Objectives

FY2002
In ancient times the Levant was the cradle of several civilizations, and these cultural heritages have together formed the bedrock culture for the region. Various cultures, including those of Egypt, Phoenicia, the Aegean Sea, Greece, Rome, the Byzantine Empire and Islam, were representative of different eras, but since the advent of the modern era the area has been the frontline of the clash between the civilizations of Europe and the Islamic world. In diachronic terms, the various preceding civilizations formed aggregated strata, but in contemporaneous terms, the key characteristic of this region is that it constitutes a mosaic society. In addition to of course being a region with a biblical tradition shared by three major faiths, we can also readily detect common cultural resources that attest to a shared lifestyle culture for clothing, food and shelter. The cultures of the region are also mutually similar, and there is an important truth that possibilities for translation are high. This research will attempt to find forms and possibilities for cultural symbiosis in a region where conflict continues as the norm.