Google it, it's not just in Wikipedia, you'll find many other sources.

Thank you for the answer, but I am looking for a translation that does not refer to the region in question as the "Near East," which - I believe - is a modern term (even today, the faculty of Near Eeastern Studies at Cambridge Univ. is still called the "Oriental Faculty").

"Near East: The region comprising the countries of the eastern Mediterranean, formerly also sometimes including those of the Balkan peninsula, south-west Asia, or north Africa.
The region defined by Near East is imprecise, allowing for some overlap with Middle East.

1856 Fraser's Mag. Nov.: 'The Far East in contradistinction to the Near East for the integrity of which we went to war with Russia contains a population of six hundred millions of people, or perhaps more.'; 1894 G. N. CURZON Probl. Far East: 'In the Near East population is sparse and inadequate.'; 1910 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec.: 'In the Near East the keynote of cookery is disguise...'; 1920 Sat. Rev. 16 Oct.; 'He took very little notice of Balkan intrigues, because the Near East was not his business.'; 1936 Discovery Sept.: 'The Wellcome Archaeological Expedition to the Near East.'; 1973 ‘D. JORDAN’ Nile Green: 'Sue..told the Near East Desk, who..sent a cable to the Cairo Embassy.'; 2001 Nature 24 May: 'This Ugaritic shekel..can be inter-related with all other weight systems in the Near East and the Mediterranean.' "

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This entry from the Oxford English Dictionary (on line) shows that "Near East" is a term that was in use at least as early as the middle of the 19th century.

The OED, by the way, also attests "Middle East" in use in the mid-nineteenth century.

Thank you very much. This was really helpful.

http://www.austingrad.edu/images/Resources/Sh...

http://www.carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/NEAREAST/...
The ancient Near East was a region of great diversity. It stretched from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to the eastern border of present day Iran, but it was never one big country. To see what we mean, check out the map.

Yes, I understand, but it seems that's what it is called unless you want to list the different civilisations like Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians etc.

"The Levant" was also used in the old days.

I support Veaa here. The Levant is a very good solution!

Sogern ich das Wort Levante benutze, aber hier habe ich doch erhebliche Bedenken!

Es scheint mir, dass da nichts Anderes geht als Middle East, besonders, wenn man dem engl. Sprachgebrauch im Kolonialimus und Imperialismus folgen will (und das bis ins 20.Jhdt. hinein und noch weiter. Viele gebildete Engländer werden auch heute nur mit Schaudern einen Begriff wie Near East zur Kenntnis nehmen.)

Ich hoffe, ich führe damit keinen in die Irre.

Except that "The Levant" is more limited geographically than "Near East". "The Levant" is specifically the countries that border the Eastern Mediterranean, while "Near East" includes countries that are further east. For example, Iraq is not in the Levant, but it is in the Near East.

If you go back far enough, "Oriental"/"The Orient" was the term. The University of Chicago still has the Oriental Institute: "The Oriental Institute is a research organization and museum devoted to the study of the ancient Near East. Founded in 1919 by James Henry Breasted, the Institute, a part of the University of Chicago, is an internationally recognized pioneer in the archaeology, philology, and history of early Near Eastern civilizations." http://oi.uchicago.edu/

In 1950 James Pritchard wrote Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. (I know this isn't as old as Bob C.'s source in #3, but ANET is a standard work in the study of biblical archaeology and history.)

The Levant is a rather vague term. Some historians have indeed used it to refer to parts of Iraq. Generally speaking, it means those lands to the east of Italy which border the Mediterrainean.