Source : WordNet®

Near East
     n : the area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to
         northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such
         ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt
         and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam;
         had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th
         century; "the Middle East is the cradle of Western
         civilization" [syn: {Middle East}, {Mideast}]