The Levant
"Levant" or "The Levant" (as a region)
- levant = "rising"
- named for the rising of the sun from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea
- "The Levant" = lands along the eastern coast (Asia) of the Mediterranean Sea
- prehistoric Levant:
- Natufian culture
- semi- and sedentary people who occupied the Levant c. 13,000-9,500 BC
- were or are among the earliest people to engage in farming (Neolithic)
- oldest evidence of bread-making is in Shubayqa from 12,500 BC
- followed by the the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) A & B periods, 10,000-8,800 BC
- Jericho was built during PPNA - see Tower of Jericho (wikipedia)
- Natufian culture
- historic Levant:
- Northeast Africa (Libya and Egypt)
- Mesopotamia (Middle East)
- Asia Minor (modern Turkey)
- modern countries in The Levant include:
- Jordan
- Israel
- Lebanon
- Syria
- also includes
- Palestine
- lower southeastern coastal Turkey