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Levant
The Levant (/ləˈvænt/ lə-VANT, US also /ləˈvɑːnt/ lə-VAHNT) 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 Mediterranean Sea in West Asia that includes the Syria region, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and south Cilicia (Turkey). In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all the Eastern Mediterranean; extending from Greece to Egypt and Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya). The Levant 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".
In the 13th and 14th centuries, 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. It derives from the Italian levante, meaning "rising", implying the rising of the Sun in the east, and is broadly equivalent to Mashriq (Arabic: ٱلْمَشْرِق, [ʔal.maʃ.riq]), meaning "eastern place, where the Sun rises". Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt. The term entered English in the 15th century from French. 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, so Levant has come to refer to modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus.
As a name for the contemporary region, several dictionaries consider Levant to be archaic. The noun Levant and adjective Levantine are sometimes used to describe the ancient and modern culture area formerly called Syro-Palestinian. Archaeologists now speak of the Levant and Levantine archaeology, food scholars of Levantine cuisine, and Latin Catholics of the Levant are sometimes called Levantines, though the term is normally used to describe the Levant population more widely.
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 levant '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 levare, meaning 'lift, raise'. Similar etymologies are found in Greek Ἀνατολή Anatolē (cf. 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 Hungarian Kelet ('east'), in Spanish and Catalan Levante and Llevant ('the place of rising'), and in Hebrew מִזְרָח 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 Compagnie du Levant 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.
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Levant
The Levant (/ləˈvænt/ lə-VANT, US also /ləˈvɑːnt/ lə-VAHNT) 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 Mediterranean Sea in West Asia that includes the Syria region, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and south Cilicia (Turkey). In its widest historical sense, the Levant included all the Eastern Mediterranean; extending from Greece to Egypt and Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya). The Levant 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".
In the 13th and 14th centuries, 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. It derives from the Italian levante, meaning "rising", implying the rising of the Sun in the east, and is broadly equivalent to Mashriq (Arabic: ٱلْمَشْرِق, [ʔal.maʃ.riq]), meaning "eastern place, where the Sun rises". Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt. The term entered English in the 15th century from French. 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, so Levant has come to refer to modern Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Cyprus.
As a name for the contemporary region, several dictionaries consider Levant to be archaic. The noun Levant and adjective Levantine are sometimes used to describe the ancient and modern culture area formerly called Syro-Palestinian. Archaeologists now speak of the Levant and Levantine archaeology, food scholars of Levantine cuisine, and Latin Catholics of the Levant are sometimes called Levantines, though the term is normally used to describe the Levant population more widely.
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 levant '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 levare, meaning 'lift, raise'. Similar etymologies are found in Greek Ἀνατολή Anatolē (cf. 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 Hungarian Kelet ('east'), in Spanish and Catalan Levante and Llevant ('the place of rising'), and in Hebrew מִזְרָח 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 Compagnie du Levant 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.
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