Levant

Definition

by Jan van der Crabben
published on 28 April 2011

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 and its team to best fulfil its mission. He is passionate about history, education, and web technology.

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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. 22 Sep 2017.

External Links

The Levantine Ceramics Projectwww.levantineceramics.org

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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.

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Timeline

Visual Timeline

c. 6,000 BCE

First fortified settlement at Ugarit.
c. 4,000 BCE

Founding of the city of Sidon.
c. 4,000 BCE - c. 3,000 BCE

Trade contact between Byblos and Egypt.
c. 2,900 BCE - c. 2,300 BCE

First settlement of Baalbek.
c. 2,750 BCE

The city of Tyre is founded.
c. 1,458 BCE

Kadesh and Megiddo lead a Canaanite alliance against the Egyptian invasion by Thutmose III.
1,274 BCE

Battle of Kadesh between Pharaoh Ramesses II of Egypt and King Muwatalli II of the Hittites.
c. 1,200 BCE

Sea Peoples invade the Levant.
1,200 BCE - 1,100 BCE

Hebrew tribes settle Canaan.
1,115 BCE - 1,076 BCE

Reign of Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria who conquers Phoenicia and revitalizes the empire.
1,000 BCE

Rise of the kingdom of Israel.
c. 1,000 BCE

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

Solomon is king of Israel.
950 BCE

Solomon builds the first Temple of Jerusalem.
721 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.