The term Ancient Near East or Ancient Orient encompasses the early civilizations predating Classical Antiquity in the region roughly corresponding to that described by the modern term Middle East (Egypt, the Fertile Crescent, Anatolia), during the time roughly spanning the Bronze Age from the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BC to the expansion of the Persian Empire in the 6th century BC, or covering about both the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in the region. As such, it is a term widely employed in the fields of Near Eastern archaeology, Ancient History and Egyptology.

The Ancient Near East is generally understood as encompassing Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and Syria), Persia (Iran), Egypt, the Levant (Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestinian Authority), and Anatolia (Turkey).

Ancient_history | Archaeology by region | Middle East | Near East | Bronze Age | Iron Age | Civilizations

Categoria:Civilitzacions del proper i mitjà orient | Catégorie:Proche-Orient ancien | Category:古代オリエント | Kategorie:Alter Orient | Nền văn minh Tây Á