English merchants have called the eastern edge of the Mediterranean "The Levant" since around 1500, after the sun that rises there. Today, the Levant is not only the scene of the Middle East conflict, but also a uniquely dense contact zone between cultures and religious communities. The historical landscape has always been a bridge between East and West, but also a centre of conflict and a bone of contention over which wars have repeatedly broken out between imperial powers

The Bronze Age trading city of Byblos, the legendarily rich Ugarit, the Phoenician harbour cities of Tyre and Sidon and, in the Roman imperial period, the oasis metropolis of Palmyra - they were all hubs of long-distance trade and economic and cultural hinges between the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. Due to its wealth and strategic importance, the Levant also repeatedly became a target of expansion for the great imperial powers.