Why is the Orient called "the Orient"?

Continuing on with the fact that the lunar new year is in its second day of celebration...

The Orient has long been labeled by Westerners as "mysterious." Also mysterious is from whence the word Orient originated. The location "the Orient" and the verb "to orient" both come from the Latin word oriri, which means "to rise." Since the sun rises in the east, oriens was used in ancient times to denote the direction of the rising sun, the land and regions east of the Mediterranean. Orient, meaning the Eastern lands, passed into the English language,by way of Old French, during the 14th century.