Names of the Levant attributed to the region's easterly location on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The ancient Egyptians called the Levant "Reṯenu". Ancient Egyptian texts (c. 14th century BCE) called the entire coastal area along the Mediterranean Sea between modern Egypt and Turkey "rṯnw" (conventionally "Reṯenu"). Reṯenu was subdivided into four regions: "Kharu" ("ḥꜣ-rw"), North Syria, "Amurru", South Syria (the land of the biblical Amorites), "Rmnn", Lebanon, "Ysriar" ("ysrỉꜣr"), Israel, and "Ḏahy" ("ḏꜣhy";"Ṯahi", "Ḏahi"), the region of Palestine (comprising the southern and central Levant—west of the Jordan River and south of Lebanon—and all the kingdoms, territories, tribes, etc., that existed within that
Water resources management in Syria city of Aleppo. The Nahr al-Kabir al-Shamali (Northern Great River) rises in Turkey and flows through the northern coastal plain and Latakia. The Nahr al-Kabir al-Janoubi (Southern Great River) flows through the southern coastal plain and, on its lower stretch, forms the border between Syria and Lebanon. It has an average flow of 0.3 km³/year (8 m³/s). Both rivers form part of what is called the "coastal basin", which is actually a group of small river basins in Syria that drain to the Mediterranean. While Syria has signed written agreements with its neighbors on transboundary rivers, none of these agreements