Levant (the)

East Mediterranean region between Anatolia and Sinai, extending inland to the Arabian desert. Sometimes called the “Near East”, it comprises the modern countries of Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, western Jordan and western Syria. The earliest farming societies developed in this region in the 9th millennium BC. It was a key area of urbanization and state formation from the 4th millennium BC, and the stage for imperial struggles between Egypt, Assyria, Mittani, the Hittites and the Israelites in the 2nd–1st millennia BC.