This geographical area includes the foothills of the mountain ranges of the Near East, stretching from Asia Minor (Taurus mountains) and Palestine to western Iran (Zagros mountains). The ideal geomorphological and climatic conditions established here during the early Holocene offered an ideal environment for permanent settlement.

Formerly, it was believed that the Neolithic way of life was first established in the area of south Lebanon and general in Palestine, as the settlement of Jericho was the first example to reveal the above mentioned features. Moreover, in Palestine and in north Syria, the first indications of systematic plant cultivation appeared around 9000 BC implying a major change in economy.

Recent research carried out in Upper Mesopotamia, the area stretching from the rivers Tigris and Eurates (southeastern Turkey), to the north of historic Mesopotamia (Assyria, Babylonia), has revealed the pioneering ideas of the inhabitants of this area in developing new ways of exploiting the natural environment and establishing new economic conditions. These pioneering ideas emerged approximately at the end of the 9th millenium in agriculture and farming, and ensured the production of grain and meat on a permanent basis. Such developments facilitated the permanent settlement of small communities (Cayonu, Gorucutepe) and put an end to the long nomadic existence of human populations.

Nevali Cori, in the region of Urfa (Harran), is a unique example of a permanent settlement of specialized hunters in the 10th and 9th millennium BC.

At Cayonu, Nevali Cori and Gïebekli Tepe of the biblical Harran, the oldest sanctuaries in human history to date (9th millennium BC) were unearthed. The sacred buildings were decorated with bas-relief and sculptures of religious art.