THE LEVANT

​​​

The Levant is a subregion of West Asia along the Eastern Mediterranean that forms part of the Middle East. The term is often used in conjunction with historical or cultural references.

​

In its narrowest sense, used in archaeology and other contexts, the Levant refers to Cyprus and land bordering the Levantine Sea (Mediterranean) in West Asia that includes Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and south Cilicia (Turkey). In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all the Eastern Mediterranean;[6] extending from Greece to Egypt and Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya). The Levantine corridor represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia, has been described as the crossroads of West Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, and Northeast Africa, and geologically as the "northwest of the Arabian plate".

​​

The Levant is a French word, meaning "to rise", and its use in geography refers to the direction that the sun comes up. The geographic term means "the countries of the east." The east, in this case, means the eastern Mediterranean region, meaning the islands and the adjoining countries. Its first documented use in English, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is in the late 15th century. 

​

Other terms used for the same region are the "near East,"  and the "Orient" which is also based on a French/Norman/Latin terms meaning east.  The Orient is slightly older, it means "the lands to the east of the Roman empire," and it appears in Chaucer's "Monk's Tale".

​

The "middle east" is generally more extensive, meaning those countries from Egypt to Iran. 

​

​