The Northern Levant is a region in the Eastern Mediterranean, part of the wider region of the Levant, going south as far as the Litani River.
In archaeology, the Northern Levant can be defined as the northern section of what in Arabic is called "bilad al-sham, 'the land of sham [Syria]'", in other terms the northern part of greater Syria. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000–332 BCE (OHAL; 2013) defines its boundaries, for the specific purposes of the book, 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), also known as the Badia region. In other words, Mesopotamia and the North Arabian Desert.
- To the south: the Litani River, which marks the boundary towards the Southern Levant.
- To the west: the Mediterranean Sea
Etymology
editTerminology
editGeography
editGeopolitical boundaries
editPhysiographic boundaries
editClimate
editPrimeval times (c. 6500 – c. 3500 BCE)
editStone Age (c. 6500 – c. 5000 BCE)
editProtohistoric times (c. 3500 – c. 3300 BCE)
editCopper Age (c. 5000 – c. 3300 BCE)
editHistoric times (c. 3300 BCE – Present)
editAncient times (c. 3300 BCE – c. 651 CE)
editBronze Age (c. 3300 – c. 1200 BCE)
editLate Bronze Age collapse (c. 1200 – c. 1020 BCE)
editIron Age (c. 1020 – c. 875 BCE)
editAxial Age (c. 875 – c. 212 BCE)
editClassical Age (c. 212 – c. 91 BCE)
editParthian Dark Age (c. 91 – c. 57 BCE)
editAncient Age (c. 57 BCE – c. 535 CE)
editLate Antique Little Ice Age (c. 535 CE – c. 547 CE)
editPost-classical Age (c. 547 – c. 630 CE)
editByzantine Dark Ages (c. 630 – c. 651 CE)
editMedieval times (c. 651 CE – c. 1453 CE)
editIslamic Golden Age (c. 651 – c. 1260 CE)
editAge of Gunpowder (c. 1260 – c. 1453 CE)
editModern times (c. 1453 – Present)
editAge of Discovery (c. 1453 – c. 1815 CE)
editAge of New Imperialism (c. 1815 – c. 1846 CE)
editAge of Oil (c. 1846 – c. 1880 CE)
editAge of Machines (c. 1880 – c. 1914 CE)
editAge of Extremes (c. 1914 – c. 1945 CE)
editJet Age (c. 1945 – c. 1957 CE)
editSpace Age (c. 1957 – c. 1975 CE)
editNuclear Age (c. 1975 – c. 1986 CE)
editInformation Age (c. 1986 – Present)
editGallery
editSee also
editReferences
editNotes
editCitations
editSources
editBibliography
edit- Steiner, Margreet L.; Killebrew, Ann E. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000-332 BCE. OUP Oxford. pp. 2, 9. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199212972.001.0001. ISBN 9780199212972.