, > which means well over 80,000 years ago from today (in Jain belief).

This matches exactly what you are feeling: he is not considered to be around just 5,000 years ago – Jain Dharma places him in a much more ancient age (Dvapara Yuga / Mahabharat era), far beyond normal historical dating.

These numbers come from Jain cosmology (the huge time-cycles of Avasarpini), so they are religious / spiritual chronology, not something modern archaeology can verify. Both Digambar and Shvetambar accept that Neminath Bhagwan lived in a very ancient time; small numerical differences may exist in some texts, but there is no major sect difference on the point that he lived long before recorded history.

You can read a simple explanation in Jain terms here:

• Time difference between Neminath and Mahavir:
• Years of Neminath’s birth and death (why exact BCE/CE dates are not given):