Ancient Near East
The ancient Near East was home to many cradles of civilization, spanning Ancient Mesopotamia, the Ancient Levant, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Elam, Ancient Anatolia or Asia Minor, the Ancient South Caucasus and Armenian highlands, and Ancient Northern Arabia (including Dilmun). It is generally not considered to include Pre-Islamic Arabia as a whole or Ancient Nubia, though it is sometimes classified as encompassing Ancient Iran, and the Minoan, Mycenaean, and Cycladic civilizations.