Near Eastern archaeology

The southern region included in this term encompasses Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and part of Jordan.

The term northern Levant can be used to refer to Lebanon, the Syrian littoral and portions of the Mediterranean coast of Turkey in the province of Hatay.

Cyprus (ancient Alashiya), a large island in the eastern Mediterranean was a separate cultural entity during most periods of human occupation.

Mesopotamia ("The Land of Two Rivers") is considered to begin more or less near the modern border with Iraq and refers to the flat valley of the southern Tigris and Euphrates and their tributaries.

Sumerology is a very specialized discipline that deals with the history, language and archaeology of ancient Sumer (southern Mesopotamia), mostly during the 4th and 3rd millennium BCE.

The Arabian Peninsula and its offshore islands is a separate geographical zone that has contacts with Sinai, the well-watered regions to the north, and by sea with the far-east.

Meskalamdug helmet, British Museum electrotype copy, original was in the Iraq Museum, Bagdad. The holes around the border suggest that another piece was normally affixed, as for example in the full mask attributed to Sargon of Akkad . The hairbun attached at the back of the head is visible in other rulers as well, such as Sargon or Eannatum in the Stele of the Vultures .