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The Levant

Also Known As Levant Short form. The atlas files this entry under a longer name and readers reach for the shorter one. · Levantine
The Near East and Egypt

The eastern Mediterranean coast and its hinterland, covering modern Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and western Syria. Judaism, Christianity, Samaritanism, the Druze Faith and Canaanite Religion are placed here, which makes it the densest region in the scheme. The Canaanite entry is the reason it matters: the Hebrew Bible's polemic against Baal is a quarrel between neighbours who shared a language and much of a pantheon, and the archaeological record has made the continuity harder to deny than it once was. Islam is filed to Arabia instead, though its formative expansion happened largely here.

Facts
Geography
Latitude
34 degrees north 1
Approximate reference point, rounded to one decimal place; a large or historical region has no formal center, so this coordinate is conventional, not a precise boundary claim.
Longitude
37 degrees east 1
Approximate reference point, rounded to one decimal place; a large or historical region has no formal center, so this coordinate is conventional, not a precise boundary claim.
Modern Area
Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria 1
Traditions
Principal Religious Traditions
Christianity 2
Principal Religious Traditions
Islam 2
Principal Religious Traditions
Judaism 2
Sacred and Liturgical Languages
Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Arabic 3
Learn More
The Most Contested Holy Ground on Earth

The Levant, the eastern Mediterranean coast and its hinterland, is the single densest and most contested piece of sacred geography in the world, because it is the birthplace of the three great Abrahamic monotheisms and holds sites central to all of them. It was here, in ancient Canaan and Israel, that Judaism emerged, with Jerusalem as the site of the Temple and the focus of Jewish longing and prayer ever since; here that Christianity began, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, making Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Galilee the Holy Land of Christian pilgrimage; and here that Jerusalem became, as the site of the Prophet Muhammad's Night Journey and Ascension, the third holiest city of Islam after Mecca and Medina. The result is a landscape where the same ground, the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall, the tombs of the patriarchs at Hebron, carries overlapping and competing sacred claims of the deepest kind, a concentration of holiness that has made the region both a place of profound devotion and a focus of enduring conflict.

The Older Gods, and the Living Minorities

Beneath and around the Abrahamic faiths, the Levant preserves older and smaller religious worlds. Long before Israel, the region was the land of Canaanite religion, whose gods, the high god El, the storm god Baal, the goddesses Asherah and Anat, are known from the cuneiform tablets of Ugarit and form the polytheistic background against which, and in reaction to which, the monotheism of the Hebrew Bible defined itself; the biblical prophets' polemics against Baal are a direct record of that struggle.

The Levant also remains home to living religious minorities of great antiquity and distinctiveness: the Samaritans, an ancient offshoot of Israelite religion who still keep the Passover sacrifice on Mount Gerizim and now number only a few hundred; and the Druze, whose secretive, esoteric faith emerged from Ismaili Islam in the eleventh century and whose communities endure in the mountains of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel. The region thus holds not only the shared holy places of half the world's believers but also the archaeological memory of the Canaanite gods and the enduring presence of some of the smallest and oldest surviving religious communities on earth.

The Levant
Filter Results7 entries

Capernaum

The Levant

Gethsemane

The Levant

Mount Carmel

The Levant

Mount Tabor

The Levant

Sea of Galilee

The Levant

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Levant

The Church of the Nativity

The Levant
Connections

Associated With

Achaemenid Empire (Wikipedia), Sources

This source names The Levant directly: "from Armenia through Asia Minor and the Levant during the forty-five-year reign of Artaxerxes II, 405 to 358 BCE."

Source Achaemenid Empire (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Muslim Conquest of the Levant, Wars & Conflicts

This source names The Levant directly: "and the other principal cities of the Levant within two years."

Source The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live InHugh Kennedy
Palmyrene, Scripts & Magical Alphabets

Palmyra stood in the Syrian desert, at the edge of the Levant.

West Semitic, Languages

The alphabet was invented within this branch, in the Levant and Sinai.

Zoroastrianism Becomes The Achaemenid State's De Facto Religion, Spread Events

This source names The Levant directly: "Armenia through Asia Minor and into the Levant."

Source Achaemenid Empire (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

Attested Here

Aramaic, Languages
Source The World's Writing SystemsPeter T. Daniels and William Bright (eds.)
Balaam, Figures
Benjamin, Figures
Biblical Hebrew, Languages

Biblical Hebrew is documented in use as a written language in The Levant. The claim is where the language is documented in use as a written, literary or liturgical language. It is not a claim about the full extent of its speakers, and it is not a claim about where the language originated.

Source The World's Writing SystemsPeter T. Daniels and William Bright (eds.)
Enoch, Figures
Ephraim, Figures
Gad, Figures
Goat, Animals & Totems

The scapegoat of Leviticus 16, driven out carrying what the community puts on it.

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Gomorrah, Cities
Hagar, Figures
Hebrew, Languages

Hebrew is documented in use as a written language in The Levant. The claim is where the language is documented in use as a written, literary or liturgical language. It is not a claim about the full extent of its speakers, and it is not a claim about where the language originated.

Source The World's Writing SystemsPeter T. Daniels and William Bright (eds.)
Issachar, Figures
Koine Greek, Languages
Source The World's Writing SystemsPeter T. Daniels and William Bright (eds.)
Lion, Animals & Totems

The lion of Judah, and the lions of Daniel.

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Naphtali, Figures
Old French, Languages

Spoken in the Crusader states of the Levant.

Source Old French (Wikipedia)
Rachel, Figures
Reuben, Figures
Samuel, Figures
Saul, Figures
Simeon, Figures
Sodom, Cities

The narrative places the cities of the plain in the Levant, and no closer location is established.

The Clean and Unclean Animals of Levitical Law, Animals & Totems

The priestly source's tahor/tamei classification, set out in Leviticus 11 with a parallel list in Deuteronomy 14, matching the already-live Goat and Lion rows attested to The Levant on the same biblical association.

Source Leviticus 1-16: A New Translation with Introduction and CommentaryJacob Milgrom
Unicorn, Animals & Totems

An artefact of translation: the re'em of the Hebrew Bible rendered monoceros in the Septuagint.

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Whale, Animals & Totems

The great fish of Jonah, which the text does not call a whale.

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Zebulun, Figures
Zechariah, Figures
Zoar (Bela), Cities
Source The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)Anonymous (multiple authors)

Contains

Ancient Israel, Regions
Source Ancient Israel and Judah (Wikipedia)
Caesarea, Cities

Caesarea stands on the Levantine coast.

Canaan, Regions

Canaan is the ancient name for the southern Levant.

Galilee, Regions

Galilee is the northern part of the Levant.

Judea, Regions

Judea is the southern highland of the Levant.

Moab, Regions

Moab lies on the eastern edge of the Levant, across the Dead Sea.

Mount Hor, Sacred Sites

The traditional identification places it above Petra, in southern Jordan.

Samaria, Regions

Samaria is the central hill country of the Levant.

West Bank, Regions

The West Bank lies within the Levant.

Originated Here

Adam and Eve in the Garden, Myths & Sacred Narratives
Baalbek, Sacred Sites
Source UNESCO World Heritage ListUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Cain and Abel, Myths & Sacred Narratives
Canaanites, Cultures
Capernaum, Sacred Sites
Source The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological GuideJerome Murphy-O'Connor
Central Synagogue of Aleppo, Sacred Sites
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica (online academic reference)Encyclopaedia Britannica editors
Eusebius of Caesarea, Historical Figures
First Temple Period, Historical Periods
Source The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)Anonymous (multiple authors)
Gethsemane, Sacred Sites
Source The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological GuideJerome Murphy-O'Connor
Herodium, Sacred Sites
Source The Jewish WarFlavius Josephus
Israelites, Cultures
Jasper, Gemstones
Source The Holy BibleAnonymous (multiple authors)
Jonah and the Great Fish, Myths & Sacred Narratives
Korban (The Israelite Offering), Rituals

The sanctuaries of Israel and Judah, and from the monarchic period the Jerusalem Temple.

Source The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)Anonymous (multiple authors)
Leviathan and Behemoth, Myths & Sacred Narratives
Ligure, Gemstones
Source The Holy BibleAnonymous (multiple authors)
Mamre, Sacred Sites
Source The Oxford Dictionary of World ReligionsJohn Bowker (ed.)
Mar Saba, Sacred Sites
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica (online academic reference)Encyclopaedia Britannica editors
Masada, Sacred Sites
Source The Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in IsraelNachman Ben-Yehuda
Meron, Sacred Sites
Source Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd editionMichael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds.)
Mount Carmel, Sacred Sites
Source The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological GuideJerome Murphy-O'Connor
Mount Gerizim, Sacred Sites
Source Mount Gerizim ExcavationsYitzhak Magen
Mount Hor, Sacred Sites
Source The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological GuideJerome Murphy-O'Connor
Mount Nebo, Sacred Sites
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica (online academic reference)Encyclopaedia Britannica editors
Mount of Olives, Sacred Sites
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica (online academic reference)Encyclopaedia Britannica editors
Mount Tabor, Sacred Sites
Source The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological GuideJerome Murphy-O'Connor
Mount Zion, Sacred Sites
Source The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological GuideJerome Murphy-O'Connor
Noah and the Flood, Myths & Sacred Narratives
Onyx, Gemstones
Source The Holy BibleAnonymous (multiple authors)
Palmyra, Sacred Sites
Source The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th editionSimon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth and Esther Eidinow (eds.)
Parah Adumah (The Red Heifer), Rituals
Source The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)Anonymous (multiple authors)
Petra, Sacred Sites
Source The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th editionSimon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth and Esther Eidinow (eds.)
Phoenicians, Cultures
Qumran, Sacred Sites
Source The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea ScrollsJodi Magness
Rachel's Tomb, Sacred Sites
Source Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd editionMichael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds.)
Safed, Sacred Sites
Source Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd editionMichael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds.)
Sardius, Gemstones
Source The Holy BibleAnonymous (multiple authors)
Sea of Galilee, Sacred Sites
Source The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological GuideJerome Murphy-O'Connor
Second Temple Period, Historical Periods

The Second Temple stood in Jerusalem in the Levant, the center of Second Temple Jewish religious life.

Source Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE to 66 CEE. P. Sanders
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Myths & Sacred Narratives
Sukkah, Religious Organization & Structure
Tamid (The Daily Offering), Rituals
Source The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)Anonymous (multiple authors)
The Binding of Isaac and the Sacrifice of Ibrahim, Myths & Sacred Narratives
The Cave of the Patriarchs and the Ibrahimi Mosque, Sacred Sites
Source UNESCO World Heritage ListUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Sacred Sites
Source The Tomb of ChristMartin Biddle
The Church of the Nativity, Sacred Sites
Source UNESCO World Heritage ListUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
The Creation in Six Days, Myths & Sacred Narratives
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus, Myths & Sacred Narratives
The Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, Sacred Sites
Source The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd editionP. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs (eds.)
The First Temple (Solomon's Temple), Sacred Sites
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica (online academic reference)Encyclopaedia Britannica editors
The Harrowing of Hell, Myths & Sacred Narratives
The Scapegoat Rite of Yom Kippur, Rituals
Source The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)Anonymous (multiple authors)
The Temple Mount and al-Haram al-Sharif, Sacred Sites
Source Treaty of Peace between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of JordanState of Israel and Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
The Umayyad Mosque, Sacred Sites
Source UNESCO World Heritage ListUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
The Western Wall, Sacred Sites
Source Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd editionMichael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds.)

Plants Native Here

Cedar, Plants

Cedrus libani, the cedar of Lebanon, is native to the mountains of the Levant. It is one of several unrelated aromatic woods the word cedar has covered.

Source Plants of the World OnlineRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Plants Used in Ritual Here

Frankincense, Plants
Source A Modern HerbalMaud Grieve
Hyssop, Plants
Source A Modern HerbalMaud Grieve
Myrrh, Plants
Source A Modern HerbalMaud Grieve
Olive, Plants
Source A Modern HerbalMaud Grieve
Saffron, Plants
Source A Modern HerbalMaud Grieve
Valerian, Plants
Source A Modern HerbalMaud Grieve

Regions Where This Is Principal

Christianity, Religions
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Islam, Religions
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Judaism, Religions
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Related To

Holy Land, Regions

The Holy Land is a devotional name for part of the Levant.

Near East, Regions

The Levant is the Mediterranean coastal strip of the Near East and is catalogued separately.

Societies Attested Here

Hellenistic Period, Historical Periods

The Seleucid successor kingdom ruled much of the Levant through the Hellenistic Period, until Roman and Hasmonean power displaced it.

Source From Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic AgePeter Green

Spread Events Here

Muslim Conquest of the Levant, Wars & Conflicts
Ninth Crusade, Wars & Conflicts
Second Crusade, Wars & Conflicts
Sixth Crusade, Wars & Conflicts
The Nizari-Seljuk Conflicts (1090 to 1194), Wars & Conflicts
Third Crusade, Wars & Conflicts
In the Other Atlases
  • Also in Language Atlas: Arabic, used in there.
  • Also in Language Atlas: Greek, used in there.
  • Also in Language Atlas: Hebrew, used in there.
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica (online academic reference)
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2024
  • s.v. regional geography
  • Originated Here: Mount of Olives, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: The First Temple (Solomon's Temple), Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Mount Nebo, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Mar Saba, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Central Synagogue of Aleppo, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: the Levant
View the Source
2. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005The geography of religions
Quote, The geography of religions
General reference for the extent of each region and for the traditions placed within it.
View the Source
3. The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
John Bowker (ed.), Oxford University Press, 1997
  • s.v. regional traditions
  • Originated Here: Mamre, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
View the Source
The Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition
Oxford University Press, Oxford University Pressdemonym / adjectival formView the Source
Ugaritic Narrative Poetry
Simon B. Parker (ed.); Mark S. Smith and others (trans.), Society of Biblical Literature, 1997Canaanite religion at UgaritView the Source
Leviticus 1-16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
Jacob Milgrom, Doubleday, 1991Attested Here: The Clean and Unclean Animals of Levitical LawView the Source
Old French (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAttested Here: Old French, Old French, spread
Quote, Attested Here: Old French, Old French, spread
The Norman dialect was also spread to England and Ireland, and during the Crusades, Old French was also spoken in the Kingdom of Sicily, and in the Principality of Antioch and the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Levant.
View the Source
Treaty of Peace between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
State of Israel and Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Avalon Project, Yale Law School, 1994Originated Here: The Temple Mount and al-Haram al-Sharif, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The LevantView the Source
UNESCO World Heritage List
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  • Originated Here: The Umayyad Mosque, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: The Cave of the Patriarchs and the Ibrahimi Mosque, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: The Church of the Nativity, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Baalbek, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
View the Source
The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition
P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W. P. Heinrichs (eds.), Brill, 2005Originated Here: The Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The LevantView the Source
Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd edition
Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds.), Macmillan Reference USA, 2007
  • Originated Here: The Western Wall, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Rachel's Tomb, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Safed, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Meron, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
View the Source
The Tomb of Christ
Martin Biddle, Sutton Publishing, 1999Originated Here: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide
Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Oxford University Press, 2008
  • Originated Here: Gethsemane, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Mount Zion, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Mount Tabor, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Mount Carmel, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Sea of Galilee, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Capernaum, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Mount Hor, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
View the Source
The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th edition
Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth and Esther Eidinow (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2012
  • Originated Here: Palmyra, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
  • Originated Here: Petra, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
View the Source
Mount Gerizim Excavations
Yitzhak Magen, Israel Antiquities Authority, 2008Originated Here: Mount Gerizim, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Jodi Magness, William B. Eerdmans, 2002Originated Here: Qumran, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The LevantView the Source
The Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel
Nachman Ben-Yehuda, University of Wisconsin Press, 1995Originated Here: Masada, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
The Jewish War
Flavius Josephus, No single modern publisher; the work survives through numerous manuscript traditions and modern critical editions, most commonly consulted today in the Loeb Classical Library edition (Harvard Universi, 78Originated Here: Herodium, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: The Levant
Ancient Israel and Judah (Wikipedia)
Contains: Ancient Israel, Introduction
Quote, Contains: Ancient Israel, Introduction
two Israelite kingdoms that existed in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age
View the Source
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