Concept

Near East

Overview

The Near East is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent (that is, the Levant and Mesopotamia), as well as Anatolia, Egypt, and occasionally the Balkan and Arabian Peninsulas. The term was coined in the 19th century by modern Western geographers and was originally applied to the Ottoman Empire, but today has varying definitions within different academic circles. The term Near East was used to refer to the part of the Orient nearest to Europe, as opposed to the Middle East (then comprising the lands between the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia) and the Far East (East Asia and beyond), together known as the "three Easts"; it was a separate term from the Middle East during earlier times and official British usage. As of 2024, both terms are used interchangeably by politicians and news reporters to refer to the same region. Near East, Middle East, and Far East are all Eurocentric terms.

According to the National Geographic Society, the terms Near East and Middle East denote the same territories and are "generally accepted as comprising the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Syria, and Turkey".

In 1997, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations defined the region similarly, but also included Afghanistan. The part of the region that is in Asia (not including Egypt, the Balkans, and Thrace) is "now commonly referred to as West Asia." Later on in 2012, the FAO defined the Near East as a subregion of the Middle East. The FAO's definition of the Near East included Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey while the rest of the Middle East included the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus, and Iran.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

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Beyond the Gerrhus are the parts called the Royal, and the most valiant and numerous of the Scythians, who deem all other Scythians to be their slaves. These extend southward to Taurica, and eastward to the trench, which those sprung from the blind men dug, and to the port on the lake Mæotis, which is called Cremni, and some of them reach to the river Tanais. The parts above to the north of the Royal Scythians, the…
Herodotus, The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus
States what Near East is.
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Also there are in this country three kinds of mice, one is called the "two-legged" mouse, another the zegeris (a name which is Libyan and signifies in the Hellenic tongue a "hill"), and a third the "prickly" mouse. 174 There are also weasels produced in the silphion, which are very like those of Tartessos.
Herodotus, The History of Herodotus — Volume 1
States what Near East is.
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Of the four quadrants of the earth, thus agreeing in number with the four triplicities, one is situated in the north-west of the entire earth, and contains Celto-galatia; or, as it is commonly called, Europe. Opposed to this quadrant lies that of the south-east, towards Eastern Æthiopia; it is called the southern part of Asia Magna. Another quadrant of the entire earth is in the north-east, about Scythia, and is…
Ptolemy, Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos
States what Near East is.
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Near East

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