The Levant

The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equivalent to Cyprus and a stretch of land bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Western AsiaGasiorowski, 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". .Steiner & Killebrew, p
9
: "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." that is, the historical region of Syria ("Greater Syria"), which includes present-day Syria, as well as Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and the southern part of Cilicia (modern-day Turkey). Its overwhelming characteristic is that it represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia. 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 in Southern Europe to Egypt and Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya) in Northern Africa.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, the term ''levante'' was used for Italian maritime commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Anatolia, Syria-Palestine, and Egypt, that is, the lands east of Venice. Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt. The term entered English in the late 15th century from French. It derives from the Italian , meaning "rising", implying the rising of the Sun in the east, and is broadly equivalent to the term '' al-Mashriq'' (, ), meaning "the eastern place, where the Sun rises".

In 1581, England set up the Levant Company to trade with the Ottoman Empire. The name ''Levant States'' was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and Lebanon after World War I. 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 the island of Cyprus. Some scholars mistakenly believed that it derives from the name of Lebanon. Today the term is often used in conjunction with prehistoric or ancient historical references.

Another term for "Syria-Palestine" is ''Ash- Shaam'' (, ), the area that is bounded by the Taurus Mountains of Turkey in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the north Arabian Desert and Mesopotamia in the east, and Sinai in the south (which can be fully included or not).Steiner & Killebrew, p
2
. Typically, it does not include Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor), the Caucasus Mountains, or any part of the Arabian Peninsula proper. Cilicia (in Asia Minor) and the Sinai Peninsula (Asian Egypt) are sometimes included.

As a name for the contemporary region, several dictionaries consider ''Levant'' to be archaic today. 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, food scholars speak of Levantine cuisine, and the Latin Christians of the Levant continue to be called Levantine Christians.

The Levant has been described as the "crossroads of Western Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Northeast Africa", and in geological (tectonic) terms as the "northwest of the Arabian Plate". The populations of the Levant share not only geographic position, but cuisine, customs, and history. They are often referred to as ''Levantines''.

Etymology

The term ''Levant'' appears in English in 1497, and originally meant 'the East' or 'Mediterranean lands east of Italy'. It is borrowed from the French 'rising', referring to the rising of the sun in the east, or the point where the sun rises. The phrase is ultimately from the Latin word , meaning 'lift, raise'. Similar etymologies are found in Greek ''Anatolē'' (''cf.'' Anatolia 'the direction of sunrise'), in Germanic ''Morgenland'' (), in Italian (as in ''Riviera di Levante'', the portion of the Liguria coast east of Genoa), in Hungarian ''Kelet'' ('east'), in Spanish and Catalan ''Levante'' and ''Llevant'', ('the place of rising'), and in Hebrew '' mizraḥ'' ('east'). Most notably, "Orient" and its Latin source ''oriens'' meaning 'east', is literally "rising", deriving from Latin ''orior'' 'rise'.

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.

The term became current in 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. The English Levant Company was founded in 1581 to trade with the Ottoman Empire, and in 1670 the French was founded for the same purpose. At this time, the Far East was known as the "Upper Levant".

In early 19th-century travel writing, the term sometimes incorporated certain Mediterranean provinces of the 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.

Geography and modern-day use of the term

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. The term is also used for modern events, peoples, states or parts of states in the same region, namely Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey are sometimes considered Levant countries (compare with Near East, Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean and West Asia). Several researchers include the island of Cyprus in Levantine studies, including the Council for British Research in the Levant, the UCLA Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department, '' Journal of Levantine Studies'' and the UCL Institute of Archaeology,The Ancient Levant
UCL Institute of Archaeology, May 2008 the last of which has dated the connection between Cyprus and mainland Levant to the early 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.Dever, William G. "Syro-Palestinian and Biblical Archaeology", pp. 1244–1253.Sharon, Ilan "Biblical archaeology" in ''Encyclopedia of Archaeology'' Elsevier.

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 and ''The Levantine Review'', published by Boston College.

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.

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 yria", translating in Western parlance to greater Syria. OHAL defines the boundaries of the Levant as follows.
* To the north: the Taurus Mountains or the Plain of 'Amuq
* 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 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). In other words, Mesopotamia and the North Arabian Desert.
* To the south: Wadi al-Arish in Sinai
* To the west: the Mediterranean Sea

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

History

Demographics

Religious and ethnic groups

The vast majority of Levantines are Muslims. After the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century, Islam was first introduced into the region. However, a Muslim majority in the Levant is presumed to have been reached by the 13th century. The majority of Levantine Muslims are Sunnis adhering to the four madhhabs (Hanafi, Shafi'i, Hanbali and Maliki). Islamic minorities include the Alawites and Nizari Ismailis in Syria, and Twelver Shiites in Lebanon.

Levantine Christian groups include Greek Orthodox ( Antiochian Greek), Syriac Orthodox, Eastern Catholic ( Syriac Catholic, Melkite and Maronite), Roman Catholic (Latin), Nestorian, and 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.

Other religious groups in the Levant include Jews, Samaritans, Yazidis and Druze.

Languages

Most populations in the Levant speak Levantine Arabic (, ), a variety of Arabic descended from the pre-Islamic Arabic dialects of Syria and Hejazi Arabic, but retaining significant influence from Western Middle Aramaic. Levantine Arabic is usually classified as 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 (by Bedouins) and Mesopotamian Arabic (in eastern Syria).

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.

In Israel, the official language is Hebrew, which is spoken by the majority of its population. Its Arab minority speaks the Arabic language.

Western Neo-Aramaic is additionally spoken in three villages in Syria: Maaloula, Jubb'adin and Bakhah.

Among diaspora communities based in the Levant, Greek, Armenian and Circassian are also spoken.

Genetics

Ancient DNA analysis has confirmed the genetic relationship between Natufians and other ancient and modern Middle Easterners. The presence of Neolithic Anatolian and Neolithic Iranian ancestry among modern Levantines can be attributed to migrations during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

According to recent ancient DNA studies, Levantines derive most of their ancestry from ancient Semitic-speaking peoples of the Bronze and Iron age Levant. Other Arabs include the Bedouins of Syrian Desert, Naqab and eastern Syria, who speak Bedouin Arabic. Non-Arab minorities include Circassians, Chechens, Turks, Jews, Turkmens, Assyrians, Kurds, Nawars and Armenians.

See also

Overlapping regional designations
* Bilad al-Sham
* Fertile Crescent
* Levantine corridor
* Mashriq
* Mesopotamia
* Middle East
* Near East
* West Asia

Subregional designations
* Southern Levant

Others
* French post offices in the Ottoman Empire ("Levant" stamps)
* History of 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
* Wildlife of the Levant

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

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited references

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Further reading

* Julia Chatzipanagioti: Griechenland, Zypern, Balkan und Levante. Eine kommentierte Bibliographie der Reiseliteratur des 18. Jahrhunderts. 2 Vol. Eutin 2006. .

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, , New Haven, Yale University Press, 24 May 2011, hardback, 470 pages, .

External links

''France and the Levant''
(Handbook), HMSO, London, 1920

{{Authority control

Eastern Mediterranean
Geography of Cyprus
Geography of Hatay Province
Geography of Israel
Geography of Jordan
Geography of Lebanon
Geography of Syria
Geography of the Middle East
Geography of Palestine
Historical regions
Regions of Asia
West Asia
Geographical regions of the Arabian Peninsula