Levant

Definition

by Jan van der Crabben
published on 28 April 2011

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Levant is the name applied widely to the eastern Mediterranean coastal lands of Asia Minor and Phoenicia (modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon). In a wider sense, the term can be used to encompass the entire coastline from Greece to Egypt. The Levant is part of the Fertile Crescent and was home to some of the ancient Mediterranean trade centers, such as Ugarit, Tyre, and Sidon. It is the homeland of the Phoenician civilization.

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About the Author

Jan van der Crabben

Jan is the Founder and CEO of Ancient History Encyclopedia, leading the non-profit company to best fulfil its mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. He holds an MA War Studies from King's College.

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External Links

The Levantine Ceramics Project

levantineceramics.org

Cite This Work

APA Style

Crabben, J. V. D. (2011, April 28). Levant. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/levant/

Chicago Style

Crabben, Jan V. D. "Levant." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified April 28, 2011. https://www.ancient.eu/levant/.

MLA Style

Crabben, Jan V. D. "Levant." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 28 Apr 2011. Web. 01 Oct 2020.

License

Written by Jan van der Crabben, published on 28 April 2011 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

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Timeline

Visual Timeline

c. 6000 BCE

First fortified settlement at Ugarit.
c. 4000 BCE

Founding of the city of Sidon.
c. 4000 BCE - c. 3000 BCE

Trade contact between Byblos and Egypt.
c. 2900 BCE - c. 2300 BCE

First settlement of Baalbek.
c. 2750 BCE

The city of Tyre is founded.
c. 1458 BCE

Kadesh and Megiddo lead a Canaanite alliance against the Egyptian invasion by Thutmose III.
1274 BCE

Battle of Kadesh between Pharaoh Ramesses II of Egypt and King Muwatalli II of the Hittites.
c. 1250 BCE - c. 1200 BCE

Hebrew tribes settle Canaan.
c. 1200 BCE

Sea Peoples invade the Levant.
1115 BCE - 1076 BCE

Reign of Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria who conquers Phoenicia and revitalizes the empire.
c. 1080 BCE

Rise of the kingdom of Israel.
c. 1000 BCE

Height of Tyre's power.
c. 965 BCE - 931 BCE

Solomon is king of Israel.
950 BCE

Solomon builds the first Temple of Jerusalem.
722 BCE

Israel is conquered by Assyria.
351 BCE

Artaxerxes III sacks Sidon.
334 BCE

Alexander the Great sacks Baalbek and renames it Heliopolis.
333 BCE

Alexander the Great sacks Sidon.
332 BCE

Alexander the Great besieges and conquers Tyre.
332 BCE

Conquest of the Levant by Alexander the Great who destroys Tyre.
64 BCE

Tyre becomes a Roman colony.
c. 6 BCE - c. 30 CE

Life of Jesus Christ.
637 CE

Muslim invasion of the Levant. The Byzantines are driven out.

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Levant

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