View source for Place:Levant

{{Short description|Region in the Eastern Mediterranean}}
{{pp-semi|small=yes}}

{{Infobox
| bodyclass        = geography
| above            = Levant
| image            = [[File:Levant (orthographic projection).png|250px|Levant]]
| captionstyle     = text-align:left
| caption1         = {{legend|#C6DEBD|Countries and regions of the Levant in the broad, historical meaning (equivalent to the [[Place:Eastern Mediterranean|Eastern Mediterranean]])<ref>{{harvnb|Gagarin|2009|p=247}}; {{harvnb|Oxford Dictionaries|2015}}.</ref><ref name=Encarta>{{harvnb|''Encarta''|2009|loc="Levant"}}</ref>}}{{legend|#336733|Countries of the Levant in the 20th century usage<ref name=OEAGR>{{harvnb|Gagarin|2009|p=247}}</ref>}}{{legend|#73CD73|Countries and regions sometimes included in the 21st century}}
| label1           = Countries and regions
| data1            = Narrow definition:
{{Plain list|
* {{flag|Akrotiri and Dhekelia}} (United Kingdom)
*  {{flag|Cyprus}}
* {{flagdeco|Turkey}} [[Place:Hatay Province|Hatay Province]] ([[Place:Turkey|Turkey]])
* {{flag|Israel}}
* {{flag|Jordan}}
* {{flag|Lebanon}}
* {{flagcountry|State of Palestine}}
* {{flag|Syria}}
}}
{{flagicon|Northern Cyprus}} [[Place:Northern Cyprus|The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] (Occupied Territory)

Broad definition:
{{Plain list|
* {{flag|Cyrenaica}} ([[Place:Libya|Libya]])
* {{flag|Egypt}}
* {{flag|Greece}}
* {{flag|Iraq}}
* {{flag|Turkey}}
}}
| label2           = Population
| data2            = Narrow definition: 44,550,926{{efn|Total population by adding the populations of [[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]], [[Place:Israel|Israel]], Jordan, [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]], [[Place:State of Palestine|Palestine]], [[Place:Syria|Syria]],[[Place:Turkey|Turkey]]'s [[Place:Hatay Province|Hatay Province]] and {{flagicon|Northern Cyprus}} [[Place:Northern Cyprus|The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] (Unrecognised).}}
| label3           = Demonym
| data3            = Levantine
| label4           = Languages
| data4            = [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]], Aramaic<!-- "Aramaic" covers all the dialects of Aramaic which are spoken in this region. -->, [[Social:Armenian language|Armenian]], Circassian, [[Social:Domari language|Domari]], [[Social:Greek language|Greek]], [[Social:Hebrew language|Hebrew]], Kurdish, [[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]]
| label5           = Time Zones
| data5            = [[UTC+02:00|00]] ([[Eastern European Time|EET]]) and [[UTC+03:00|00]] (TRT/AST)
| label6           = Largest cities
| data6            = {{Collapsible list
| list_style = text-align:left;
| 1 = {{flagicon|Jordan}} [[Place:Amman|Amman]] <br />
{{flagicon|Syria}} Aleppo <br />
{{flagicon|Lebanon}} [[Place:Beirut|Beirut]] <br />
{{flagicon|Syria}} [[Place:Damascus|Damascus]] <br />
{{flagicon|Israel}}
{{flagicon|Palestine}}
[[Place:Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] <br />
{{flagicon|Israel}}
[[Place:Tel Aviv|Tel Aviv]] <br />
 }}
}}

The '''Levant''' ({{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|v|æ|n|t}} {{respell|lə|VANT}}) is an approximate [[History:Historical geography|historical geographical]] term referring to a large area in the [[Place:Eastern Mediterranean|Eastern Mediterranean]] region of [[Place:West Asia|West Asia]]. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equivalent to [[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]] and a stretch of land bordering the Mediterranean Sea in western Asia:<ref name=MG>Gasiorowski, Mark (2016). ''The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa''. p. 5: "... today the term ''Levantine'' can describe shared cultural products, such as Levantine cuisine or Levantine archaeology". {{isbn|081334994X}}.</ref><ref name=OHAL9>Steiner & Killebrew, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5H4fAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 9] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101142956/https://books.google.com/books?id=5H4fAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |date=1 November 2022 }}: "The general limits ..., as defined here, begin at the Plain of 'Amuq in the north and extend south until the Wâdī al-Arish, along the northern coast of Sinai. ... The western coastline and the eastern deserts set the boundaries for the Levant ... The Euphrates and the area around Jebel el-Bishrī mark the eastern boundary of the northern Levant, as does the Syrian Desert beyond the Anti-Lebanon range's eastern hinterland and Mount Hermon. This boundary continues south in the form of the highlands and eastern desert regions of Transjordan."</ref> i.e. the historical region of Syria ("Greater Syria"), which includes present-day [[Place:Israel|Israel]], Jordan, [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]], [[Place:Syria|Syria]], the [[Place:Palestinian territories|Palestinian territories]] and most of [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] southwest of the middle [[Place:Euphrates|Euphrates]]. Its overwhelming characteristic is that it represents the [[Earth:Land bridge|land bridge]] between [[Earth:Africa|Africa]] and [[Earth:Eurasia|Eurasia]].<ref name=OHAL9/> In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all of the Eastern Mediterranean with its islands;<ref name=ODO2015>{{harvnb|Oxford Dictionaries|2015}}.</ref> that is, it included all of the countries along the Eastern Mediterranean shores, extending from Greece in Southern Europe to [[Place:Cyrenaica|Cyrenaica]], [[Place:Libya|Eastern Libya]] in Northern Africa.<ref name=OEAGR /><ref name=Encarta/><ref>Pierre-Louis Gatier, E. Gubel, Philippe Marquis. ''The Levant History and Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean,'' Könemann, Page 7</ref>

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the term ''levante'' was used for Italian maritime commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, [[Earth:Anatolia|Anatolia]], [[Place:Syria (region)|Syria-Palestine]], and [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], that is, the lands east of [[Place:Republic of Venice|Venice]].<ref name=OEAGR /> Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt.<ref name=OEAGR /> The term entered English in the late 15th century from French.<ref name=ODO2015/> It derives from the Italian {{lang|it|levante}}, meaning "rising", implying the rising of the Sun in the east,<ref name=OEAGR /><ref name=Encarta/> and is broadly equivalent to the term ''[[Place:Mashriq|al-Mashriq]]'' ({{lang-ar|ٱلْمَشْرِق}}, {{IPAc-ar|ʔ|a|l|.|m|a|ʃ|.|r|i|q|}}),<ref>{{harvnb|Gagarin|2009|p=247}}; {{harvnb|Naim|2011|p=921}};
* Amy Chua (2004), ''World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability'', p. 212;
* Mandyam Srinivasan, Theodore Stank, Philippe-Pierre Dornier, Kenneth Petersen (2014), ''Global Supply Chains: Evaluating Regions on an EPIC Framework – Economy, Politics, Infrastructure, and Competence: "EPIC" Structure – Economy, Politics, Infrastructure, and Competence'', p. 3;
* Ayubi, Nazih N. (1996), ''Over-stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East'' p. 108;
* David Thomas, Alexander Mallett (2012), ''Christian–Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History''. Volume 4 (''1200–1350''), p. 145;
* Jeff Lesser (1999), ''Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil'' p. 45</ref> meaning "the eastern place, where the Sun rises".{{sfn|Naim|2011|p=921}}

In 1581, England set up the Levant Company to trade with the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]].<ref name=OEAGR /> The name ''Levant States'' was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and Lebanon after [[Social:World War I|World War I]].<ref name=OEAGR /><ref name=Encarta/> This is probably the reason why the term ''Levant'' has come to be used more specifically to refer to modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus.<ref name=OEAGR /> Some scholars mistakenly believed that it derives from the name of Lebanon.<ref name=OEAGR /> Today the term is often used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references. It has the same meaning as "Syria-Palestine" or ''Ash-Shaam'' ({{lang-ar|ٱلشَّام}}, {{IPA|/ʔaʃ.ʃaːm/}}), the area that is bounded by the [[Place:Taurus Mountains|Taurus Mountains]] of [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] in the north, the [[Place:Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean Sea]] in the west, the north Arabian Desert and [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] in the east, and Sinai in the south (which can be fully included or not).<ref name=OHAL2>Steiner & Killebrew, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5H4fAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT26 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101142958/https://books.google.com/books?id=5H4fAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT26 |date=1 November 2022 }}.</ref><ref name=OHAL9/> Typically, it does not include [[Earth:Anatolia|Anatolia]] (also called Asia Minor), the [[Earth:Caucasus|Caucasus]] Mountains, or any part of the [[Place:Arabian Peninsula|Arabian Peninsula]] proper. [[Place:Cilicia|Cilicia]] (in Asia Minor) and the [[Place:Sinai Peninsula|Sinai Peninsula]] (Asian Egypt) are sometimes included.

As a name for the contemporary region, several dictionaries consider Levant to be archaic today.<ref>LEVANT ''archaic'' The eastern part of the Mediterranean with the islands and neighbouring countries. ''New Oxford Dictionary of English'', 2nd ed., revised, 2005.</ref><ref>"LEVANT, THE". "A general term formerly given to the E shores of the Mediterranean Sea from W Greece to Egypt". ''The Penguin Encyclopedia'', revised 2nd ed., 2004.</ref><ref>LEVANT, (''vieilli'') ''Le Levant'': les pays, les régions qui sont au levant (par rapport à la France) et spécialt. les régions de la Méditerrranée orientale. ''Le Nouveau Petit Robert de la langue française'', (1993 revised ed.).</ref> Both the noun ''Levant'' and the adjective ''Levantine'' are now commonly used to describe the ancient and modern culture area formerly called Syro-Palestinian or Biblical: archaeologists now speak of the Levant and of Levantine archaeology;<ref>Thomas Evan Levy, ''Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future: The New Pragmatism'', Routledge, 2016 {{isbn|1134937466}}. Thomas E. Levy, "The New Pragmatism", p. 8: "after 1994, it is possible to see an increase in the use of the less geographically specific and more political [sic] neutral words 'Levant' or 'Levantine' in scholarly citations.... It is important to highlight the pedigree of the term 'Syro-Palestinian' and its gradual replacement by the term 'Levant' or 'Levantine' because the latter is a more culturally and politically neutral term that more accurately reflects the tapestry of countries and peoples of the region, without assuming directionality of cultural influence.". Aaron A. Burke, "The Archaeology of the Levant in North America: The Transformation of Biblical and Syro-Palestinian Archaeology" p. 82''ff'': "A number of factors account for the gradual emergence during the past two decades of what is now widely identified as Levantine archaeology in North America... a growing consensus regarding the appropriate terminology... archaeological field research in the Levant"</ref><ref>William G. Dever, ''The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel: When Archaeology and the Bible Intersect'', 2012, {{isbn|0802867014}}, p. 249: "Today, however, the discipline is often called Palestinian, Syro-Palestinian, or Levantine archaeology."</ref><ref>Steiner & Killebrew (2013). p. 1-2.</ref> food scholars speak of Levantine cuisine;<ref name=MG/> and the Latin Christians of the Levant continue to be called Levantine Christians.<ref>Michel Elias Andraos, "Levantine Catholic Communities in the Diaspora at the Intersection of Many Identities and Worlds", in Michael L. Budde, ''Scattered and Gathered: Catholics in Diaspora'', 2017 {{isbn|1532607091}} p. 24: "The word 'Levantine' in the title is used on purpose instead of the 'Middle East' or the 'Near East'.... I use 'Levantine' more than the two other designations, because this is the term being used more often nowadays by Christian communities in the Middle East to describe their shared identity as ''al-maseeheyoun al-mashriqeyoun'', Levantine Christians"</ref>

The Levant has been described as the "crossroads of [[Place:Western Asia|Western Asia]], the Eastern Mediterranean, and [[Place:Northeast Africa|Northeast Africa]]",<ref name=UCL/> and in [[Earth:Geology|geological]] ([[Earth:Tectonics|tectonic]]) terms as the "northwest of the [[Earth:Arabian Plate|Arabian Plate]]".<ref>''Egyptian Journal of Geology'', Volume 42, Issue 1, p. 263, 1998</ref> The populations of the Levant<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/features/world/asia/israel/ashkelon-text.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228113259/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/features/world/asia/israel/ashkelon-text.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 February 2008 |title=Ancient Ashkelon – National Geographic Magazine |publisher=Ngm.nationalgeographic.com |date=2002-10-17 |access-date=2011-10-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15479879 | work=BBC News | title=The state of Israel: Internal influence driving change | date=2011-11-06}}</ref> share not only the geographic position, but cuisine, some customs, and [[History:Ancient Near East|history]]. They are often referred to as ''Levantines''.<ref>Orfalea, Gregory (2006). ''The Arab Americans: A History''. Olive Branch Press. Northampton, MA. Page 249.</ref>

==Etymology==

[[File:Médaille commémorative de Syrie-Cilicie.jpg|thumb|upright|French medal commemorating the Franco-Turkish War in Cilicia, {{Circa|1920}}]]

The term ''Levant'' appears in English in 1497, and originally meant 'the [[East]]' or 'Mediterranean lands east of Italy'.<ref name=dictionary>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/levant| title=Levant | work=Dictionary.com| author=Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary| access-date=2012-07-27 }}</ref> It is borrowed from the French {{lang|fr|levant}} 'rising', referring to the rising of the sun in the east,<ref name=dictionary /> or the point where the sun rises.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition''</ref> The phrase is ultimately from the Latin word {{lang|la|levare}}, meaning 'lift, raise'. Similar etymologies are found in Greek {{lang|grc|Ἀνατολή}} ''Anatolē'' (''cf.'' [[Earth:Anatolia#Etymology|Anatolia]] 'the direction of sunrise'), in Germanic ''Morgenland'' ({{lit|morning land}}), in Italian (as in ''Riviera di Levante'', the portion of the Liguria coast east of Genoa), in [[Social:Hungarian language|Hungarian]] ''Kelet'' ('east'), in [[Social:Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Social:Catalan language|Catalan]] ''Levante'' and ''Llevant'', ('the place of rising'), and in Hebrew {{lang|he|מִזְרָח}} ''[[Mizrah|mizraḥ]]''  ('east'). Most notably, "Orient" and its [[Social:Latin|Latin]] source ''oriens'' meaning 'east', is literally "rising", deriving from [[Social:Latin|Latin]] ''orior'' 'rise'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Balme |first1=Maurice |last2=Morwood |first2=James |title=Oxford Latin Course Part III |chapter=Chapter 36 |page=19 |edition=2nd}}</ref>

The notion of the Levant has undergone a dynamic process of historical evolution in usage, meaning, and understanding. While the term "Levantine" originally referred to the European residents of the eastern Mediterranean region, it later came to refer to regional "native" and "minority" groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.levantine-journal.org/AboutJLS.aspx|title=Journal of Levantine Studies|publisher=The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute|access-date=30 January 2014}}</ref>

The term became current in [[Social:English language|English]] in the 16th century, along with the first English merchant adventurers in the region; English ships appeared in the Mediterranean in the 1570s, and the English merchant company signed its agreement ("capitulations") with the Ottoman Sultan in 1579.<ref>{{harvnb|Braudel|p={{page needed|date=April 2017}} }}.<!--Not enough to identify the source, or the page from the source, if cited in something else then WP:SAYWHEREYOUREADIT--></ref> The English Levant Company was founded in 1581 to trade with the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]], and in 1670 the French Compagnie du Levant was founded for the same purpose. At this time, the [[Place:Far East|Far East]] was known as the "Upper Levant".<ref name=OEAGR/>
[[File:Constantinople c. 1909.jpg|thumb|left|1909 postcard depicting Ottoman Constantinople and bearing a French stamp inscribed "Levant"]]

In early 19th-century travel writing, the term sometimes incorporated certain Mediterranean provinces of the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]], as well as independent Greece (and especially the Greek islands). In 19th-century archaeology, it referred to overlapping cultures in this region during and after prehistoric times, intending to reference the place instead of any one culture. The French mandate of Syria and Lebanon (1920–1946) was called the Levant states.<ref name=OEAGR/><ref name=Encarta/>

==Geography and modern-day use of the term==
[[File:Levant - Satellite.png|thumb|Satellite view of the Levant including Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and the Northern Sinai (Egypt)]]

Today, "Levant" is the term typically used by archaeologists and historians with reference to the history of the region. Scholars have adopted the term Levant to identify the region due to its being a "wider, yet relevant, cultural corpus" that does not have the "political overtones" of Syria-Palestine.{{efn|"Nevertheless, despite such a well-reasoned basis for the identification of Levantine archaeology, the adoption of this term by many scholars has been, for the most part, simply the result of individual attempts to consider a wider, yet relevant, cultural corpus than that which is suggested by the use of terms like Canaan, Israel, or even Syria-Palestine. Regardless of the manner in which the term has come into common use, for a couple of additional reasons it seems clear that the Levant will remain the term of choice. In the first place scholars have shown a penchant for the term Levant, despite the fact that the term 'Syria-Palestine' has been advocated since the late 1970s. This is evident from the fact that no journal or series today has adopted a title that includes 'Syria-Palestine'. However, the journal ''Levant'' has been published since 1969 and since 1990, ''Ägypten und Levante'' has also attracted a plethora of papers relating to the archaeology of this region. Furthermore, a search through any electronic database of titles reveals an overwhelming adoption of the term 'Levant' when compared to 'Syria-Palestine' for archaeological studies. Undoubtedly, this is mostly due to the fact that 'Syria-Palestine' was a Roman administrative division of the Levant created by Hadrian (Millar 1993). The term 'Syria-Palestine' also carries political overtones that inadvertently evoke current efforts to establish a full-fledged Palestinian state. Scholars have recognized, therefore, that—for at least the time being—they can spare themselves further headaches by adopting the term Levant to identify this region" {{harv|Burke|2010|p=}}{{page needed|date=April 2017}}<!--efn--> }}{{efn|"At the beginning of this Introduction I have indicated how difficult it is to choose a general accepted name for the region this book deals with. In Europe we are used to the late Roman name 'Palestine,' and the designation 'Palestinian Archaeology' has a long history. According to Byzantine usage it included CisJordan and TransJordan and even Lebanon and Sinai. In modern times, however, the name 'Palestine' has exclusively become the political designation for a restricted area. Furthermore, in the period this book deals with a region called 'Palestine' did not yet exist. Also the ancient name 'Canaan' cannot be used as it refers to an older period in history. Designations as: 'The Land(s) of the Bible' or 'the Holy Land' evoke the suspicion of a theological bias. 'The Land of Israel' does not apply to the situation because it never included Lebanon or the greater part of modern Jordan. Therefore I have joined those who today advocate the designation 'Southern Levant.' Although I confess that it is an awkward name, it is at least strictly geographical." {{harv|Geus|2003|p=6}}<!--efn-->}} The term is also used for modern events, peoples, states or parts of states in the same region,<ref>''e.g.'', "The Levant Crisis: Syria, Iraq, and the Region", Australian National University [http://www.anu.edu.au/events/the-levant-crisis-syria-iraq-and-the-region] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033410/http://www.anu.edu.au/events/the-levant-crisis-syria-iraq-and-the-region|date=1 December 2017}}; Center for Strategic and International Studies, "Egypt and the Levant", 2017 [https://www.csis.org/programs/middle-east-program/regions/egypt-and-levant] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041010/https://www.csis.org/programs/middle-east-program/regions/egypt-and-levant|date=1 December 2017}}; Michael Kerr, Craig Larkin, eds., ''The Alawis of Syria'', 2015 {{isbn|9780190458119}}</ref> namely [[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]], [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]], Iraq, [[Place:Israel|Israel]], Jordan, [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]], [[Place:State of Palestine|Palestine]], [[Place:Syria|Syria]], and [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] are sometimes considered Levant countries (compare with [[Place:Near East|Near East]], [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]], [[Place:Eastern Mediterranean|Eastern Mediterranean]] and [[Place:West Asia|West Asia]]). Several researchers include the island of [[Place:Cyprus|Cyprus]] in Levantine studies, including the Council for British Research in the Levant,<ref>{{cite web|author=Sandra Rosendahl |url=http://www.cbrl.org.uk/ |title=Council for British Research in the Levant homepage |publisher=Cbrl.org.uk |date=2006-11-28 |access-date=2010-07-05}}</ref> the UCLA Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department,<ref>[http://www.nelc.ucla.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70&Itemid=98 Biblical and Levantine studies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206044808/http://www.nelc.ucla.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70&Itemid=98 |date=6 December 2013 }}, UCLA</ref> ''Journal of Levantine Studies''<ref>{{cite journal|title=About JLS|journal=Journal of Levantine Studies|url=http://www.levantine-journal.org/AboutJLS.aspx}}</ref> and the [[Organization:University College London|UCL]] Institute of Archaeology,<ref name=UCL>[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20060514092649/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/ The Ancient Levant], [[Organization:University College London|UCL]] Institute of Archaeology, May 2008</ref> the last of which has dated the connection between Cyprus and mainland Levant to the early [[History:Iron Age|Iron Age]]. Archaeologists seeking a neutral orientation that is neither biblical nor national have used terms such as Levantine archaeology and archaeology of the Southern Levant.<ref name=DeverEncyclopedia>Dever, William G. "Syro-Palestinian and Biblical Archaeology", pp. 1244–1253.</ref><ref name= Sharon>Sharon, Ilan "Biblical archaeology" in ''Encyclopedia of Archaeology'' Elsevier.</ref>

While the usage of the term "Levant" in academia has been restricted to the fields of archeology and literature, there is a recent attempt to reclaim the notion of the Levant as a category of analysis in political and social sciences. Two academic journals were launched in the early 2010s using the word: the ''Journal of Levantine Studies'', published by the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute<ref>Anat Lapidot-Firilla, "Editor's Note", ''Journal of Levantine Studies'' '''1''':1:5-12 (Summer 2011) [https://levantine-journal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/jls-summer2011_Editor-1.pdf full text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919115635/https://levantine-journal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/jls-summer2011_Editor-1.pdf |date=19 September 2020 }}</ref> and ''The Levantine Review'', published by Boston College.<ref>Franck Salameh, "From the Editors", ''The Levantine Review'' '''1''':1:1-6 (Spring 2012), {{doi|10.6017/lev.v1i1.2154}}, [https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/levantine/article/view/2154/1796 full text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828033742/https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/levantine/article/view/2154/1796 |date=28 August 2020 }}</ref>

The word ''Levant'' has been used in some translations of the term ''ash-Shām'' as used by the organization known as ISIL, ISIS, and other names, though there is disagreement as to whether this translation is accurate.<ref name=BBC2015>{{cite news |last= Irshaid |first= Faisal |title= Isis, Isil, IS or Daesh? One group, many names |publisher=BBC |date=2 December 2015 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27994277 |access-date=21 July 2018}}</ref>

===In archaeology: a definition===
In ''The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000–332 BCE'' (OHAL; 2013), the definition of the Levant for the specific purposes of the book is synonymous to that of the Arabic "''bilad al-sham'', 'the land of sham [Syria]'", translating in Western parlance to greater Syria.<ref name=OHAL2/> OHAL defines the boundaries of the Levant as follows.<ref name=OHAL2/><ref name=OHAL9/>
* To the north: the [[Place:Taurus Mountains|Taurus Mountains]]<ref name=OHAL2/> or the Plain of 'Amuq<ref name=OHAL9/>
* To the east: the eastern deserts, i.e. (from north to south) the Euphrates and the Jebel el-Bishrī area for the northern Levant, followed by the [[Place:Syrian Desert|Syrian Desert]] east of the eastern hinterland of the Anti-Lebanon range (whose southernmost part is Mount Hermon), and Transjordan's highlands and eastern desert (also discussed at Syrian Desert, also known as the Badia region).<ref name=OHAL9/> In other words, Mesopotamia and the North Arabian Desert.<ref name=OHAL2/>
* To the south: Wadi al-[[Place:Arish|Arish]] in Sinai<ref name=OHAL9/>
* To the west: the Mediterranean Sea<ref name=OHAL2/>

;Subregions
A distinction is made between the main subregions of the Levant, the northern and the southern:<ref name=OHAL9/>
* The Litani River marks the division between the Northern Levant and the Southern Levant.<ref name=OHAL9/>
The island of Cyprus is also included as a third subregion in the archaeological region of the Levant:<ref name=OHAL9/>
* Cyprus, geographically distinct from the Levant, is included due to its proximity and natural resources (copper in particular), which induced close cultural ties.<ref name=OHAL9/>

==History==

==Demographics==

=== Groups ===
{{Historical populations
|title=Historical population of the Levant
|align=right
|14|4300000|164|4800000|500|4127000|900|3120000|1200|2700000|1700|2028000|1897|3231874|1914|3448356|1922|3198951|footnote = Source:<ref>{{cite web|last=Mutlu|first=Servet|title=Late Ottoman population and its ethnic distribution|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/213586|pages=29–31}} Corrected population M8.</ref><ref>Frier, Bruce W. "Demography", in Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, and Dominic Rathbone, eds., ''The Cambridge Ancient History XI: The High Empire, A.D. 70–192'', (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 827–54.</ref><ref>{{Setton-A History of the Crusades|last=Russell|first=Josiah C.|chapter=The Population of the Crusader States|pages=295–314|volume=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Syria Population - Our World in Data |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/population?time=0..latest&country=~SYR |website=www.ourworldindata.org |language=en}}</ref>
}}
The largest religious group in the Levant are [[Religion:Muslim|Muslim]]s and the largest ethnic group are Arabs. Levantines predominantly speak Levantine Arabic, a dialect of Arabic descended from a mix of local pre-Islamic Arabic dialects and Hejazi Arabic. These derive their ancestry from the many ancient Semitic-speaking peoples who inhabited the [[History:Ancient Near East|ancient Near East]] during the [[History:Bronze Age|Bronze]] and [[History:Iron Age|Iron]] ages.<ref name="Haber">{{cite journal |title=A Genetic History of the Near East from an aDNA Time Course Sampling Eight Points in the Past 4,000 Years |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |year=2020 |doi=10.1016/j.ajhg.2020.05.008|last1=Haber |first1=Marc |last2=Nassar |first2=Joyce |last3=Almarri |first3=Mohamed A. |last4=Saupe |first4=Tina |last5=Saag |first5=Lehti |last6=Griffith |first6=Samuel J. |last7=Doumet-Serhal |first7=Claude |last8=Chanteau |first8=Julien |last9=Saghieh-Beydoun |first9=Muntaha |last10=Xue |first10=Yali |last11=Scheib |first11=Christiana L. |last12=Tyler-Smith |first12=Chris |volume=107 |issue=1 |pages=149–157 |pmid=32470374 |pmc=7332655 }}</ref> Other Arabs include Bedouin Arabs who inhabit the [[Place:Syrian Desert|Syrian Desert]] and Naqab, and speak a dialect known as Bedouin Arabic that originated in [[Place:Arabian Peninsula|Arabian Peninsula]]. Other minor ethnic groups in the Levant include Circassians, Chechens, Turks, [[Religion:Jews|Jews]], Turkmens, Assyrians, Kurds, Nawars and Armenians.

Islam became the predominant religion in the region after the [[History:Muslim conquest of the Levant|Muslim conquest of the Levant]] in the 7th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Hugh N. |date=2007 |title=The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In |url=https://archive.org/details/greatarabconques00kenn_0 |url-access=registration |publisher=Da Capo Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/greatarabconques00kenn_0/page/376 376] |isbn=978-0-306-81728-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lapidus |first=Ira M. |author-link=Ira M. Lapidus |date=13 October 2014 |orig-year=1988 |title=A History of Islamic Societies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFJNBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 |edition=3rd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=70 |isbn=978-0-521-51430-9}}</ref> The majority of Levantine Muslims are Sunni with Alawite and [[Religion:Shia Islam|Shia]] (Twelver and Nizari Ismaili) minorities. Alawites and Ismaili Shiites mainly inhabit Hatay and the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, while [[Religion:Lebanese Shia Muslims|Twelver Shiites]] are mainly concentrated in parts of [[Place:Lebanon|Lebanon]].

Levantine Christian groups are plenty and include Greek Orthodox (Antiochian Greek), Syriac Orthodox, Eastern Catholic (Syriac Catholic, Melkite and Maronite), Roman Catholic (Latin), [[Religion:Church of the East|Nestorian]], and [[Religion:Protestantism|Protestant]]. Armenians mostly belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church. There are also Levantines or Franco-Levantines who adhere to Roman Catholicism. There are also Assyrians belonging to the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church.<ref name=gulf2014>{{cite web |title=Christian Population of Middle East in 2014 |date=2017 |publisher=The Gulf/2000 Project, School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University |url=http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Christians_Middle_East_2014_lg.png |access-date=2018-08-31}}</ref>

Other religious groups in the Levant include [[Religion:Jews|Jews]], Samaritans, Yazidis and [[Philosophy:Druze|Druze]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPBfnT_E1mgC&pg=PA16 |title=Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia|access-date=26 May 2014|isbn=978-1-59884-362-0|last1=Shoup|first1=John A|date=2011-10-31|publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref>

In addition, this region has a number of sites that are of religious significance for [[Religion:Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic religions]], such as Masjid Al-Aqsa,<ref name=AbuSway>{{cite news |title=The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Qur'an, Sunnah and other Islamic Literary Source |author=Mustafa Abu Sway |url=http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Abusway_0.pdf |publisher=Central Conference of American Rabbis |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728001911/http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Abusway_0.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-28 }}</ref> the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,<ref name=Sacred>{{cite web |publisher= Sacred-destinations.com |title= Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem |location= Jerusalem |date=2010-02-21 |url= http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-church-of-holy-sepulchre.htm |access-date=2012-07-07}}</ref> the Western Wall in [[Place:Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], Sayyidah Zainab Mosque in [[Place:Damascus|Damascus]] and Antioch in [[Place:Hatay Province|Hatay]].

=== Languages ===
[[File:Map Arabic in the Levant.jpg|alt=|thumb|Map representing the distribution of the Arabic dialects in the area of the Levant]]

Most populations in the Levant speak Levantine Arabic ({{lang|ar|شامي}}, {{transl|ar|Šāmī}}), usually classified as the varieties North Levantine Arabic in Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Turkey, and South Levantine Arabic in Palestine and Jordan. Each of these encompasses a spectrum of regional or urban/rural variations. In addition to the varieties normally grouped together as "Levantine", a number of other varieties and dialects of Arabic are spoken in the Levant area, such as Levantine Bedawi Arabic and Mesopotamian Arabic.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2018-07-21|title=Jordan and Syria|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/map/JOSY|website=[[Social:Ethnologue|Ethnologue]]}}</ref>

Among the languages of Israel, the official language is [[Social:Hebrew language|Hebrew]]; Arabic was until July 19, 2018, also an official language.<ref name= NYT2018>{{cite news|access-date=2018-07-21|title=Israeli Law Declares the Country the 'Nation-State of the Jewish People'|newspaper=The New York Times |date=19 July 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/world/middleeast/israel-law-jews-arabic.html|last1=Halbfinger |first1=David M. |last2=Kershner |first2=Isabel }}</ref> The Arab minority, in 2018 about 21% of the population of Israel,<ref name=NYT2018/> speaks a dialect of Levantine Arabic essentially indistinguishable from the forms spoken in the Palestinian territories.

Of the languages of Cyprus, the two official languages are Turkish and Greek. The most used languages by population are Greek in the south followed by Turkish in the north. Two minority languages are recognized: Armenian, and Cypriot Maronite Arabic, a hybrid of mostly medieval Arabic vernaculars with strong influence from contact with Turkish and Greek, spoken by approximately 1,000 people.<ref name=Versteegh>{{cite book |last=Versteegh |first=Kees |title=Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics |year=2011 |publisher=[[Company:Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-14976-2 |pages=541}}</ref>

Some communities and populations speak Aramaic, [[Social:Greek language|Greek]], [[Social:Armenian language|Armenian]], Circassian, [[Social:French language|French]], [[Social:Russian language|Russian]], or [[Social:English language|English]].{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

==See also==
'''Overlapping regional designations'''
* [[Place:Fertile Crescent|Fertile Crescent]]
* [[Place:Mashriq|Mashriq]]
* [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]]
* [[Place:Middle East|Middle East]]
* [[Place:Near East|Near East]]
* [[Place:West Asia|West Asia]]

'''Subregional designations'''
* Southern Levant

'''Others'''
* French post offices in the Ottoman Empire ("Levant" stamps)
* History of the Levant
* [[Religion:Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (Referred to in current events as ISIL or ISIS)
* Levantine Sea
* Levantines (Latin Christians), Catholic Europeans in the Levant

''Other places in the east of a larger region''
* Levante, Spain
* Riviera di Levante, Italy

== Explanatory notes ==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Burke |first=Aaron |year=2010 |chapter=The Transformation of Biblical and Syro-Palestinian Archaeology |title=Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future: The New Pragmatism |editor-first=Thomas Evan |editor-last=Levy |location=London |publisher=Equinox}}
* {{citation |ref={{harvid|Encarta|2009}} |publisher=Microsoft |title=Encarta |date=2009 |chapter=Levant}}
* {{citation |last=Gagarin |first=Michael |date=31 December 2009 |title=Ancient Greece and Rome |volume=1 |publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated|isbn=978-0-19-517072-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lNV6-HsUppsC&pg=RA3-PA247 247]}}
* {{citation|last=Geus|first=C. H. J. de|title=Towns in Ancient Israel and in the Southern Levant |year=2003 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1269-4 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IoT6zimQOXMC&pg=PA6 6]}}
* {{citation |last=Naim |first=Samia |year=2011 |chapter=Dialects of the Levant |editor-last=Weninger |editor-first=Stefan |display-editors=etal |title=The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook |location=Berlin/Boston |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |page=921}}
* {{citation |ref={{harvid|Oxford Dictionaries|2015}} |title=Oxford Dictionaries Online |chapter=Levant |publisher=Oxford University Press }}
* {{cite book |author= Steiner, Margreet L. |author2= Killebrew, Ann E. |title= The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000–332 BCE | pages= 2, 9 |year= 2013 |publisher= OUP Oxford |isbn= 978-0-19-921297-2 |doi= 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199212972.001.0001 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5H4fAgAAQBAJ}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* Julia Chatzipanagioti: Griechenland, Zypern, Balkan und Levante. Eine kommentierte Bibliographie der Reiseliteratur des 18. Jahrhunderts. 2 Vol. Eutin 2006. {{ISBN|978-3-9810674-2-2}}.
* [http://www.levantineheritage.com/ Levantine Heritage] site. Includes many oral and scholarly histories, and genealogies for some Levantine Turkish families.
* Philip Mansel, ''Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean'', London, John Murray, 11 November 2010, hardback, 480 pages, {{ISBN|978-0-7195-6707-0}}, New Haven, Yale University Press, 24 May 2011, hardback, 470 pages, {{ISBN|978-0-300-17264-5}}.

==External links==
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11769/ ''France and the Levant'']


[[Category:Eastern Mediterranean]]
[[Category:Historical regions]]
[[Category:Regions of Asia]]

{{Sourceattribution|Levant}}