The Ancient Near East is the name given to early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East : Mesopotamia ( modern Iraq and Syria ) , Persia ( modern Iran ) , Anatolia ( modern Turkey ) , the Levant ( modern Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , and Jordan ) , and Ancient Egypt , from the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BCE until the region 's conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE , or covering both the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in the region . The Ancient Near East refers to early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East : Mesopotamia ( modern Iraq and northeastern Syria ) , ancient Egypt , ancient Iran ( Elam , Media , Parthia and Persia ) , Armenia , Anatolia ( modern Turkey ) and the Levant ( modern Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Jordan , Cyprus , and Crete ) .