Up to the northeast off the map is the headwaters of the Euphrates. This is where the Semites came from. The Taurus mountains still continue to the north, a little ways. If you were a nomad with flocks, this would be a great place: lots of water and grass, some shelter from northern weather, some natural barrier from marauding steppes nomads. And everyone is drawn to beachfront property. People living in tents don't have to worry about earthquakes, and the ones who settled down in the coastal areas might not know there would be earthquakes every 50-100 years. Or they would be like all the people in these risky areas, they'd take their chances for the other benefits. Look at the people living around Vesuvius.