Mideast
n 1: 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}, {Near East}]