Levant

Levant is a term in geography that refers to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. It stretches from the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the eastern borders of Iraq and Iran. The countries and regions that are part of the Levant include Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and parts of southern Turkey.

Etymology

The term "Levant" entered English in the late 15th century from French. It derives from the Italian Levante, meaning "rising", implying the rising of the sun in the east. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the term levant was used for Italian maritime commerce in the eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, and Israel.

Geography

The Levant is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all of the Eastern Mediterranean with its islands; that is, it included all of the countries along the Eastern Mediterranean shores, extending from Greece to Cyrenaica in eastern Libya.

History

The history of the Levant is rich and complex, with human habitation dating back to the Early Bronze Age. The region has been controlled by numerous different peoples, including Ancient Egyptians, Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, the Sunni Arab Caliphates, the Shia Fatimid Caliphate, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mameluks, Mongols, Ottomans, the British and the French.

Culture

The Levant has a diverse culture and religion, with a long history of different civilizations and empires. The region has been a crossroads for religion and culture since antiquity, notably as the birthplace of Christianity and Judaism.

See also

• History of the Middle East
• Near East
• Fertile Crescent
• Mashriq
• Eastern Mediterranean

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Levant

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  Levant orthographic projection
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  Médaille commémorative de Syrie-Cilicie
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  Constantinople circa 1909
• Levant satellite view
  Levant satellite view
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  Map of Arabic in the Levant