Editing Levant (section)

===In archaeology: a definition===
In ''The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000–332 BCE'' (OHAL; 2013), the definition of the Levant for the specific purposes of the book is synonymous to that of the Arabic "''bilad al-sham'', 'the land of sham [Syria]'", translating in Western parlance to [[greater Syria]].<ref name=OHAL2/> OHAL defines the boundaries of the Levant as follows.<ref name=OHAL2/><ref name=OHAL9/>
* To the north: the [[Taurus Mountains]]<ref name=OHAL2/> or the [[Amik Valley|Plain of 'Amuq]]<ref name=OHAL9/>
* To the east: the eastern deserts, i.e. (from north to south) the Euphrates and the [[Jebel Bishri|Jebel el-Bishrī]] area for the northern Levant, followed by the [[Syrian Desert]] east of the eastern hinterland of the [[Anti-Lebanon]] range (whose southernmost part is [[Mount Hermon]]), and [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]]'s highlands and eastern desert (also discussed at Syrian Desert, also known as the [[Badia (region)|Badia region]]).<ref name=OHAL9/> In other words, Mesopotamia and the North [[Arabian Desert]].<ref name=OHAL2/>
* To the south: [[Wadi al-Arish]] in Sinai<ref name=OHAL9/>
* To the west: the Mediterranean Sea<ref name=OHAL2/>

;Subregions
A distinction is made between the main subregions of the Levant, the northern and the southern:<ref name=OHAL9/>
* The [[Litani River]] marks the division between the [[Northern Levant]] and the [[Southern Levant]].<ref name=OHAL9/>
The island of Cyprus is also included as a third subregion in the archaeological region of the Levant:<ref name=OHAL9/>
* Cyprus, geographically distinct from the Levant, is included due to its proximity and natural resources (copper in particular), which induced close cultural ties.<ref name=OHAL9/>