History glossary
Near East
a historical term for the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia, including Mesopotamia, Anatolia, the Levant, and Egypt.
- Category
- Region
- Region
- Eastern Mediterranean and western Asia
What it means
The Near East is a historian's regional label rather than an ancient country. It usually refers to the eastern Mediterranean and western Asian world, including modern Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iran, and nearby regions, especially when discussing ancient civilizations.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Rise of Islam
From Muhammad's first revelations to the early caliphates, Islam grew from a Meccan message into a civilisation spanning Africa, Asia and Europe.
The Roman Empire
From Augustus to the fall of the Western Empire, Rome built a vast imperial system whose law, cities, armies and ideas shaped the ancient and medieval worlds.
The Byzantine Empire
From Constantine's new capital to the fall of Constantinople, Byzantium preserved Roman law, Orthodox Christianity, imperial government and classical learning through more than a thousand years of adaptation.
The Rise of Christianity
From Jesus in Roman Judea to medieval Europe, Christianity grew from a persecuted movement into an imperial and civilisational force.
The Persian Empire
From Cyrus the Great to Alexander's conquest, the Achaemenid Persian Empire turned regional kingship into a vast realm held together by conquest, roads, tribute, local cooperation, and royal power.
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World
From Philip II's military reforms to the fall of the last Hellenistic kingdom, this story follows Alexander's conquests, the wars of his successors, and the spread of Greek culture across the ancient Near East.
Ancient Egypt
Follow Ancient Egypt from its unification around 3100 BCE to Cleopatra's defeat in 30 BCE. This story explains how the Nile River, pharaohs, pyramids, gods, temples, hieroglyphics and burial beliefs helped one of history's longest-lasting civilizations endure for more than 3,000 years.
Mesopotamia
Ancient Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was one of the birthplaces of urban civilisation. In this Tigris and Euphrates civilization, communities built some of the first cities, developed cuneiform writing, organised law codes, and created early empires. From Sumer and Akkad to Babylon and Assyria, this history of Mesopotamia shows how farming, irrigation, temples, kingship, trade, and record-keeping helped create the structures of complex society. It also works as a Mesopotamia timeline and Mesopotamia civilization overview, with clear Mesopotamia facts tracing how Mesopotamian civilization grew from villages into states and empires.
