המזרח התיכון
The word תִּכוֹן appears in the Bible as the middle-beam crossing the מִשְׁכָּן (meesh-KAHN – the holy tabernacle).
The word מִזְרַח (meez-RAH), also appearing in the Bible, comes from the root ז.ר.ח. (z.r.h.). This root represents the sun rising, which occurs in the east.
Placed in sequence, הַמזרח הַתיכון (ha-meez-RAH ha-tee-KHOHN) means “The East of the Middle”, more commonly known as “The Middle East.”
I’m not able to place a sound byte into this posting at the moment. I hope to get it up again within the next few days.