Until the late 8th century BC ancient Near Eastern sources conceptualised the Mediterranean primarily as the "upper sea" that marked an unlimited border zone of the world towards the west. This mental map changed considerably since the 9th century BC, if not earlier, when Levantine mariners started to explore the entire Mediterranean. With the subjugation of the Levantine cities by the Neo-Assyrian empire, the Assyrians made this new geographical worldview their own. Thereby, for the very first time in history, the mediterranean was perceived as an inland sea and as a unity of its own.
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