Changes

==Origin==

==Origin==

French levant, present participle of [[lever]] to rise, used subst. for the point where the [[sun]] rises. The term Levant, which first appeared in English in 1497, originally meant the East in general. It is borrowed from the French levant 'rising', that is, the point where the sun rises. Similar etymologies are found in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece Ancient Greek] Ἀνατολή (cf. Anatolia) and Germanic Morgenland.

French levant, present participle of [[lever]] to rise, used subst. for the point where the [[sun]] rises. The term Levant, which first appeared in English in 1497, originally meant the East in general. It is borrowed from the French levant 'rising', that is, the point where the sun rises. Similar etymologies are found in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece Ancient Greek] Ἀνατολή (cf. Anatolia) and Germanic Morgenland.

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_century 15th Century]

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_century 15th Century]

==Definitions==

==Definitions==

*1: a. The countries of the East. the High Levant = the far East  

*1: a. The countries of the East. the High Levant = the far East  

*3: A kind of leather = Levant morocco

*3: A kind of leather = Levant morocco

==Description==

==Description==

The '''Levant''' (pronounced /ləˈvænt/) describes, [[traditionally]], the Eastern [[Mediterranean]] at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Asia Western Asia] formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_Mountains Taurus Mountains], on the south by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Desert Arabian Desert], and on the west by the [[Mediterranean]] Sea, while on the east it extends towards the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagros_Mountains Zagros Mountains]. The Levant includes modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories and is similar to the historic area called Syria or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Syria Greater Syria]. Occasionally Cyprus, Sinai and Iraq are included. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_College_London UCL Institute of Archeology] describes the Levant as the "crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and northeast Africa".

The '''Levant''' (pronounced /ləˈvænt/) describes, [[traditionally]], the Eastern [[Mediterranean]] at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Asia Western Asia] formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_Mountains Taurus Mountains], on the south by the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Desert Arabian Desert], and on the west by the [[Mediterranean]] Sea, while on the east it extends towards the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagros_Mountains Zagros Mountains]. The Levant includes modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories and is similar to the historic area called Syria or [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Syria Greater Syria]. Occasionally Cyprus, Sinai and Iraq are included. The [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_College_London UCL Institute of Archeology] describes the Levant as the "crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and northeast Africa".

The term Levant was originally applied to the "[[Mediterranean]] lands east of Italy", from the Middle French word levant meaning "the Orient". Historically, the "trade on the Levant" between Western Europe and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Ottoman Empire] was of great economic importance. An imprecise term, Levant refers to an area of [[cultural]] habitation rather than to a specific geographic region, and its [[meaning]] shifts according to historical and cultural [[reference]] and preference.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant]

The term Levant was originally applied to the "[[Mediterranean]] lands east of Italy", from the Middle French word levant meaning "the Orient". Historically, the "trade on the Levant" between Western Europe and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Ottoman Empire] was of great economic importance. An imprecise term, Levant refers to an area of [[cultural]] habitation rather than to a specific geographic region, and its [[meaning]] shifts according to historical and cultural [[reference]] and preference.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levant]

==See also==

==See also==

*'''''[[Orient]]'''''

*'''''[[Orient]]'''''